You can't even imagine how many friends were calling me crazy or dumb or whatever for putting the rings on pistons with bare hands and without any (fancy) tools they are using or they saw somebody using (not all of them are machinists). Now I feel so much better and I even start feeling proud of myself learning to not break or damage everything I don't do with "recommended" tools. Great vid as always! Thank you!
I once had a dating profile ask what I couldn't live without. It wouldn't let me put "screwdrivers". And they wonder why 50% of marriages end in divorce
I'm glad this video was uploaded because this helps me to better understand what might have happened on that Chevy Tahoe you did back at the old shop where some of the cylinders had complete compression loss.
Eric, we really appreciate you taking out the time to show us some of the tedious things that happens at the machine shop. A lot of times, Guys mention sending something to the machine shop and that's it. Makes it seem like the machine shop is a top secret place that no one may know about. Thank you for showing is what happens. Stay dirty, but clean at the machine shop.
You know what? Watching a series like this demonstrates how little I know about building an engine correctly and why I WILL have professionals like them build my motor when I have the money to do so!
Quite the contrary for me, as this includes a whole lot of new info which will come in handy when I'm going to rebuild a B18 engine on my own for swapping into my Sol ;)
If you can't find the time to read books and instruction manuals and learn how to do the job correctly then it is certainly better to leave it to the professionals.
that made me feel better I just put new jugs and pistons on my iron head but was worried I put the ring gaps in wrong but that just made me feel a lot better I did it right thanks man
Interesting to see how these things go on a car engine. I messed a lot with mopeds when i was young (who didn't?), the cilinders of those go a LOT easier together. Like you don't have to look for any alignments at all. Just put the piston rod in the cilinder, slide the axle in, put the spring rings in to prevent the axle coming out, put two cylinder rings on, and that's it. I guess i better leave car engines alone :D
Greetings and thanks for the video. But now then, I thought whatever crank you guys discussed would come with the recommended thickness bearings or atleast information warning to avoid such an issue in advance, no?
Only super car and hyper car and above, everyone else, even if they say they do, it's impossible to take pride in thousands upon thousands. If you hear a fella say that they take pride in making 50000 pencils every week, he's either lying through his teeth or deluding himself. You should see what kind of pride they have when they build a W16 engine, oh boy it's like watching Caravaggio paint. There's a level of sterility, yes, with masks and white gloves, but they sure do make up what's lost by the attention to detail they put in every damn part from a bolt that's no bigger than a bee's dick to a crank case or an oil pan.
I commented the same thing about ring pliers on another video, by another channel, the guy claims that you damage the rings like that...The builder I worked for, was 70 years old, had 50 years of experience, and Built Race engines that won NASCAR/NHRA/IHRA Events and Championships and he never used the ring pliers... (I have seen rings BENT with pliers - And Broken, and they were not over extended!)
Eric, personal question. Do you know how to build engines yourself? im simply amazing of how much actually goes into just the engine. How many years have you been a mechanic and what kind of degrees do you have?? Thanks for making very informational videos. I hope one day ill be a mechanic like yourself. Thats my passion.
Yes I do. I'm not nearly as experienced as Kevin though, that's why I let him take the reigns on this one. There's a lot of money on this screen, I'd rather put it in the hands of an expert. As for my credentials: www.ericthecarguy.com/about-etcg
Kevin mentioned round wire circlips... I lost an engine to one of those bloody things once; they really don't seem to like to stay in their gap! Flat circlip or spiral lock all the way! :D
Excellent Video as always..my question is, is there anyway to set you piston rings after hone your cylinders walls. I did a leak-down test on a few of my cylinders and found that a few of them was low 20 percent leakage. the leak down showed that the air was coming from the crankcase. so i took them out, hone out all the cylinder that were low. the pistons and rings are now back in which brings me back to my question above. thanks for your feedback
Haha just had to put my pistons on my rods an often fuck up most people make is installing the connecting rods backwards and I really like the idea of free floating wrist pin mine were press in and the chamfer is what he was talking about the rods going on the right way
Eric why are Honda/Acura dealers replacing the pistons when reringing engines because of oil consumption ? Can the pistons be reused if cleaned thoroughly and found to be serviceable after inspecting them ?
