piston ring question???
 

hi everybody well i have a 88 22r that i pulled the headgasket of of yeasterday and i was wondering if anyone has ever replaced the piston rings and did a hone job wile the engine was still in the truck i was just going to pull the oil pan and the pistons that way but my brother says that the dust from the hone might screw up the bearings. is there any way to do this with out risking making it worse all help will be appriciated.

Ide replace the bearings while you have the crank and pistons all out. If your gonna pull the pistons you might as well change the bearings while your in there. Since its the 4cly I dont see why you couldnt do it with the motor in although it would be easier to clean everything from the honing and work on it out side the truck.

I've not done it, but I've had good instruction on doing it.

Put some rags down over the bearings and crank down in the bottom of the cylinders. Use WD-40 on the cylinder walls to keep the dust down and to lube the walls. Plus, you use the coating to get a visual on what kind of crosshatch pattern you're getting. Then, just clean everything up REAL well with towels and a shop vac.

That being said, it's not the most recommended way of doing it, but it can be done that way.

Check and double check your ring ends gaps before and after to make sure you've not gone too far.

so i have to remove the crank??? i was thinking that i diddint have to the only reason i want to replace the rings is when the headgasket blew i took off the oil cap wile it was running and there was quite a bit of air coming out so i researched and found that the rings cause this so i figure that i fried the rings with the head gasket or could the head hasket cause this?

I did just what you are doing about a yar ago. You don't have to pull the crank (I didn't). But you have to make sure you cover the bearing surfaces well before doing any work. I found that a shop towel knoted in an overhand knot works good. Put some vacume hose over the rod bolts to keep from damaging the bearing surfaces. The other advice seams good. Like fillsrunner4 said, it's alot easier to do the job out of the truck, but it can be done. Other notes:

1. Before you get your rings, check for a ridge at the top of the cylinder. You can rent a ridgereamer at autozone, etc. Check to see the cylider diameter before buying rings, so you can get the right size.

2. Pull your hood off before you start. Waaaaaay more room to move around.

3. Plenty of oil when you use the ridgereamer and the honer.

4. Ziploc bags are your friend. A bag for everything, and a note on the bag. I even like to write the wrench size on the bag, and number the order that I took them out of the truck. One bag for each piston.

5. Brake parts cleaner is your friend too. So is the one gallon can of Berryman's parts cleaner.

6. Get the tap and chase out your head bolt holes. I can't remember the thread size, I borrowed a friends. It's a weird thread pitch, you will prolly have to order one.

It seems like a huge job, but even though I'm not the most experienced mechanic, if you take your time, and get some help you can do it. 22r's are easy to work on.

if youve never done it before, pull the whole motor and do it ALL, right

it really is easier w/it out...

you dont have to pull the motor i did mine with it still in ask anyone but then i had to cause i wanted to get my crank checked out and it was cracked i spon a bearing lol but yeah rags wd-40 and a air can very easy lol

alright so i have the pistons out now it wasent that bad the oil pan was really hard to get off for some reason though im going to hone it in a couple of hours and if the parts get here on time should start putting it together friday thanks for the help everybody!!