How To Diagnose Broken Piston Rings In Your Volvo XC90?

How To Diagnose Broken Piston Rings In Your Volvo XC90?

An internal combustion engine is a very complicated piece of equipment designed to burn air-fuel mixture to create mechanical torque. The piston plays an important role in this process. It is a sliding cylindrical component made of aluminum allow or low carbon steel. Expansion of combustion gases within the cylinder sets the piston in an up and down motion that generates the mechanical work required to keep a vehicle operational. It has the following parts;     

Piston head Piston bore and pin Piston skirt Ring grooves Piston rings

Piston rings are expandable split rings made of steel and cast iron. In general, you would find three different types of rings; compression ring, wiper ring, and oil ring. The compression ring is responsible for sealing the combustion chamber. The wiper ring sits between the compression and oil ring. It acts as an additional layer of sealant to the combustion chamber and wipes the excess oil from the cylinder wall. The oil ring is responsible for keeping the cylinder wall clean.

Function of piston rings Piston rings of your Volvo XC90 engine have the following responsibilities;    

Heat transfer Engine oil regulation Seal the combustion chamber Assists the piston in its up and down motion

Broken or fried piston rings won’t be able to do their job properly which would adversely affect your car’s engine performance. So, you should learn to recognize the signs of broken piston rings in your Volvo XC90 so that you can replace them on time. But first, let’s discuss some of the plausible reasons behind premature piston ring wear in a car.

What causes piston rings to break?

Following reasons are solely responsible for piston ring damage in your Volvo XC90;    

Using contaminated oil Installation errors Fuel flooding Improper combustion process

How can you tell if a piston ring is broken?

Loss of acceleration The piston rings are designed to seal the gap between the piston head and the cylinder wall. By doing that, they minimize the seepage of blow-by gases from the combustion chamber of the engine to the crankcase.

Loss of compression due to imperfect and broken piston rings would make the engine run rough. When

that happens, you would notice a significant loss of acceleration while driving your Volvo XC90. So, if you're Volvo XC90 engine isn't accelerating properly, you should check if its piston rings are in good shape or not.

Thick blue exhaust smoke

The emergence of thick blue or gray-colored exhaust smoke is another recognizable sign of broken piston rings in your Volvo XC90. The piston rings are supposed to prevent the leakage of motor oil into the combustion chamber of the engine. But damaged piston rings won't be able to do that. In the wake of this, the oil would enter the combustion chamber of the engine. When that happens, your Volvo XC90 exhaust would emit thick blue or gray colored exhaust emission.

Oil consumption increases

As we discussed above, the piston rings are supposed to prevent the drainage of oil into the combustion chamber of the engine. However, broken rings won't be able to do that. As a result of which oil consumption in your car would significantly rise. So, if your Volvo XC90 is consuming more oil than usual, there's a good chance its piston rings have gone bad and need to be replaced. Besides, the emergence of oil-burning odor is another characteristic of having bad piston rings in your Volvo XC90.

Volvo XC90 piston ring failure - How to diagnose and fix it?

One of the best ways to diagnose broken piston rings in your Volvo XC90 is to conduct a leak-down test. It would help you to evaluate the proportion of air reaching the crankcase through the piston rings. If the proportion is high, there's a good chance you have broken piston rings that need to be replaced. You should call a reliable car service center to schedule an appointment to replace the broken piston rings in your Volvo XC90.

In conclusion Piston rings are supposed to maintain optimal compression within the combustion chamber of the engine.

If they go bad, your Volvo XC90 engine won't perform at its full pace. Besides, having broken piston rings can damage the sensitive engine components. So, symptoms of piston ring failure in your car should not be underestimated. Efforts should be made to get them replaced on time.