Hi Eric. I see that compression rings were lined up with wrist pin locations. Any truths to "never line up gaps with pin"? Does it make any difference.
Is it necessary to put the right face of the piston ring, did it have the right side, like the one with letter need to be facing upward or else? Or any side is the same?
Ima be changing the pistons and piston rings on a 2004 1.8 vw Jetta soon, I was watching a video on it and it said that I can do it by just taking off the head, dropping the oil pan and pushing the old pistons out thru the top, would this really work?
Hey man I'm a huge fan I actually have a Ford Fairmont of my own but I got a problem, I had to replace the cylinder head gasket on my 89 Chevy s 10 2.5l TBI and I replaced the intake exhaust and valve cover gaskets, and the truck runs but it Acts like it is miss firing but when I pull the plugs it dosent seem like that was it but I wasn't sure what to torque the rocker arms too because their was no specks in the manual, but none of the vacuum lines are hooked up properly but the check engine light is on and i can't pull the code what can I do ? I have no clue I've been working on it for 2 days and i don't know what to do
i think you missed to point out the tang that sticks out from the rod bearing that is also machined into the rod itself, i know 2 of my friends who spun bearins by not using the correct ones, ie: using bearings that were totally flat in a rod that is meant to accept a bearing that locks in
The tang is only there to locate the bearing during assembly. After you torque the rod bearing crush keeps the bearing in place. He'll probably explain that during the short block assembly.
MCM already grabbed the Yoda name for their automotive hero. Also Kevin has more of a Budda quality about him, no offense ;-) May I suggest Mr. Engin-Zen?
Howdy. I have a new-to-me 1998 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4, automatic, 3.3L VG33E 4th VIN digit "A" motor, made 10/1997. It has one or more bad piston wrist pins, and a confirmed bad crankshaft due to excessive bearing failures from oil loss. Does anyone know if the pistons in a 1996-2004 Pathfinders, QX4, Frontier, or Xterras can be removed and reinstalled through the bottom of the motor (oil pan), with the motor still installed? I also have a bad crank so I have to have it removed and machined too. The rest of the motor is clean, no oil burning, and low miles (165,000). I hate to swap it for an unknown possible problem motor if I can do it this way instead. I haven't been able to find anyone online who has accomplished this, but maybe it's not possible due to clearance or whatever. Do ya know, or take a guess if ya been under one like this? Thanks much!
Update on that, I found a video that said, put it upright on a flat surface, and se witch way its angled. My second compression ring had 2.5 grades of angle. Not visible to an untrained eye like mine. And turned out the "N" was supposed to face down. So it scrapes the oil down. 1st compression ring was supposed to go up with the "N". It was a big mindfuck for me, but the engine still runs 👍
H-beam rods are very good for torque, not so. Much rpm. I-beam rods are good for rpm, and adequate for torque. I don't think you're revving that 302 very high, though. Forged internals are definitely a good idea for boosted applications.
H beams are stronger all around, even at high RPM. The reason people tend to use I beams for high RPM applications isn't because they are stronger, but because they are lighter, which a lighter rotating assembly is always better for high RPM use.
I'm sure it's ok but I've always been told you never spiral a ring on to a piston. I've spent a great deal of effort to never do that and Kevin just bends those things around like it doesn't matter
Ask him how many failures he's had from doing that. Betting good money the answer will be, 'Not a one.', since every engine builder I know, including myself, does it this way and have never experienced a failure related to this. And we all started out 'the right way' by using spreaders and found it to be more damaging and costly in the long run.
Well, you'll have a bit of a wait as there's still a fair amount of work to be done before it's back on the road. The point of the #FairmontProject is to show the reality of a car build and that it's not something that happens in a weekend. At least not if you want the car to be any good by the time you're done.
On an old american design/de facto standards, using metric would involve rounding. It was designed in SAE units, so that' the proper term. If it were a metric engine (such as the Vulcan V6 in my Ford Ranger) then metric might be a better unit set to measure in. It all depends on what the precision parts were designed with.
