General Worn piston rings

[Scotius]

After a bit of research I think my fiat Punto 1.2 8v has got worn piston rings. I've attached a few photos showing my findings after taking the head off.

Basically I'm just looking for confirmation that this is what it is or could it possibly be the valve stem seals?

Neither one is great but if it's the piston rings, I'm just gonna scrap the car as not worth bothering with.

The car had been smoking on startup and using a ridiculous amount of oil, having to top it up every few days. It limped on for a few weeks and then developed a misfire. I thought it might have been the head gasket, however that seems fine and when I opened it up there was oil in the pistons and the spark plugs.

Anybody able to diagnose it and tell me the best course of action? Many thanks

 

[Ziggy122]

Idearly u needed to have done a compression test to tell of compression is getting low and weather it improves with a dribble of oil....
If it did - its worn rings

I lost an engine to worn rings on cyl1
Was 100psi dry
2-3-4 were 200psi dry
Added oil (teaspoon) and retested - it shot to 200psi

I had poor startup
Blue smoke
Heavy oil consumption
Lackin power till warm

I ended uo stickin a 2nd hand engine in
Which had 160psi dry all round

It does look very oil and carbon covered - hg does look tired but intact

Hmmmm not easy to tell with it stripped right now

Balls in your court

Ziggy

 

[Brendan W]

If it was valve stems you could see the oil on the back of the valve looking in through the ports. Exhausts the most likely candidates.

 

[judderbar]

If it were me and following on from what Ziggy and Brendan have said, I would put some silicon sealant on either side of the gasket where the gasket has metal around the cylinders and put the head back on with the valves working and then run the tests. You could have your test results in a few hours.

 

[jimboy]

As said, the ball is in your court. Looking at the pics alone tells me that engine requires a major overhaul. The head needs to be reconditioned while it's off. Do you drop a known good engine in or overhaul the old engine, it's up to you.

Ah, just re read your post, looks like a scrapper to me.

 

[portland_bill]

The only obvious thing is confirmation that a lot of oil is being burnt.

As suggested above, you could slap it back on for a compression test.

They are not all the same.
Choose the worst, and peer into the inlet and exhaust ports and see how much carbon is present on the back of the valves. If oil is passing the piston rings, the exhaust valves will have some evidence, but the inlets will have much less, if any at all.
If oil is passing the valve stem seals, the inlets will collect more, as the oil burns on the backs of them with the heat.
Turn the cam to open each valve fully, and whilst fully open, see how much sideways movment each one has. Worn valve stems will encourage stem seal leakage.

Check the breathing system, as blockages can cause oil to be sucked through.

Turn the engine so all pistons are half way in the bores. Pour some paraffin or similar onto each piston, ideally same quantity for each, and see how long it takes to drain past the rings. Can do this with engine oil, but it takes a but longer to see the results.

At the very least it needs the carbon cleaned off, and the valves reground and new stem seals. All that could be in vain if the rings are worn.

A lot will depend on the state of the rest of the car. If it looks like it will last a few more years, this effort could be worthwhile.

A used engine, swapped straight in could be a good option.