Unsticking rings?
 

Here is one for you engine tinkerers. I tore up an old echo CS-51-evlp today. I had little hope for it before I started, it was seized. Normally that is because some hammerhead ran straight gas. I expected the jug and piston to be trash. I only wanted the crank anyway. I let it sit with Kroil in the jug for a week before I started. Expecting the worst I got into it today. It was stuck beacause the "hammerhead" found a way to get a bunch of water in it. The main bearings are shot but, the crank and piston bearing are fine. The inside of the case was corroded but not in the bearing seats or anywhere else that matters. The jug an piston are shiny and good.

Unfortunately, the rings are stuck in the grooves. Is there a clever way to free up the rings? I was thinking of using a jewlery sonicator and Kroil. Maybe if I vibrate them enough in hot Kroil the rust will work it's way out and the rings will pop free by their own tension?

RE: Unsticking rings?
 

Is there a clever way to free up the rings?

A crock pot and straight anti-freeze.

RE: Unsticking rings?
 

Heat

RE: Unsticking rings?
 

Boiling them in atf and acetone freed them up. Broke them anyway..........

RE: Unsticking rings?
 

Boiling in acetone?? Ballsy....

I usually just shoot them with carb cleaner, and then WD-40, and in a little while they come loose. They will almost always break, but they should be replaced anyway.

AV8TOR

RE: Unsticking rings?
 

What raito was the ATF and acetone?

RE: Unsticking rings?
 

"Boiling in acetone?? Ballsy.... "

Just use some common sense. Do not do this over an open flame or in an enclosed space. I used a hot plate. Just get it warm. It boils at a low temperature. You could probably use a jar as a double boiler. I used a tall can and a lot of it recondensed and went back into the liquid, ir refluxed. I also took the piston out several times and hit it with a heat gun to boil the acetone out then dropped it back in to suck in fresh stuff.

50:50 mix of acetone and atf.

Seemed to work pretty good. I am pretty sure if I had used the jewlery sonicator and this stuff it would have worked, maybe next time. Makes sense, there is a homebrew rifle bore solvent called Ed's red, simmilar formula.

I came across this, look at the bottom of the page:

http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30452