Interesting, thanks for the reply. I'm only at 95k on my '00 GT but I've been thinking of grabbing a 4V engine and doing a full N/A build. Anyway thanks for taking the time, I'm looking forward to going through this experience, I hope I can find a shop like this near me ;)
It's a spacer that not only holds the outer rings in place, but it also provides an area for the oil to go after it has been removed from the cylinder walls by the rings. In that same groove behind the wavy ring, there are holes around the circumference of the piston where the oil can pass through on it's way back to the crankcase.
mostly this three rings are only fit one way , this video didn't show ! if already know ,you don't need the paper that come with the rings box, you still know how !
And with press in rods you can't really get it wrong or your very likely to break a piston on the uninstall luckily I got all 8 done and after 4 I was thinking if I had a 4 cylinder I'd be done same with 6 and then finally finished the 8
I've said it before and I'll say it again - I would LOVE to just sit and learn from Kevin; so much about engine design floating around in his head!
You can't even imagine how many friends were calling me crazy or dumb or whatever for putting the rings on pistons with bare hands and without any (fancy) tools they are using or they saw somebody using (not all of them are machinists). Now I feel so much better and I even start feeling proud of myself learning to not break or damage everything I don't do with "recommended" tools. Great vid as always! Thank you!
Ive always spiral them on thats the way i was taught Ive never bent a ring but i have seen plenty of people break them by using a ring installer
This is the best video that shows how to install the spiral lock rings into the piston!
You can't even build an engine without a pocket screwdriver. It is the unsung hero of everything automotive.
LOL. Nice!
I once had a dating profile ask what I couldn't live without. It wouldn't let me put "screwdrivers".
And they wonder why 50% of marriages end in divorce
I'm glad this video was uploaded because this helps me to better understand what might have happened on that Chevy Tahoe you did back at the old shop where some of the cylinders had complete compression loss.
Rings can be a big pressure loss. One of those old Tahoe's he worked on seemed to be a valve issue.
Eric, we really appreciate you taking out the time to show us some of the tedious things that happens at the machine shop. A lot of times, Guys mention sending something to the machine shop and that's it. Makes it seem like the machine shop is a top secret place that no one may know about. Thank you for showing is what happens. Stay dirty, but clean at the machine shop.
You know what? Watching a series like this demonstrates how little I know about building an engine correctly and why I WILL have professionals like them build my motor when I have the money to do so!
Good call. Thanks for the comment.
Quite the contrary for me, as this includes a whole lot of new info which will come in handy when I'm going to rebuild a B18 engine on my own for swapping into my Sol ;)
If you can't find the time to read books and instruction manuals and learn how to do the job correctly then it is certainly better to leave it to the professionals.
I have no problem with that, but thanks for caring ;)
Key words - "when I have the money"
Dude your the GO TO GUY FOR ME when i wanna know something. So much detail and THANK YOU
That's amazing how engineers design and create pistons .thanks for showing us this @erictheguy
Agreed.
that made me feel better I just put new jugs and pistons on my iron head but was worried I put the ring gaps in wrong but that just made me feel a lot better I did it right thanks man
Cool. I had heard of both kinds of pistons, but I didn't know floating pins helped with high compression applications. Thanks, Eric!
Interesting to see how these things go on a car engine. I messed a lot with mopeds when i was young (who didn't?), the cilinders of those go a LOT easier together. Like you don't have to look for any alignments at all. Just put the piston rod in the cilinder, slide the axle in, put the spring rings in to prevent the axle coming out, put two cylinder rings on, and that's it. I guess i better leave car engines alone :D
Thank you! I'll be doing this in a couple of weeks!
Thank you for the awesome video well said easy to understand ready to install my first set of rings!!!
Greetings and thanks for the video.
But now then, I thought whatever crank you guys discussed would come with the recommended thickness bearings or atleast information warning to avoid such an issue in advance, no?
I can learn a lot from this guy
I wonder if engine manufacturers take as much pride in building engines as this guy does in mass production .
Only super car and hyper car and above, everyone else, even if they say they do, it's impossible to take pride in thousands upon thousands. If you hear a fella say that they take pride in making 50000 pencils every week, he's either lying through his teeth or deluding himself.
