Rings or pistons and rings after 4,500 miles

T

tagoes10s

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Niles, Michigan
I have 4,500 miles on my piped/clutched 02 viper. I figure its about time to replace the rings. Should I replace just the rings, or should I replace rings and pistons at the same time? Should I use stock OEM pistons/rings?
 

if it was me i would just change the rings if the pistons look good. but thats just me. i just put a new set of rings in my viper this summer after doing some porting and my sled has 11000kms on it.
 
Have you done a compression test? What's your reasoning for rebuilding? I wouldn't fix what isn't broken. I've seen Viper motors with over 2k miles that you could still see the crosshatches in the cylinders, there isn't alot of wear if maintaned properly. :yam:
 
iM WITH MASTER OF FASTER , I WAS GOING TO DO MINE THIS YEAR ALSO , BUT AFTER 4YEARS 7500 MILES WITH PIPES MY COMPRESSION IS STILL 120 ON ALL THREE CYL.. AND THATS WHY I RIDE YAMAHA !!! IM NOT GOING TO DO A THING TO IT ...IF YOUR COMPRESSON IS BAD THEN CHANGE THEM OUT , BUT IF ITS NOT BROKEN DONT FIX IT .. JUST MY .02
 
my dealer was trying to talk me into replacing pistons and rings at 5000mi. they were telling me that's what yamaha recomends. i told them the same thing, why fix what isn't broke. they said preventative maintance.

i've seen vipers with over 12000miles on the stock motor, and i have faith in what yamaha built.

so, IMO, don't touch it unless you are loosing compression. that's what i'm doing.
 
A BUDDY AROUND HERE HAS 18,000 MILES ON HIS SXR 700 TRIPLE, STOCK MOTOR. STILL GOING STRONG TOO, NOTHING NEW INSIDE. RIDES THE DANG THING EVERY SINLE DAY TO WORK AND BACK WHILE THERES SNOW AND YOU CAN RARELY CATCH HIM AT HOME.

:yam:
 
Check the piston skirts for signs of cracking. Your only fear is that a skirt will drop off and be ingested by the engine. Most engine rebuild shops can magnafluxe to detect cracks. If you don't find any cracking signs, keep using them.
 
compression doesnt tell you everything

A compression check will not tell you if you have wear like a leakdown test will. Just because you show even cranking compression does not mean you have not had wear on the rings and pistons. Piston/ring seal is critical in a 2 stroke engine, the more blow by you have the more the engine will be down on hp. You are putting burnt fuel charge back into the transfer ports and into the case contaminating the fresh fuel charge thats being compressed in there. I would not reccomend the advice given here to just keep running it, you may have a sled that will keep on running with no problems, but it certainly wont be running at its full potential. The srx/viper engines see alot of wear on the intake side of the skirt, I just completed a 2002 srx for a guy on here and the sled was absolute pristine condition, it ran fine and showed 132psi in all 3 cylinders, yet the pistons were worn 1 mm past the minimum spec ,the pistons are entirely black, have a bright silver spot on the intake skirt where it was rocking back in forth in the bore and was wearing the skirt thin, the wrist pins were blue,wristpin bearings black from running yamalube its whole life. The oil you run has alot to do with the wear youll see when you take off the cylinder, if your pistons are all black from the bottom ring down, you have blow-by!, if the wrist pins are blue,and bearings black, you have junk oil! Oil selection has alot ot do with engine life and componet life, the better the oil, the longer the engine will live. Is there the possibility that its fine???, YES< as long as its been run on full synthetic oil and its been maintained, but do a complete check up on it, a compression test is not the fail safe method, thats for sure! Remember 1 thing, full synthetic oil is much better at protection of parts then the old petroleum based oils are, you cant beat technology!!
 
Well, I can show you mine with 5400 miles on it (click the link below). I have had pipes on it for th epast 4 years running 9000 RPM's and I also ran thin gaskets for a full season. It's easy to do and not very expensive to freshen up the top end. If it's stock and you ride it like a good boy, you should be fine IMO. Doug

http://www.totallyamaha.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12040
 
if it was me i would change the pistons and rings since you're right there anyway. mine has 6000 miles on it and i can still see the crosshatches!
 
Mr. Viper thanks for the input. You hit the point I was going after. It doesn't need it but I'm looking for top performance. Do you think I should pull it apart and look for any signs of blow by? If things look good should I just throw a new set of rings in or is it best to do piston and rings?

I'm also trying to maximize the power without going big bore. I've always been the quickest in the group I run with, but this year there are 3 new 800ho Revs with clutch/pipe work, a clutched, geared, piped F7, and a new Mach Z with no mods yet. The boys are coming after me!!!! What else can I add to my combination to pick up every bit of HP?

Remove a layer on the head gasket?
Carbon Fiber Reeds? (I still have stock)
Porting?
 
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In relation to oil, I ran Polaris race oil, and the sx pistons were perfect at 6500 mi with the exception of the detonation from some bad gas... 150 on all 3 and when I came back home, I had 0, 60, 150 ... No more thin head gaskets for me.
 
see whats inside....

If you dont have the means of doing a leak down test on it then , yes, take it apart and see whats inside. Like I mentioned before, if you have alot of black residue on the bottom of the piston under the 2nd ring, you have blow by, you may also notice the black residue on the bottom of the transfer ports, this means it was inhaling exh. again, reducing performance. If your thinking of putting rings in, nows the time to do it while the weather is warm.
As far as performance goes, I would not peel the headgasket on a viper, they already have enuff compression. If you have cpr pipes, then you can put the sled around 160ish hp, it takes a bit of tune up on your cylinders and pistons, no head work needed. Some minor porting and piston mod, the piston mod not only gains you a bit of power its cheap insurance, it actually helps to cool the piston crown from the bottom side and helps to lube the pin/bearing better as well. This with the pipes,good clutching, good traction-suspension set up and you will give the guys a heck of a run for the money!
 
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