Broken piston ring...

[D@vid]

Hi there everybody,

I've got a technical question, lately my 1986 carrera coupe has been suffering of lack of power and has not been running quite al well at low revs as it used to.

I was planning to take a trip through Italy with the porsche this summer, however because I was a bit conserned about the health of my engine, I had my mechanic check the valves and compression of all cylinders...

Two days ago he called me up to say that one cylinder had very low compression and that probably one valve had been damaged...
Yesterday it turned out to be a broken piston ring... can anyone tell me how this could have occured, is it just old age or could something else be the cause of this problem?

Thanx everyone,

D@vid.
1986 911 Carrera Coupe.

By the way, great bbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wayne 962]

How many miles?

-Wayne

[D@vid]

Hi Wayne,

About 120.000 miles. I don't think they have ever been replaced. Valves seem to be okay, guides will be replaced.

Cheers,

D@vid.

[jeff91C2T]

Maybe detonation. Have you ever used poor quality gas?

[D@vid]

Not that I know of, but I did have one fuel injector that had a bad spray patern (clogged up), replaced it recently. I'm sorry to say that I'm not sure if this was the same cylinder

D@vid.

[Jdub]

Did the car sit for a length of time? There is a possibility that the ring snapped when the car was started after sitting for some time, letting the ring bond in some way to the land of the piston or the wall of the cylinder.

Not highly likely but a possibility allthesame.

John

[D@vid]

Hi John,

I'm afraid so, it has been sitting outside for two months!!! during the wintertime... this will NEVER happen again, had all kinds of electrical problems after that

D@vid.