piston rings on my SRM3.

[nickcirrus]

   Well well well, Removed heads and cylinders and popped off a ring from each piston and inserted into cylinders.  The gap is big enough to drive a bus through!!!!  Best part of an 1/8"   Indian quality control!!!!

Pistons smeared all over with black carbon and much sludge on the con rods.  All that cranking has just pushed the fuel oil past the pistons and into crank case. No wonder It would not fire.

So I have spent countless hours looking for a problem elsewhere when all the time it was the new parts that are wrong. Going to check the bore diameters and piston skirt/cylinder  clearance tomorrow with my engineer friend.

Seems I have learnt a salutary lesson.  Just because parts are new and come in a box does not mean they are the right spec! Next time I will check the ring gaps first not last.

Hope mr "realdiesels" will re supply at no cost.

[dieselgman]

Well, I am glad you have found the culprit! Now on with the proper assembly!

I am an old engine builder - General Motors, Volkswagen, others... since starting on Listers about a dozen years ago, I have learned that they require a special attention to detail above and beyond the others. The parts are not at all standard regardless of source, and Lister has often changed suppliers, and specs have changed on them. It is not safe to assume anything, everything must be checked and checked twice, it is often the darn thing that you forget to look at that causes a problem. It is not at all a safe bet to just throw everything together and expect it all to work together without adjustment and a bit of tinkering.

You could have easily received the wrong size rings due to mis-packaging... Indian manufacturing makes rings (and other parts) for some of the major name brands in the industry. They are capable of very high quality given enough funding and incentive to do so.

I hope the parts supplier helps you out properly and your build goes smoothly from here on out!

dieselgman

[nickcirrus]

Thanks for the empathy dieselgman.

I am glad now i have nailed the problem but annoyed that I will have to lift up engine to access crankcase to remove pistons and get covered in black sludge. It would be ok on a bench but that is a problem to move my boat to a crane etc  etc.  That will be the third time I will have changed the oil and it has not even run yet!

Gotta get my old 1920's boat up and running for my trip this sept thru the canals of france and into the med. At least I have not missed much summer sailing!


"measure twice, fit once"

[listard-jp2]

Removed heads and cylinders and popped off a ring from each piston and inserted into cylinders.  The gap is big enough to drive a bus through!!!!  Best part of an 1/8"   Indian quality control!!!!

Its quite possible that the +0.020" o/s pistons were fitted in error with Standard size piston rings, as the rings are still 'new' and if they are a reasonable make, it may be possible to see marking on the side of the rings indicating there size.

[nickcirrus]

 Am beginning to feel really angry when I think that It is almost a year I have been staring at my engine wondering why it wont start, looking every where else for a problem. It is now nearly the olympics and I live in weymouth so was at least hoping to be able to mingle afloat during the events.  Sent mr "Realdiesels" some photos of the state of the pistons and a photo of ring gap and he said they were not the pistons that he supplied. He even suggested that they had been incorrectly fitted and that I did not know what I was doing. I may not be an expert but have done a few engines in my life. The pistons are very black and much sludge has collected around the con rods and is splattered around the crank case[/Users/nick_cirrus/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2012/Jul 10, 2012/IMG_0433.jpg][/img]/Users/nick_cirrus/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2012/Jul 10, 2012/IMG_0435.jpgGotta go in there and clean up. That will be twice I have changed the oil. After trying to check timing and pumps I ended up with a fair bit of fuel in the oil. This time it is just plain filthy. All my attempts to start with oil in the manifold have resulted in a very black mess.  Guess I should be positive as he has said to send all pistons and cylinders back to him uncleaned. I have this image of some little Indian lad on piece work pay, with trays of different sized rings on the finishing line and he has run out of +.020 rings so he pops on .000. No one will notice!

If I wasn't such a laid back person I would be suing  the pants off my supplier and busting a blood vessel along the way.

[dieselgman]

Laid back is much better for all involved (Life is short!)... best of luck getting that straightened out!

dieselgman

[listard-jp2]

I would have thought that your piston supplier would have been very keen to sort this problem out for you and to your satisfaction, as its none of your making. There is nothing more damaging to a small business than bad publicity.

In these days of the internet savvy customers, its very easy for a seller / dealer to get a bad name through one or two bad deals.

I have found that to be successful in business one must be prepared to go the extra mile when things go wrong (as they invariably do occasionally). Customers are usually sympathetic if a seller is seen to be proactive, and doing there best to recover the situation.