You should see what kind of pride they have when they build a W16 engine, oh boy it's like watching Caravaggio paint. There's a level of sterility, yes, with masks and white gloves, but they sure do make up what's lost by the attention to detail they put in every damn part from a bolt that's no bigger than a bee's dick to a crank case or an oil pan.
they have pride designing it though. Production is a whole different world.
You're doing a great work I like your demonstration u have building me up my version thanks alot!
I commented the same thing about ring pliers on another video, by another channel, the guy claims that you damage the rings like that...The builder I worked for, was 70 years old, had 50 years of experience, and Built Race engines that won NASCAR/NHRA/IHRA Events and Championships and he never used the ring pliers... (I have seen rings BENT with pliers - And Broken, and they were not over extended!)
Thanks for continually providing quality content videos. Learning and doing piston rings on my 12v Cummins today, this clip very much helped out.
hey bro keep working hard in upload one video every day you are very helpfull apresiate your videos ur awesome
Real amzing knowledge you have and ready to share with us.
Excellent, video Kevin and Eric..... Thanks Buds.
Thank you!!! Very helpful...will apply this also in my channel to guide others!
Eric, personal question. Do you know how to build engines yourself? im simply amazing of how much actually goes into just the engine. How many years have you been a mechanic and what kind of degrees do you have?? Thanks for making very informational videos. I hope one day ill be a mechanic like yourself. Thats my passion.
Yes I do. I'm not nearly as experienced as Kevin though, that's why I let him take the reigns on this one. There's a lot of money on this screen, I'd rather put it in the hands of an expert. As for my credentials: www.ericthecarguy.com/about-etcg
Kevin mentioned round wire circlips... I lost an engine to one of those bloody things once; they really don't seem to like to stay in their gap! Flat circlip or spiral lock all the way! :D
Excellent Video as always..my question is, is there anyway to set you piston rings after hone your cylinders walls. I did a leak-down test on a few of my cylinders and found that a few of them was low 20 percent leakage. the leak down showed that the air was coming from the crankcase. so i took them out, hone out all the cylinder that were low. the pistons and rings are now back in which brings me back to my question above. thanks for your feedback
Please ask Kevin what his opinion is on fractured bearing caps.
Haha just had to put my pistons on my rods an often fuck up most people make is installing the connecting rods backwards and I really like the idea of free floating wrist pin mine were press in and the chamfer is what he was talking about the rods going on the right way
just created a TH-cam channel to guide European repair.
TH-cam:
Do you have a video on piston removal?
Eric why are Honda/Acura dealers replacing the pistons when reringing engines because of oil consumption ? Can the pistons be reused if cleaned thoroughly and found to be serviceable after inspecting them ?
Would you align the ring the same way on a 4inline cylinder engine?
Good job teaching
the things i would do to have the knowledge and experience as these guys as a 17 year old....
Hi Eric. I see that compression rings were lined up with wrist pin locations.
Any truths to "never line up gaps with pin"?
Does it make any difference.
Is it necessary to put the right face of the piston ring, did it have the right side, like the one with letter need to be facing upward or else? Or any side is the same?
That was VERY informative, GREAT!
Are you also rebuilding the engine that came out of the mustang?
Ima be changing the pistons and piston rings on a 2004 1.8 vw Jetta soon, I was watching a video on it and it said that I can do it by just taking off the head, dropping the oil pan and pushing the old pistons out thru the top, would this really work?
Where can I buy a valve spring compressor tool like the purple c clamp on the wall?
Eric
What’s the best aftermarket brand for piston rings ? I’m rebuilding my 04 civic engine and the OEM are like $200 for 4 pistons rings
Thank you! This is going to be very helpful!
fascinating, sure learned a bunch on this video.
OLÁ. Cá entre nós, quem foi que ensinou Você a montar anéis de forma ERRADA?
I think Turbo Yoda might beg to differ :)
He scratched the piston right there but I think it's not a big deal since he knows what he is doing.
Scratching the side of a piston doesn't hurt anything as long as you don't create a burr that prohibits ring movement.
