Oil control rings, factory defect?

Ralph-RaccooN · May 23, 2026

Im fixing a 1989 Dodge 2000 GTX, its a Galant with the non turbo 4G63.
anyway I have some new rings and its been going though following the factory service manual. compression rings are perfect.
but the oil control rings are over the limit of 1mm, the old factory ring while no longer springy has half the gap.
Factory defect? what would be better, to run the original rings with less spring or new rings with large gap?
here is a pic, oil ring on top, new ring on bottom. the second grove rings were also packaged as grove 3 rings.

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dwb · May 23, 2026

Give us some background what you're doing. Just a hone or over bore? New or used pistons? If new, did the rings come as a kit with the pistons? Are they OEM pistons specific to this service manual you're using? For example, I put 2g pistons in my 6-bolt and had to use the ring gap specifications from the 2g FSM, which are bigger compared to the 1g FSM due to different piston design.

Another option is to buy a set of rings 1 size larger and grind them to fit.

Ralph-RaccooN · May 23, 2026

its a six bolt with factory everything, aftermarket rings. im reusing my pistons and did a hone with 3 jaw stone. everything was in great shape but the oil ring holes closed up, I did buy new after market pistons but decided to use the original ones.
Im about to buy anther set of standard sized rings from another supplier. but knowing my luck its just a guy putting the same stuff in another box.
compression rings fell right in to specification. I suspect the vendor has put the next size up rings in the standard sized box.

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steve · May 23, 2026

Have you measured the bores?

Drewpy Dawg · May 23, 2026

The gaps on the oil rings aren’t nearly as important as the compression rings. I ran into an issue with the ring gaps on another engine I was building. The machinist I use (very experienced in building both stock and race engines) suggested I get a set of rings the next size up to address the compression rings but said not to worry about the oil ring gaps. There has been no issue with oil consumption,

Ralph-RaccooN · May 23, 2026

steve said:
Have you measured the bores?

I have not, I assume theyre good, I didnt use a dingle ball, the stone hone would show if it was out of shape. also the top two compression rings fell right into spec on the the tight side.

Drewpy Dawg said:
The gaps on the oil rings aren’t nearly as important as the compression rings. I ran into an issue with the ring gaps on another engine I was building. The machinist I use (very experienced in building both stock and race engines) suggested I get a set of rings the next size up to address the compression rings but said not to worry about the oil ring gaps. There has been no issue with oil consumption,

I think she's going together.

pma1123 · May 26, 2026

I put together a 2.0 NT using Top Line parts many years ago, and I recall having upwards of .035" ring gaps on the oil control rings.
I said screw it and put it together that way, and got many enjoyable miles from that engine. It didn't use oil either!

My other hobby is snowmobiles, and when it comes to ring gaps, it is said: "Too wide of a gap; only you know about it. Too narrow of a gap; everyone knows about it"

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Oil control rings, factory defect?

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