Freeing Stuck Rings?

[SteveSr]

Search didn't turn up anything so here goes...

Does anyone have any good suggestions on how to unstick piston rings? This is assuming that the piston is out of the engine and accessible. Right now I have the combustion chamber soaking in Seafoam just to see if it has any effect on the carbon in the combustion chamber. The piston is currently soaking in a 50/50 mixture of acetone and Seafoam. I am not expecting these to do a whole lot but might be surprised.

Anybody else have any other suggestions? I am wondering if heat from a heat gun or propane torch might soften the sludge and increase the tolerances to improve the process. Also any thoughts on PBlaster? I know that it is made for rusted nuts.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

I use a ultrasonic cleaner with 70/30 water and simple green. That removes like 90% of the carbon, rest I clean manually. For the hard nasty stuff I use a soda blaster.

 

[SteveSr]

I use a ultrasonic cleaner with 70/30 water and simple green. That removes like 90% of the carbon, rest I clean manually. For the hard nasty stuff I use a soda blaster.

Now that is an interesting thought. I have a small sonic cleaner. I wouldn't have thought that caustic cleaners like Simple Green would be effective on hard carbon.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Now that is an interesting thought. I have a small sonic cleaner. I wouldn't have thought that caustic cleaners like Simple Green would be effective on hard carbon.

It would be a good idea to clean the heavy stuff off first but I’ve had excellent results with the ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[huskihl]

Mean Green (NOT MEAN GREEN ORANGE) or Totally Awesome degreaser simmering in a pot for a few hours. Haven’t tried Simple Green

 

[heimannm]

I was successful getting stuck rings (0.024" thin rings) from a BP-1 piston by alternately heating it with a torch and quenching it in Seafoam. The heat gun did not seem to get it hot enough, about 3 cycles with the torch and they began to move.

Mark

 

[HansFranz]

Does Simple Green etch the piston? I believe it has lye in it (NaOH), which attacks aluminum...

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Does Simple Green etch the piston? I believe it has lye in it (NaOH), which attacks aluminum...

I’ll have to look into that. 70/30 mix of water to simple green works great in ultrasonic cleaners. I have noticed higher concentrations will tarnish aluminum parts if left in too long. I run parts in mine for 15 minute at a time rinse with fresh water and repeat if needed.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Simple Green SDS. Doesn’t appear to contain any lye.

 

[SteveSr]

Mean

Mean Green (NOT MEAN GREEN ORANGE) or Totally Awesome degreaser simmering in a pot for a few hours. Haven’t tried Simple Green

Mean Green is Wally World's diluted version of Simple Green.

 

[HansFranz]

Simple Green SDS. Doesn’t appear to contain any lye.

My bad. I guess the base that (like lye) attacks aluminum is actually sodium carbonate.

 

[SteveSr]

Simple Green SDS. Doesn’t appear to contain any lye.

SDS says that the PH is around 8.5-9.2 which is mildly caustic. Straight lye will eat aluminum rather vigorously.

 

[SteveSr]

I was successful getting stuck rings (0.024" thin rings) from a BP-1 piston by alternately heating it with a torch and quenching it in Seafoam. The heat gun did not seem to get it hot enough, about 3 cycles with the torch and they began to move.

Mark

Thanks for the data point. At least I know that I have this option but want to exhaust the less invasive ones first.

 

[SteveSr]

Anyone ever try a Kerosene/diesel and acetone mix. Is kerosene a pretty good detergent? I seem to remember folks adding a quart to their crankcases before doing an oil change to get rid of some of the oil sludge.

 

[SteveSr]

Here is the "before" photo. This was after soaking in acetone/seafoam mix overnight.

As bad as this piston looks the motor ran surprisingly well and had the same compression as a similar CC Stihl engine. It wasn't until I borrowed a long torx bit to remove the muffler that I saw the stuck ring and all of the carbon blow-by. I am begining to think that th e PO used boat oil in this engine.

 

[SteveSr]

Here is after 24hr soak and sonic tank clean with 50/50 kerosene / Berryman's B12. Althoug it dirtied the cleaning solution it didn't do much to dissolve the carbon, although it may have softened it a bit.

Ring started to loosen a bit and I got a bit too overzealous and broke it. Oh well, another is on the way. It was only .062" x .055" cross-section so pretty small and a small piston radius to try to remove it.

 

[SteveSr]

Been surfing the net a bit and have found a couple of interesting tidbits. Here is the generic formula for Berryman's B12:

2 parts - Toluene
1 part - Acetone
1 part - MEK

From:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/b12-in-crankcase.237184/
I also found this stuff which is supposed to work well in GDI direct injection engines on the carbon that forms on the intake valves.

https://www.liqui-moly.com/en/us/valve-clean-p000041.html#2001

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Here is after 24hr soak and sonic tank clean with 50/50 kerosene / Berryman's B12. Althoug it dirtied the cleaning solution it didn't do much to dissolve the carbon, although it may have softened it a bit.

Ring started to loosen a bit and I got a bit too overzealous and broke it. Oh well, another is on the way. It was only .062" x .055" cross-section so pretty small and a small piston radius to try to remove it.

View attachment 1103520

Try the 70/30 water and simple green. I’ll generally run pistons for one to three 15 minute cleaning cycles. Rinse with fresh water and blow dry with compressed air after each run.

 

[SteveSr]

Try the 70/30 water and simple green. I’ll generally run pistons for one to three 15 minute cleaning cycles. Rinse with fresh water and blow dry with compressed air after each run.

That's next!

 

[Mad Professor]

Piston from 009-011 family of saws?

A search shows a number of products that remove carbon. Some show pistons before/after pictures. Most seem to have a high pH ~10-11

Piston Kleen was one but smallest size was a gallon.

https://orisonmarketing.com/products/piston-kleen™