A car’s piston rings regulate engine oil consumption and oil pressure. Therefore, when the piston rings fail, the car will experience a myriad of problems that may ultimately damage the entire engine. Although piston rings are some of the least expensive parts of a car engine, they are essential to the effective operation of the vehicle. Several symptoms of bad piston rings can let you know when you need to replace them to avoid critical engine damage.
Modern vehicles are commonly installed with three piston rings per cylinder. Two rings to hold back combustion fumes and the other holds and direct engine oil where it should go in the vehicle. Here are the different piston ring types and their functions in the engine.
Compression rings prevent gas leakage by sealing the top of the piston. These rings are commonly on the primary piston grooves but different car models can have them located differently. These rings also transfer heat to the piston walls from the piston. The compression rings shear the oil layer left by the oil ring.
Wiper rings provide a backup to the pressure compression rings. They are below the compression rings and are responsible for cleaning the excess oil from the liner surface. They also help the compression rings to stoop any possible gas leakages. Wiper rings are tapper angle faced directed towards the bottom to adequately wipe oil simultaneously with piston and crankshaft motion. Improper positioning of the wiper rings causes excessive oil consumption because the rings wipe off more oil at the combustion chamber.
According to their name, oil control rings regulate the lubrication oil amount that moves through the cylinder walls. The rings evenly distribute the oil around the liner circumference. Scrapper rings scrub off the oil splashed on the cylinder walls. They disburse this scrapped oil back to the crankcase. They also prevent oil from passing the narrow space between the ring and the cylinder.
Several things can help you identify if your piston rings are wearing out. The most common symptoms are listed below.
![Symptoms of Bad Piston Rings [Causes and How to Prevent and fix]](https://pro.autospt.com/UploadFiles/202202/2022021916303468.jpg)
One of the obvious symptoms of bad piston rings is having too much smoke coming out of the exhaust of your car. In addition to an increase in the amount of exhaust smoke, this smoke will have a somehow burning smell and will appear darker than usual. It has a dark grey appearance because engine oil is leaking to the combustion chamber because the piston rings have failed to seal efficiently.
Read Also: White Smoke from Exhaust: Reasons and How to Fix it
The moment your check engine light turns on because of excess oil consumption, it is highly likely that your piston rings need replacement. Worn-out piston rings will lead to oil leaks in the combustion chamber which automatically will manifest themselves as more oil consumption by the vehicle. So check the Engine oil Level Regularly.
Therefore, your car will require you to regularly add oil more frequently than the average 4000 miles before refill. Immediately inspect your piston rings when your car begins consuming more than the regular amount of oil.
Piston rings regulate compression and lubrication. Therefore, when your piston rings wear out and you lose compression and you have inadequate lubrication, the vehicle will lose its acceleration power. The car will struggle to accelerate when you step on the gas pedal and the engine will take longer to respond and speed up your maneuver.
Decreased acceleration can also be due to spoilt valve seals. Therefore perform a compression test to distinguish whether you have bad piston rings or valve seals. Higher compressions are symptoms of bad valve seals while low compression means your piston rings are damaged.
As mentioned above, loss of compression delays acceleration due to inefficient engine rotation which leads to engine stall. In extreme cases, you may lose all engine power and you may need to tow your vehicle when the engine malfunctions on the road due to bad piston rings. Minor cases only lead to poor engine performance.
Complete engine stall will only occur if you ignore the early symptoms of bad piston rings and continue to use the car without taking it to the mechanic for inspection.
An increase in the oil intake is often because of blow-by when the air-oil mixture in the combustion chamber leaks past the installed piston rings to create more pressure in the engine crankcase.
When pressure vents from the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) hose back to the crankcase then there will be a large amount of blow-by and the air intake will be very oily. Oily intake will also result in increased oil consumption.
The two main causes of wearing out of piston rings and most engine parts are dirt contamination. Dirt enters the engine through faulty air filters. Similarly, dirt can make its way to the engine through the oil circuit by contaminated oil. Therefore here are the easiest ways to increase your piston rings lifespan.
Regularly change your engine oil. Changing your oil regularly ensures that the oil running in your engine is clean and free from residue. That prevents sedimentation and corrosion of useful metal parts like piston rings. Although the oil filter sieves off dirt, sometimes the oil circuit is not adequately cleaned. The dirt particles already on the clean side of the oil circuit reach crucial engine parts causing wear and tear.
Perform regular air filter maintenance. When the car air filter doesn’t work efficiently it leads to oil leaks that can give easy entrance to dirt and debris. When you timely replace your air filter before it malfunctions you increase the chances of your piston rings serving you for a longer period.
Take the following steps to fix your piston rings when you notice the symptoms of bad piston rings.
Most people ask, how long can I drive with bad piston rings? It all depends on the extent of their damage. However, here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions by car owners with piston ring problems.
After performing piston ring failure analysis, ideally, you should replace piston rings together with the ring spacer. That is because bad piston rings hone and de-glaze the cylinder leaving the grooves damaged. Remove the top ring ridge on the bore to avoid the ring smashing with the ridge.
Since you already have the engine out, you can also check and replace bearing shells and check for lapping in the valves.
A broken piston causes a rattling and knocking sound when running. The rattling sound of a broken piston is difficult to miss. Bad piston rings sound will be accompanied by misfiring and engine knocking.
Depending on the kind and extent of the problem on your hands, it is unlikely that rebuilding an engine can be less expensive than replacing it. Most engine parts are quite costly and require you to purchase other parts simultaneously when they malfunction.
You can avoid having to replace or rebuild your engine by regularly servicing your vehicle to fix what causes piston rings to fail before waiting for them to wear out.
When you have bad piston rings or the valves, cylinder walls, or a head gasket leak, the vehicle engine will stall causing misfiring. You will notice white smoke from the engine that means that the worn-out and damaged piston rings can no longer seal the cylinder adequately.
Piston rings are crucial parts of a vehicle’s engine. They may easily be ignored but can cause major damage to the vehicle because the engine will lose the compression necessary for avoiding oil leaks. You will notice failing piston rings by the increase in oil consumption by the car and the increase and change in smoke color. Ensure you visit a mechanic regularly to check and replace your piston rings as soon as you sight any of the symptoms of bad piston rings motorcycle or car as soon as possible.
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