Piston rings

[blaze12]

I have always been told that if you line up the piston rings gaps that you will have to much blow by and not enough compression and i always just went with it , but now i have this friend who tells me differently . All he does all day is build high performance chevy 350 motors and he told me that it doesn't really matter because the rings will spin while inside the cylinders, so they wont stay in the same spot . The reason i find this interesting is because another friend of mine had compression on his 95 tahoe on cylinder 4 and he took of the head and took apart the motor because he was going to rebuild it anyways and he couldn't find anywhere that it could where compression could be escaping and he told me that it was the rings where lined up so that there was to much blow by . But if first friend told me that cant really happen does that mean if would of just kept it running for a while it the rings would of eventually spun.

 

[Geier]

It is not attributed to the rings lining up. This question does not belong on the forum. Use google for specific ring setup theory.

 

[Diehardmitsu]

I don't think the rings would spin then line up end gaps. If an engine has excessive blow by the problem is usually worn or broken rings. Ware or scratches on the cylinder walls can cause this as well.

 

[Peterbeter]

The rings do spin, but it is still recommended to not line them up

 

[siccmade]

Although they will rotate, and I'm not quite certain how fast, I think initial wear is something to consider when lining up the ring gaps. I can't see any positives to doing it this way on a fresh rebuild.

 

[Diehardmitsu]

staggered ring gaps will always yeild more compression.

 

[blaze12]

Yes i know it would be wise to stagger the rings but has anyone ever actually had no compression because of it?