We must first look at what piston rings are and where they are before talking about the symptoms of piston ring failure. Piston rings, also known as oil control rings, are small, low-cost components tucked away deep inside the engine. If you’re looking for a fully inspected car and want to buy or sell a car in the UAE, platforms like CarSwitch can assist you in finding the right vehicle that meets your needs and preferences.
The Role of Piston Rings
The combustion cylinder is pressurized by piston rings, which are connected to the pistons. Air and fuel combine in the combustion cylinder and ignite, spinning the crankshaft as a result of the ensuing explosion. More cylinders fill with the fuel-air mixture and ignite as the crankshaft is turned. This motion generates the force required to draw the vehicle and any associated cargo as well as to crank the engine.
Importance of a Tight Seal
Piston rings are essential to the process as a whole. The cylinder cannot pressurize without a tight seal, which reduces the engine’s efficiency. Over time, piston rings will suffer significant damage from engine wear or abuse.
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Recognizing Failing Piston Rings
Excessive or Discolored Exhaust
The color will drastically shift or deepen if the piston rings are bad. The exhaust color changes to a thick, dark grey or bluish hue when the piston ring fails or gets too worn to form a seal. Perhaps you can smell burning oil.
4 Bad Piston Ring Symptoms and Replacement Cost
Inside the car engine, the piston rings are crucial. The location, cost, and common signs of faulty rings are listed below.
- Significant Oil Disappearance
Your oil light suddenly turns on as you’re moving along the road. Your automobile has no puddle underneath it, so you know another oil change is not necessary. If there are no outward indications of a leak, the problem can be something else entirely. Learn why your car is losing oil but not leaking and what you can do to remedy it by continuing to read.
- Oil Spills
The oil filter is a further area to look for the cause of an oil leak. Over time, the engine oil frequently becomes contaminated with worn metal powders and other microscopic particles. Parsing these out and maintaining a contaminant-free engine oil supply is the oil filter’s responsibility. However, if the oil filter is mounted too loosely, it may start to leak and allow oil to flow where it is not supposed to.
- Lack of Propulsion
Several distinct engine problems can make it difficult to accelerate. These include clogged fuel injectors, low fuel pressure, and constrained airflow, among others. A automobile may have trouble picking up speed if there is a malfunction with the mass airflow sensor, throttle position sensor, or engine speed sensor.
- Blue Smoke from the Exhaust
Blue smoke coming from the exhaust indicates an oil leak, which is why your engine is burning oil. A leaking valve seal or an issue with a piston ring could both cause this symptom.
Read More: How to Maintain a Good Engine in Your Car
Causes and Symptoms of Faulty Piston Rings
The piston rings of an automobile’s engine regulate oil pressure and flow. Because of this, if the piston rings fail, the car will experience a number of problems that could finally cause the engine to fail. Check your MOT expiration date and fix this problem before your next MOT test since it may also result in a failure of the emissions test. Although piston rings are among the less expensive parts of an automobile engine, they are essential to the correct operation of the vehicle.
- Rings for Compression
- A Wiper Ring
- Rings for Controlling Scrapper Oil
Signs of Malfunctioning Piston Rings
Symptoms of Piston Ring Failure:
- Excessive or discolored exhaust.
- Leakage of oil or excessive oil use.
- Engine performance declines.
- Little acceleration.
- The intake manifold contains oil.
- Additional Exhaust Smoke
One of the most obvious indications that your car’s piston rings are damaged is when there is excessive smoke coming out of the exhaust. In addition to having more exhaust smoke, this smoke will smell like burning and be darker than usual. Engine oil is leaking into the combustion chamber as a result of the piston rings’ failure to seal properly, giving the area a dark grey appearance. An emissions test will fail if there is too much smoke. Check the MOT history online to see if this was also the reason for earlier MOT test failures and update your mechanic if it was.
