Piston ring replacement

[highjumper25]

I just going with the worst case scenario, hopefully this is not the problem. What is a good price for piston ring replacement?

[highlandlake]

Just rings? As long as the engine is that far disassembled, might as well do all the wear items. Give us some info first though. What year and engine size????

[highjumper25]

2000 3.2 LSE v6
What are all the wear items?

[directory]

what is going on? why would you replace the piston rings? symptoms?

maybe we can diagnose what is wrong--and hopefully it isn't the piston rings!

[highjumper25]

It is leaking oil into the # 1 and 3 sparkplugs. The mechanics have changed the valve cover gaskets three times and i still have the problem. I have to change or clean the sparkplugs about every three days for it to run right.

[highlandlake]

The wear items are timing belt, tensioner, hydraulic lifters, rocker shafts, oil pump, accessory belts, hoses, filters, plugs, etc.
Might cost about three grand.

[rodeo02]

Originally Posted by highjumper25

It is leaking oil into the # 1 and 3 sparkplugs. The mechanics have changed the valve cover gaskets three times and i still have the problem. I have to change or clean the sparkplugs about every three days for it to run right.

Oil in the sparkplug wells has nothing to do with the valve cover gaskets. You need to r/r the sparkplug tower seals. They are O-rings that seal the towers off from the cylinder head. The valve covers will need to be pulled again to replace the tower seals. Also make sure your PCV valve is clean to minimize crankcase pressure. Hi crankcase press can bleed into the plug towers.

Joel

[highlandlake]

That would be sweet if it's just the PCV valve. Good suggestion!

[highjumper25]

yes that would have been sweet if it was just the pcv valve, but I tried that and still had the oil leaking. I have in the shop right now, we will see if they can fix it this time.

[directory]

it may not be the pcv valve...but it is the o-rings.

they go bad and oil just flows into the sparkplug

make sure you go to the mechanic and have them try that--otherwise your geting taken for a ride..

[highlandlake]

Originally Posted by highjumper25

I have in the shop right now, we will see if they can fix it this time.

Let us know what the outcome is....

[rodeo02]

If those plug wells are filling with enough oil to short out the spark, you might very well have too much blowby (high crankcase pressure). How does the truck run? does it smoke & burn oil? It very common to get oil in the plug wells, but I've not heard of one filling up to that extent.

Joel

[highjumper25]

The truck runs pretty good when the sparkplugs are clean. It does not smoke or burn a lot of oil.
I will keep you guys posted on what happens. If they don't fix it right this time I am going to go crazy, I love my truck and I just want it to run right. They are supposed to run a compression test, will this pin point my problem?

[OvalSports]

A compression test will give you an idea, but if its burning that much oil you need to work the bottom end. Definately change the timing belt etc. like HighLandLake suggested.

[highjumper25]

Well I just got the bad news, cracked head 3500 to fix or 5100 for new short block. I asked the mechanic if this was my problem all along and he said probably not, but it caused the head to crack. So because of the lack of know how by the mechanics I have to come up with at least 3500 to fix my truck.