LQ4 ring gap too large?
9 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 13,616
Likes: 185
From: Norn Iron
More bore finish/ring sealing around the other 99.7% of the ring contact area, as well as tune etc.
Even say a 40 thou gap....1mm relative to a 315mm circumference.....really isnt a lot. And it is roughly above...0.3% So the difference between a 20 thou gap and a 40 thou gap ?
0.15% difference
And then there's the 2nd ring, and the labyrinth path for combustion to get past with the ring gaps hopefully at 180deg apart ( although they will rotate in operation )
But it would make for a great test for them. As great as some of the shows are....some have been a little boring and very run of the mill parts swapping
that works well . but if you want to really turn it up pull the pistons and get the rings cleaned up . I have never taken apart a ls engine with over 100k that did not have carboned up stuck rings.the engines I clean and re assemble seem to really hold up well .
Staging Lane
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 82
Likes: 3
When u say clean and re assemble do u mean using the same bearings and rod bolts in the exact same place? Or do u mean replacing everything and re conditioning the rods. Thnx
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 55
Likes: 2
I agree with this. Some of the rings were so crusty that they were stuck to the pistons, especially the oil ring, that thing was a pain to clean.
I bought an LQ4 that had been in a car that was burned-when I pulled the heads the cyl walls
were rusted. I honed the **** out of it, still had some pits, but bought new rings, checked gap,
they were north of .030, lol. Threw it together and ran it on boost, no problems. I had some smoke
but it was the PCV sucking oil, but thought it was the rings, lol.
were rusted. I honed the **** out of it, still had some pits, but bought new rings, checked gap,
they were north of .030, lol. Threw it together and ran it on boost, no problems. I had some smoke
but it was the PCV sucking oil, but thought it was the rings, lol.
Some did. I just can’t find the article. Up to .100 and power variation was negligible.
Here’s my thoughts on any sbe build. Most of the time they’ve got quite few miles on em. Pull it apart, clean everything real good and reassemble. Same bolts, bearings (maybe), pistons, etc. That way you know the gallows are clean, you get to see the bearing condition or maybe just catch something before it goes south. People’s vehicle maintenance habits sometimes fall short. No reason to make it your problem. Hell, my grandfather changed oil twice a year. And that’s if he went on a fishing trip!
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TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 319
Likes: 4
From: Longview, TX
Last couple that we did was just that...Clean all the carbon out, wash it all down good to remove any sludge, old oil etc Put it back together with the original rings, pistons, rods, bearings, bolts, all of it. We just kept track of what rings came from what piston, what rod bearing came from what rod, what rod/piston came from what bore, and what main bearing came out of what main...Only put on new gaskets. Last one was a 240k mile 5.3 and the bearings looked nearly new. No pitting or marks at all. The other was a boosted 5.3 that made good power (650ish) and never hurt any parts.
