Originally Posted by Skinflute22
okay i had a compresion test done today and it turns out the rings are bad what is the process for puttin new rings in do you have to like hone out the block and bore it?
I did my rings all myself and I can give you a basic outline of what needs to be done. You can PM me if you need more info.
It was a bitch of a job that took me about 12 hours of labor all by myself. Keep in mind it was my first time and if I did it again, it wouldn't take as long.
You start by completely removing the head. Shouldn't take more than 1-2 hours since you are just ripping everything apart, putting it in bags to keep it organized, and making mental (or written if you are lacking brain functionality like I sometimes do) notes of where everything goes. Mine takes a bit longer since my turbo manifold can only be removed with little asian hands and tons of patience.
Once the head is off, you need to get comfortable underneath the car. Drop the oil pan and all oil pickup hardware underneath until you can see the main caps and connecting rod bolts. Start loosening the rod bolts a little at a time to prevent any warpage to anything. Once all the bolts are off, pop the pistons up and out of the cylinders with a hammer handle. Keep all bearings and rod bolts intact with the respected piston/rod.
Then you need to hone the cylinder walls to get the glaze off and provide a scratchy surface for the new rings to "bite". Then you need to remove the old rings, clean the grooves, and install the new rings in a staggered position making sure that none of the gaps fall on a thrust surface. Then you need to compress the rings and tap each piston into its respected cylinder. Then you retighten the rod bolts to spec and make sure the bearings are properly seated and then replace everything that was removed to get to them. Then put the head back on and you are done.
A service manual is very recommended. This is a highly in-depth job and I don't recommend it to anyone except those that know and are comfortable with what they are doing, have the proper tools and reference materials, and have plenty of time to ensure the job isn't rushed and every precaution is made to avoid critical mistakes that could lead to the complete destruction of your motor. I went through the steps very, very vaguely just to give you an idea of what is involved. If it were me though, I would just buy a new engine. Unfortunately, I have a very expensive engine, so I wanted to repair what I had for under $200 and 12 hours of hard labor instead of shell out $2k for a new motor. It is all up to you.