Question: Damaged piston
 

I have a set of Mahle pistons and cylinders that were new in 04. They have 20,000 miles on them since new. One piston showes damage on the top like something was left or fell into the cylinder during rebuild. I have the paperwork from rebuild in 04, and know the engine has not been apart since then. There is now a very small crack in the piston. Can I buy just one piston?

Mahle, piston markings(95L67), (R 021)

Cylinder: showes no damage. 95ZN1 ++ W15

How should I fix this problem?

Thanks
Phil
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1362857964.jpg

95L67 is a Mahle 9.3 piston.
I would replace it by size if the cylinder isnt damaged.
Read the size on the cylinder next to the triangle with the 5 or 6 inside, it will be size ), 1, or a 2. You can post in wanted and for sale section and you should get an answer.
Bruce

Bruce,

The cylinder showes no damage. 95ZN1 ++ W15

Re: Question: Damaged piston
 

What did the combustion chamber in the head for that cylinder look like? Might be worthwhile if you took the valves out to see if any debris might have been caught between the valve and seat.

I once made a mistake in holding the air horns to an aftermarket air filter base onto carbs on a 911 motor. I used short bolts instead of studs and nuts. The bolts rattled loose, and during a race at least one bolt fell into each of the three cylinders on that bank. Time has destroyed my memory of what, if any, damage this did to the valves (maybe nothing). The heads, with some clean-up work, were otherwise OK. And two of the three pistons could be cleaned up. Neither were pristine, but worked just fine for years thereafter. One piston had the top ring land compressed, so it had to be replaced.

A crack in the bottom oil ring land (if I interpret the photo correctly) seems a bit odd, but there it is. It would be a bold guy who would try to reuse that. What prompted you to take the motor apart?

Lots of guys like to switch from the US 9.3 pistons to the Euro 9.8s, which suggests there may be a nice buyer's market in used but in spec 9.3s out there.