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Freeing up potentially rusted piston rings to cylinder

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Grumblebuns:
I have a spare TC motor that has been sitting various garages for the past 20 plus years. I need to rotate the cranksshaft by hand in order to perform a leak down test. Before I do that, I need to make sure that the piston rings are not rusted to the bores. What are recommended lubricants to spray down in the cylinders to free up the rings. I'm thinking of ATF/acetone solution letting it soak for a week or so. Any other magic elixirs you have used?

Joji Tokumoto

TurboFource:
I have heard of people using Marvel Mystery Oil but the atf/acetone mix you mentioned is supposed to be a pretty effective penetrant.

Richard48Y:
I once freed a Jag XK120 that had sat for decades using a 50/50 mix of MM Oil and Diesel.
I expect there are a lot of mixes that would work.

EuropaTC:
Hi Joji,

It's one job that I've not had to do (yet) but if I had to I think I'd use Richard's oil/diesel mix. I've heard of diesel being used before with seized engines and that would probably work on it's own, reasonably thin, not going to corrode anything and won't evapourate as quickly as petrol..

I'd question acetone, I think that will work fine as a penetrant but if your ambient temperatures are high (or even just warm) then I think it might evapourate leaving the thicker ATF fluid behind over a week. Maybe replacing the spark plugs would stop that ?

Brian

4129R:
I used WD40 and then just engine oil to free 4 stuck pistons.

The fun starts when the pistons are out of the bores and then you start trying to free the stuck piston rings from the pistons. Of the 3 x 4 rings, I managed to break only 2. But when you take the rings off the pistons, note which ring is top is which is middle, and whether they have a top and bottom side, mine did.

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