Hey man I'm a huge fan I actually have a Ford Fairmont of my own but I got a problem, I had to replace the cylinder head gasket on my 89 Chevy s 10 2.5l TBI and I replaced the intake exhaust and valve cover gaskets, and the truck runs but it Acts like it is miss firing but when I pull the plugs it dosent seem like that was it but I wasn't sure what to torque the rocker arms too because their was no specks in the manual, but none of the vacuum lines are hooked up properly but the check engine light is on and i can't pull the code what can I do ? I have no clue I've been working on it for 2 days and i don't know what to do
i think you missed to point out the tang that sticks out from the rod bearing that is also machined into the rod itself, i know 2 of my friends who spun bearins by not using the correct ones, ie: using bearings that were totally flat in a rod that is meant to accept a bearing that locks in
The tang is only there to locate the bearing during assembly. After you torque the rod bearing crush keeps the bearing in place. He'll probably explain that during the short block assembly.
They spun bearings most probably from not checking their clearances properly. Plasti-gage only shows part of the story
MCM already grabbed the Yoda name for their automotive hero.
Also Kevin has more of a Budda quality about him, no offense ;-)
May I suggest Mr. Engin-Zen?
It's a bit late since I shot these videos back in May.
I like the videos but they are too short i like the longer ones please
Howdy. I have a new-to-me 1998 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4, automatic, 3.3L VG33E 4th VIN digit "A" motor, made 10/1997. It has one or more bad piston wrist pins, and a confirmed bad crankshaft due to excessive bearing failures from oil loss. Does anyone know if the pistons in a 1996-2004 Pathfinders, QX4, Frontier, or Xterras can be removed and reinstalled through the bottom of the motor (oil pan), with the motor still installed? I also have a bad crank so I have to have it removed and machined too. The rest of the motor is clean, no oil burning, and low miles (165,000). I hate to swap it for an unknown possible problem motor if I can do it this way instead.
I haven't been able to find anyone online who has accomplished this, but maybe it's not possible due to clearance or whatever. Do ya know, or take a guess if ya been under one like this? Thanks much!
hey eric, do you have videos about the electric stuff, ecu remap maybe?? thanks
South Main Auto Repair has a lot of diagnoses vids.... check him out.
armando nika no ecu all carb
Free floating piston only come on expensive forged pistons.
no necessary oil or brake in lube between the wrist pin and the piston?
One of my rings has a "N" marked on one side of the ring. Does this "N" meen "this side up"?
Update on that, I found a video that said, put it upright on a flat surface, and se witch way its angled. My second compression ring had 2.5 grades of angle. Not visible to an untrained eye like mine. And turned out the "N" was supposed to face down. So it scrapes the oil down.
1st compression ring was supposed to go up with the "N". It was a big mindfuck for me, but the engine still runs 👍
Enjoyed that.heaven knows why its got 60 dislikes.....
I just built my 351w I have flattop pistons I have the compression at 9.7.1 , rv cam
Canada customs dinged the top of one of my pistons I was pissed and had to do a lot of ring clearance checks, thanks customs lol
H-beam rods are very good for torque, not so. Much rpm. I-beam rods are good for rpm, and adequate for torque. I don't think you're revving that 302 very high, though. Forged internals are definitely a good idea for boosted applications.
H beams are stronger all around, even at high RPM. The reason people tend to use I beams for high RPM applications isn't because they are stronger, but because they are lighter, which a lighter rotating assembly is always better for high RPM use.
just created a TH-cam channel to guide European repair.
TH-cam:
sir rig direction will be same for any engine type
Is it okay to twist them rings whlst u fit ?
OLÁ 06/08/24 Além de não saberem montar anéis não notaram que o pistão tem um defeito de projeto
Awesome video thank you
I'm sure it's ok but I've always been told you never spiral a ring on to a piston. I've spent a great deal of effort to never do that and Kevin just bends those things around like it doesn't matter
Ask him how many failures he's had from doing that. Betting good money the answer will be, 'Not a one.', since every engine builder I know, including myself, does it this way and have never experienced a failure related to this. And we all started out 'the right way' by using spreaders and found it to be more damaging and costly in the long run.
