Pictures of bad rings (i think)

[stubborn1]

I got the head off my 98 today and pulled the pistons. The compression rings seemed okay - they looked intact and still had some "spring" to them. The oil rings were another story. They are basically stuck inside the piston and carboned up. I guess this explains where my quart of oil every 700 miles was going.


Picture of all of the pistons




Closeup of the oil ring

[epyon22]

man you need to scrub those babies up or get them cleaned and get a whole new ring set.

[deekay140]

You've Got It Right, It's Blow By. I've Done Dozens Of Them. Break The Compression Rings And Use The Ends To Scrap Out Carbon.
If You're Not In A Hurry, Go To A Gm Dealer And Buy 2 Cans Of Top Engine Cleaner And Soak The Tops Of Pistons In It Overnight. Then It Scraps Out Pretty Easy.

[stubborn1]

I'm gonna have the guy doing the head clean them in the tank. I figure I may as well spend the cash and have the valves done while I got the head off. It's got 131k miles, so it probably won't hurt.

Quick question on honing - I can still see the original hone marks in the cylinder walls. Do I still need to worry about honing?

[deekay140]

you cant hone that block. itll be fine as is

[tnmk]

Stubborn1, I just did my engine too and borrowed a hone from Autozone. All you do is give them a refundable deposit. It'll break any glaze that's in your cylinders.

Don't know why deekay says you can't do it. I did mine.

I see your in WI. Where at? I'm in Kaukauna (Appleton area)

[fredk]

you can hone any motor but the toyota blocks are so hard that you may never see a ring line, i have seen hi mileage blocks still have the factory hone pattern still on the walls, you dont need to do much honing at all just break the glaze and get a pattern and go onto the next

[toyomoho]

If the block is out, have it hot tanked. The shop can power hone the cylinders for a nominal charge.

[schn0354]

I also replaced rings, on a 7A-FE, and had the same problems with the oil control rings. Rings from Toyota are usually Moly coated and break in quickly. You will still need to break the smoothness of the bore with a Flex-hone in order for the new rings to seat with maximum compression. Do not use the traditional 3 stone spring loaded de-glazing tool. It cuts deeper, is more difficult to obtain the correct crosshatch pattern, and does not leave a plateau finish.

Are you replacing the valve seals also?

[stubborn1]

Well - I honed the cylinders quickly using the basic 3 stone honing tool that I got as a loaner from Autozone. I didn't hit it very hard, just enough to knock off the glaze. It didn't give it a nice 45 degree pattern, but still has some pitch to it.

The head is in the shop right now and the seals will be replaced.

[KnightX_AE86]

yuck... almost yacked when i saw the rings