Piston ring question

[rebel33382]

got my new piston and ring set it, got 2 small questions..

1. the "spacer" for the oil ring, can or should it be overlapped?
2. the top 2 rings only have "T" stamped on them, one of them has a closer gap than the other, which should go on top?

[super90]

The "spacer" should not overlap. The end should be butted like a W. The T goes up, didnt the piston come with instructions? And what is it for?

[rebel33382]

no instructions, for my 200es

[rebel33382]

got the 'w" correct, its a shady shidy from JAPAN!

[super90]

Hm, most pistons come with atleast the gap specs. Anyway the top compression ring usually has a larger gap than the second one. Is one ring fatter than the other, that would be an easy way to figure out. And dont forget to gap the rings! That can lead to bad problems later on.

[rebel33382]

they are the same thickness, like I said, one has a significant gap than the other, so what u r saying is that the top ring should have the largest gap?

[nathanronan]

do you have a manual? If not you should get one. It will help out alot.

[super90]

Yeah buy a manual. But right off my wiseco paper for my 200x it says .0040 for top and .0050 for bottom, so bottom would be larger Im assuming, and it just says for dirt,atv,snow and PWC. So I guess that would be what you want for yours. I guess I was wrong about top being bigger? I could have swore my 450 piston ring was larger on top.

[SWIGIN]

compression rings are normally a different color like gold or silver

scraper rings are normally just black

[rebel33382]

I have looked at the honda manual, I wanted some hands on experience. The manual shows the end of the piston ring slanted for the the top one. Both of my rings have straight edges, only difference is gap size!

[Dirtcrasher]

The top ring is usually shiny as Swigin posted....

[SWIGIN]

I have looked at the honda manual, I wanted some hands on experience. The manual shows the end of the piston ring slanted for the the top one. Both of my rings have straight edges, only difference is gap size!

the pic in the book is a closeup shot, you can tell with the naked eye but it's tuff

[rebel33382]

my eye is not that great naked, I just need to know if the ring with the largest gap goes on top, or bottom (of the 2 compression rings)

[oscarmayer]

ok i know what he's talking about. i worke don one of them lesser piston sets before.

both rins are the exact same thickness. the one with the bigger gap goes to the top.make sure the gaps do NOT match up. they shoudl be nearly 180 out.

make sure the 2 small rings are on either side of the oil ring expander. the side in a groove on either side and kinda on tope. if you look closely at it you will see the part that goes against the piston is slightly thicker than the top you see when it's installed. the 2 tiny rings will sit on either side of that top thinner peice but on top of the bottom section. thhat bottom section allows the oil to touch the sidewalls and the rings on either side are called whippers.

is there any marking on the rings at all? if there are any parkings. (stapmed or printed) they go facing up. if not, then there's no direction on the rings.

[SWIGIN]

the gaps mean nothing...if he switchs them up it will never seal up.

[SWIGIN]

my eye is not that great naked, I just need to know if the ring with the largest gap goes on top, or bottom (of the 2 compression rings)

why dont you answer my question then?

WHAT COLOR ARE THEY.....THATS WHAT MATTERS

[rebel33382]

sorry, I am at work, the compression rings are black (carbon looking) one of them has a shiny outside edge to it. They both have "T" stamped on them.

[SWIGIN]

OK.........like i said the shiny one goes on top

with the T up for both

[oscarmayer]

there ya go. i had worked on a cheapo piston set that didn't have markings or even any way to tell which ring was wich except for end gap. at least you got a shiny one. that's the top and the T means top or this side up.

[SWIGIN]

end gap does not come preset......the out of box gap means nothing.

[nathanronan]

im not sure if this will help but it looks like the top one should have an R on it.

[rebel33382]

F it, gonna bring it to the machine shop around the corner and let them make sure its correct!

[SWIGIN]

oh god..........after all that your going to give up when you know what to do know....weak

your thinking to hard, R or T or what ever mark they have will go up and the shiny one goes on top and that pic he posted shows where to put the gaps at so they arnt all lined up.

[nathanronan]

thats probly a good idea. i have to bring my 250r down to the shop to see if they can get it running.