You been stuck in Kalvinator HQ for weeks, do we need to call for assistance from the FBI?
Well, it is called a 'series' for a reason. ;)
Is it serious?
The series is, but I'm not.
Can we make this into a tongue twister, no I'm not that smart.
It's been a good series, though I can't wait for you to show us the finished thing.
Well, you'll have a bit of a wait as there's still a fair amount of work to be done before it's back on the road. The point of the #FairmontProject is to show the reality of a car build and that it's not something that happens in a weekend. At least not if you want the car to be any good by the time you're done.
are the oil rings fited or do they go on straight out of the box
This should help with that question. th-cam.com/video/uAguO3EPzcI/w-d-xo.html
Gracias ...Nice video
They are Kinda too Pretty To stick in to the engine
:)
Good lesson
Does this works on 2001 h22 honda prleude?
What's the part number on the piston rings?
Nice work
Kevin sounds like John Goodman.
J Babb yes!! Lol
Well done!
Please sir clear about the joint and ring number if not suitable and don't mach match
That piston is bigger than my future.
How we recognise which types of ring is fit
4/10 of a thousand, 7/10 of a thousands, thousands and a half... Doesn't units this small not seem obsolete to MM?
When working with clearances like this and you know what you are talking about, its easier to stay in a measurement that you are comfortable with.
On an old american design/de facto standards, using metric would involve rounding. It was designed in SAE units, so that' the proper term.
If it were a metric engine (such as the Vulcan V6 in my Ford Ranger) then metric might be a better unit set to measure in. It all depends on what the precision parts were designed with.
Besides, when millimeters is too big, you always have micrometers, nanometers etc...
Larry Bolan
New parts are so pretty! Mmmm.
The guy scratched the piston putting the ring like this
6:17
so what if he did scratch the piston. the rings do the compression seal.
The most important part of the oil rings you didn't even explain and that's the expander ring on properly installing it you just slapped it in there
I'm curious which method Ford uses from the factory, for say, the 4.6 modular engines. If anyone knows hit me up!
Much of engine assembly is done by hand, even at the factory so it's probably very similar.
Interesting, thanks for the reply. I'm only at 95k on my '00 GT but I've been thinking of grabbing a 4V engine and doing a full N/A build. Anyway thanks for taking the time, I'm looking forward to going through this experience, I hope I can find a shop like this near me ;)
I hope so too. Good luck! Sounds like a killer build.
Thanks :)
Nice video.thank u
Forgive my ignorance, but what is the purpose of the "wavy" ring?
wenliu99 oil control...it basically scrapes oil off the cilinder wall
It's a spacer that not only holds the outer rings in place, but it also provides an area for the oil to go after it has been removed from the cylinder walls by the rings. In that same groove behind the wavy ring, there are holes around the circumference of the piston where the oil can pass through on it's way back to the crankcase.
Thanks.
The masters.
honda techs have this memorized
Why is he working on a hard table without a barrier between the piston and the table like a rubber mat?
Hello can you show me how is infiniti fx45
mostly this three rings are only fit one way , this video didn't show ! if already know ,you don't need the paper that come with the rings box, you still know how !
Wish you can do a v6 3.5 piston rings Honda very problematic engine
instead of heating cant you just use lubrication?
Some good ideas for the rings on a piston assault rifle or machine gun in this video.
I would like to have Kevin's brain..
When dragging the rings into their slot he is scratching the outside wall of the piston head
80% of the machine shops ive seen all do the rings by hand. They are against the ring tool. Its kinda like the oil filter wrench. Not needed
Spencer T. Which doesn't't hurt a piston one bit. And it never comes in contact with the cylinder, so who cares?
And with press in rods you can't really get it wrong or your very likely to break a piston on the uninstall luckily I got all 8 done and after 4 I was thinking if I had a 4 cylinder I'd be done same with 6 and then finally finished the 8
Video is suppose to be about installing rings....
Where the gap of oil ring it is be in a piston
This is too cool...
i couldn't understand one thing he was mumbling about.
very good