I think he's reffering to the italian tuneup, excessive blowby + high revs, pressurizing the crank case.

In my experience what might appear to be stuck rings turns out to be overheated rings. If the engine overheats, the rings lose their tension. No amount of magic chemical soaking will solve the problem.

Why do you think you have stuck rings? Are you experiencing low compression or excessive burning of oil? If I thought I had stuck rings, the first thing I would do would be to run a tank of B100 thru the engine. Biodiesel is a marvellous solvent, and may help to free the rings. If your rings are actually stuck, and you run bio thru the tank, you will want to change the oil after one tank, as the oil will likely be contaminated by fuel. Just my two cents.

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Vehicles Owned:
1983 Mercedes Benz 300D ~ 212,000 miles
2005 Mazda 3 S ~ 96,000 miles

Cracked rings can also give low compression, burning oil as well.

Larry is right about overheated rings as well.

So what makes you think you have stuck rings?

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

99 W210 E300 Turbo Diesel, chipped, DPF/Converter Delete. Still needs EGR Delete, 232K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Gone and still missed...1982 w123 300D, 1991 w124 300D

I'm not exactly sure what the problem is.....I know I have low compression in 1 cylinder (150psi vs. 400+ in the other 3), the car smokes a lot when started, and idles roughly....there is also very high oil consumption, (approx. 1 quart/100 miles).

First, I plan to adjust the valves & see if anything changes....I just got the car so don't know when the valves were adjusted last.

I am hoping that the high oil consumption is due to bad seals, and, perhaps, some very worn/out of tolerance guides. Also hoping that the compression loss is due to something in the valve train.

I can still hope, until I prove otherwise, right ?

Cheers,

Brian

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1987 560SL - 95K
1996 E300D - 183K
1997 E300D - 162K
1982 240D - 160K

Sure, its a free country. Hope for the best, but be advised that not a whole lot of oil is burned down the guides on a diesel (unlike a gasser) because there is no manifold vacuum on a diesel. You might get a brief puff of smoke on startup (like on my VW which has its valve set very low wrt the head) but not a lot of continuous oil sucking .

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Did you do a "wet" compression test? If the compression number increases, then it is a problem with the rings/cylinder. If not it will be in the valve train, head, or head gasket, or a piston could have a hole in it, at worst case.

High oil consumption can also be caused by a torn diaphragm in the vacuum pump.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

99 W210 E300 Turbo Diesel, chipped, DPF/Converter Delete. Still needs EGR Delete, 232K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Gone and still missed...1982 w123 300D, 1991 w124 300D

Actually, I did a "wet" compression test & the compression did come up. I've heard lots of folks say this, however, what I'd like explained to me is "how" this verifies that the problem is in the rings/lower end.

Wouldn't adding some oil in the cylinder also make it more difficult for air to escape around a very slightly off-seated valve ?

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1987 560SL - 95K
1996 E300D - 183K
1997 E300D - 162K
1982 240D - 160K

not unless you drip oil through the valve stem - basically impossible.

when you drip the oil in, it usually runs down the cylinder wall (except in gassers) and runs along the cirumference of the rings, as you crank it works its way around the total perimeter and into the rings as well.

nothing really spashes up into the valves.. how many drops are you putting in?

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I probably added about 1 ounce of oil

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1987 560SL - 95K
1996 E300D - 183K
1997 E300D - 162K
1982 240D - 160K

chuckle. Per cylinder.. or total?

you only need a few drops in each cylinder.

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i only needed to add it to 1 cylinder as the rest check out fine

__________________
1987 560SL - 95K
1996 E300D - 183K
1997 E300D - 162K
1982 240D - 160K

then I understand your concern about sealing the valves as well.

For the sake of consistency, you should wet test them all, then the cylinder you suspect should have the greatest change in compression readings from dry vs wet.

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An ounce was a bit too much, Usuallt a tablespoon or two is enough, but the results were the same. It points to the bottom half of the engine.

Yes, the oil acts like a seal, if the rings are bad. If it was a valve problem, the compression numbers would not have increased.

A valve adjustment would seal the valves, unless they valves are burned.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

99 W210 E300 Turbo Diesel, chipped, DPF/Converter Delete. Still needs EGR Delete, 232K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Gone and still missed...1982 w123 300D, 1991 w124 300D

OOoooh.... Be very careful, or better yet AVOID doing a wet compression test on a diesel. Remember, diesels run on oil. It can blow the compression gauge to pieces and possibly hurt or best case scare you.

If you need further information do a cylinder leak down test and listen for escaping air. If the problem is ring related you will hear the air escaping when you listen in the crankcase breather hole.