Piston ring prob

[kracker886]

Ok first of whats what, im new here. My name is nick and I drive a 1995 honda civic dx. This is my first civic, which i have wanted for years. Anyway I have been having problems passing emissions, so i took it to my friend. We relpaced this and that and still failed. Now he is telling me that my second piston ring is bad, and that its spitting oil out of the muffler. Not that i dont believe him, but is there a simple way to check this out? This is a major problem, and is gonna take alot of time and money to fix. So I just want to be sure that this is really the problem. Thanks in advance for the help

[Del_Slo]

well if it really is spitting oil out of the muffler just start it rev it a few times and look out the back of your muffler there should be oil stains on the ground.

[EGHseries]

do a compression test man and you might have some bent valves or bad valve seals

[SuperSupra]

white/blue Smoke on low rpm´s ? If yes, then its a high chance that it is the piston rings.

If its only smoke in higher rpm´s 2500+ +and the engine feels strong, then its probably the valve stems.

Get a compression tester, if one piston got a lower compression it is a worn piston ring.

[nicoyita1]

If he had no compression, the car wouldn't start.....That also wouldn't cause oil to come out the exhaust pipe.....check the exhaust mani gasket....

I have bent valves in mine and it obviously doesn't start....(no compression)

[kracker886]

Ok well ill try the compression check. But I check myself and no oil coming out of the muffler. No weird smoke. Just I gave him 80 bucks to dianose it, and that's what he told me. Where can I buy a compression tester? Thanks for all the help so far.

[jdm jim]

welcome dude, what part of emissions is it failing?

[kracker886]

the HC PPM, the dude also said it was the piston ring cause i burned 3 1/2 quarts of oil in less than 600 miles

[jdm jim]

yea oil will cause high hcs. probally a cracked ring or something thats a lot of oil burning

[Del_Slo]

yea thats a ton of oil thats damn near your whole oil tank in 600 of what should be 3000.

[cheezeonmakneez]

If he had no compression, the car wouldn't start.....That also wouldn't cause oil to come out the exhaust pipe.....check the exhaust mani gasket....

I have bent valves in mine and it obviously doesn't start....(no compression)

Who said no compression? I have had bent valves and my engines have ran. They run like ass but still run.

[kracker886]

Well i took it to a shop and had them look at it. The Piston rings are screwed. So I guess I get to buy a new motor soon YAY!!!! Well thanks to all for your help.

[nicoyita1]

Who said no compression? I have had bent valves and my engines have ran. They run like ass but still run.


EGHseries said to run a compression test......

Damn all my valves were bent so I had no compression in any of my cylinders.......It wouldn't start.
All of your valves were bent?:???:

[kracker886]

Yeah i did the compression test, i guess i didnt do it right so i took it to a shop and they did it for me. They said it was in fact the second piston ring. Then they proceeded to tell me that it would be cheaper to replace the motor. So i don't know what to do. Im not really that mechanically inclined so i cant do the work myself.....

[nicoyita1]

Replacing a motor is cheaper than replacing a piston ring??? yea, OK lmaooooooooooooo


WTF please don't believe that bullshit....Find somebody who will do the job for cheap, preferrably a connection, not a shop.

[NURSE]

Up here a D16Z6 with trans is like $85, so yes it is cheaper than replacing a piston ring lol.

[kracker886]

lol thats what i thought, i could'nt see how that was possible. Nurse: Is that off a website or a salvage yard?

[31dev31]

Salvage yard obviously... Unless on craiglist, someone is desperate to get rid of theirs.

[NURSE]

No not always salvage yards. There are people swaping all the time, they're just getting rid of their D series, I happen to know our local guys and I buy the engines when I can. Here you can get a D15B for around $300 installed, if reffered lol.

[kracker886]

Yeah that would be nice but i cant find it like that down here. And if im going to have to replace the motor, i rather buy a reman. or a new motor. I can go to the part store(s) and get a reman. for like 1900. i know its a big difference but at least i know there will be no problems and if there is it will be covered under warranty for three years, unlimited miles

[afriedma]

So, what do you think is a fair price for a full ring job from an independent shop? I had the head remanufactured and that apparently increased compression enough to really start blowing oil through the rings. I was burning a little oil before (1 qt/month), but now I'm burning 2 qts/week! Between the new head/belts/gaskets/seals and a ring job, I should probably have replaced the engine, but I feel like I'm too far into it now.
Thanks!
Al

[kracker886]

^^^^I was told like $1000.00-$1300.00, and if i add a few hurdred dollars, i can save time and effort. And at least if the motor fck's up it will be under warrenty

[nicoyita1]

True, It would be a whole lot easier to replace the engine.....then again, i do all my work myself so if it were me i'd save the money and fix it but hey, thats just me.....

if you're gonna pay someone to do your work for you, then yea its probably cheaper to replace the engine...

[kracker886]

oh yeah lol if i could do the work myself id replace the rings. but i dont know a whole lot about engines. other than the basic's

[afriedma]

Well, I had the rings replaced, and it was a good thing, 'cause otherwise we wouldn't have known that one of the rods was visibly bent! Not a big job to replace as long as everything else was apart. so, with $1500 into the engine (ouch!), it runs great.

[stickeyrice84]

i had bad rings on my d15 with a d16 head sitting around the shop while i had the pistons out i changed the rings and the head at the same time took most of the day but well worth it in my mind