A couple of years ago I installed Total Seal rings in my engine and just
couldn't get them to seal at all. Turned out that it wasn't the rings'
fault, but rather the surface of the sleeves had a poor finish.
In the process of solving this problem, I talked to a motorcycle guy who
said that BMW motorcycles had this problem a couple of years ago, and when
he went to the BMW school they taught them their recommended startup
procedure to prevent this problem.
This procedure is to install the pistons in the cylinders with virtually no
oil on the walls and no oil on the rings. Just put one dab of oil on each
skirt. Then, upon startup, run the engiene 2500 - 3000 for two to three
minutes -- just what cam manufacturers recommend anyway.
I tried that on my own engine with great trepidation (I've been looking for
a chance to use that big word) and it worked fine. Since then I've built a
half dozen engines using that procedure and everything is cool. There has
been no evidence of early ring wear, either.
uncle jack
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