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How many compression rings in marine engines normally have?

'90 Subaru EJ22 Engine, can remove piston without cracking case?

  • Hi I have '90 Subaru 2.2 engine in a '86 VW Vanagon. The EJ22 has a bad #1 cylinder, I think it has a bad ring or rings. [Oil squirted in cylinder raises compression briefly] I have plenty of room underneath to pull off the cylinder head, so I am considering removing it so I can check the cylinder walls for damage. If I find damage, is it possible to remove one piston without cracking the case? I would do it by removing the ridge at the top of the cylinder bore, removing the oil pan, removing the connecting rod cap, and pushing it up from the bottom. I've done this on other engines [saving the necessity of having to remove the engine], but not sure if it's possible on a horizontally opposed engine like the Subaru EJ22. Thanks for your help

  • Answer:

    Actually, removing the piston with the halves in tact is quite simple. No going through the bottom what ever that means. The difficulty is in replacing the piston. I would just do it the right way. Also it is not a whole lot more tho just replace all the pistons with an upgrade while you have it all apart. Just something to think about.

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Is it possible.... yes, but the time you are going to save by going through the bottom will not be enough to make it worth the fight. If you pop the piston out of the side it will be very hard to measure and counter for bearing oil clearance and very hard to get proper torque. If you use and extension on your wrench the spec will be off, and possibly enough to cause more problems later. Open the block up, replace all the rings and hone all the cylinders, check for abnormal wear, taper, and guides, re-build, blue print, re-install and have a super engine for another 200k. That would be my suggestion, but it is a lot of work.

eclipsetypex

You can replace #1 while it's in the van, but it may be difficult. First of all, I am hesitant to think that you have a bad piston. I have seen these cars with 400K+ on them. The only way you can diagnose a bad piston is to listen to it while it runs. If it doesn't knock, it's not bad. I think you may have a burnt valve from a bad injector. It will burn the edge of the valve and cause you to lose compression. Squirting oil in the cylinder will have the same result. Pull the head and inspect everything. Move the piston side to side to see if it moves. If not, that is not it. I would expect to see a bad valve. I've changed a lot of them.

avidco

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