Ok I still got this "top-end rebuilt" engine sitting on a enginestand and need to decide what to do with it.

 

If it didn't burn oil (1qt/500m)I it would have been okay, but that pi**ed me off after trusting a local "enthusiast". He put new heads on an old block and I didn't trust my instincts. That combination often results in burning oil, due to tighter heads and loose rings, and it did. Yes I have a new PCV. 2 in fact.

 

In order to make the "customer" happy I just bough a complete rebuilt for a few hundred more and that car is now done perfect.,

 

This one on the enginestand has "piston slap" AND burns oil. I'm thinking I would risk the cost of rings and headgaskets to put it right if there is a chance that will work. Maybe the new rings would reduce the "piston slap". Ever seen a broken/stuck ring in a subaru?

 

Sorry about all the quotes, but I'm feeling very "ironic" about these mistakes.

Edited May 17, 201312 yr by uniberp

Sorry to here you bad luck, new heads on an old block can cause higher compression making the old rings fail like you mentioned, I would worry about throwing new rings in there without new bearings since the new rings will result in even better compression putting more force on the bearings, you could always inspect the bearings with a plasti gauge and hope it would work, but it'll still be a chance that the engine might fail farther down the road.

I've got a 96 ej25 shortblock tore down in my building that has stuck rings in it, so its a possibilty for sure.

I've heard of a few instances of stuck rings on these. Wouldn't surprise me at all. Pull it apart, check the hone, clean the ring grooves, it might be fine with the rings that are in it (once theyre clean) but its pointless to not replace the rings while its that far apart.

could the valve stems be bad> had they been replaced? Had they been installed properly?