Used Cylinders - Scratches make them junk?
 

I have in my hands a set of Mahle 102mm cylinders that were sold to me as "excellent, low time" and were honed on a Sunnen before shipment. I have concerns about some scratches in these parts. There is specific damage on one cylinder from the hone, a scratch that is deep enough to catch and hold my fingernail. Another cylinder has a series of vertical scratches. The Major concern is a cylinder that has a series of vertical scores in the wall, and there is one that is _very_ deep and is easy to catch a fingernail in

Take a look at these images:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1143312931.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1143312952.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1143312966.jpg

I don't know how bad scratches have to be before they affect performance and ring/cylinder life. If it were me I'd try to get my money back.

-Andy

if you can catch your finger nail on it it's too big

Look like junk to my eye. Shouldn't have been honed either.
-Chris

Thanks, I have offered the seller the opportunity to replace the bad ones. I also made the offer to keep the pistons and return the cylinders, perhaps I could replace them with Nickies.

Chris

Pistons are matched to the cylinders so be careful about mix and match. The cylinders come in 4 different diameter groups and and 2 height groups.
-Chris

The cylinders don't look great but they will probably work just fine.

If this is a race car (where oil consumption is less important) the cylinder is a good bet.
If you are looking to build a reliable street car (100K plus) I would look for a nicer set.