Joy of Joys!!! Piston ring in my oil pan.

Bike wouldn't start. Didn't have dough for registration, had other bikes, parked it. Finally was able to start it and it sounded "hollow". Don't ask. Thought maybe it was the oil pump. Pulled the pan and found half a piston ring and ground metal in the pan. I replaced those rings about 2 years ago. I'll be pulling it apart soon, but I have 2 questions in the mean time.

Is it possible for a ring to slide down into the pan, without the piston being f'd?

What could make a ring break in only 2 years?

Thanks all, as always.

you have two hopes:

bob hope!
and no hope!

however there is the possibility that the bits have been in there from a previous incident.

do a compression test,
leak down test,

check for low numbers before tare down.

Oh, and is it a bad idea to put used pistons in there if indeed the piston is jacked?

don't be surprised if its more than the piston bro,

i chipped a valve and it trashed the valve, piston, rings and the sleeve too.

you have had a whole piston ring fall apart in the bore and some how it squeezed past the piston, got past the crank and ended up in the sump.

not good news!
expect the worst!
you won't be disappointed that way!

Screw the compression/leak down test....

OPEN HER UP!!!!

There's only one way you'll ever have a piece of mind on this.... You mentioned you installed these rings 2 years ago, so did you have pieces in there then... probably not...

So yourself a big favor, open her up, slide off the cylinder and confirm otherwise who knows what extent of damage is there....

Old Man Rock wrote:

Screw the compression/leak down test....

OPEN HER UP!!!!

There's only one way you'll ever have a piece of mind on this.... You mentioned you installed these rings 2 years ago, so did you have pieces in there then... probably not...

So yourself a big favor, open her up, slide off the cylinder and confirm otherwise who knows what extent of damage is there....

i second that...you are not gonna ride it anyways right?
in pcs knowing the prob or sitting there complete not knowing are the same.....good luck

i hate taring down motors :laugh:
that why i said do some tests first :blush:

i'd buy a new motor before i pulled a motor apart :blink:
and stick the busted one in the corner under a pile of rags :dry:

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Kano, You lazy bastard....

Oh David that doesn't sound good, I third the thought you should at least pull the head and take a look inside. Sorry to rear this.

Mark

Do a leakdown or compression test. Instant results, with no tear down.

kano wrote:

don't be surprised if its more than the piston bro,

i chipped a valve and it trashed the valve, piston, rings and the sleeve too.

you have had a whole piston ring fall apart in the bore and some how it squeezed past the piston, got past the crank and ended up in the sump.

+1 There is only a couple of thousandths clearance between the cylinder wall and the piston. Even if the ring breaks into pieces in the piston groove, it could not get out to fall unless something really messed up the piston or bore to increase the gap.

Sorry.

Sweet Back wrote:

Oh, and is it a bad idea to put used pistons in there if indeed the piston is jacked?

I would never do it because it's so much work to rebuild it that I don't want to risk it. I can't tell what bike this is. New 750 twin piston/ring sets are dirt cheap, 900/1000 are pricey.