Free stuck oil ring, maybe found something??

Yes, replacing the rings with new ones will restore the oil control past the pistons. You don't have to replace the pistons though.......if they are in good shape. You want to look for excessive scuffing and/or vertical scoring along the piston skirts.......if this is not an issue with your stock pistons, then I would clean them good, and re-use them.......they are a superior product actually, than most of the aftermarket pistons. I have rebuilt plenty of these engines, and most of the times have done exactly that, and they are still running strong, without any oil use to speak of. I drive this one every day, nearly!





Here is what the stock pistons looked like after cleaning them......before the new rings were installed of course!



Notice the picture date......I have not touched this engine since rebuilding it, except when it needed a new head gasket when my son overheated the engine, due to lost coolant from a bad radiator cap that was not allowing the coolant to be sucked back into the radiator from the overflow canister, as the engine cools back down.......as it is designed to do. He would never check fluid levels......probably still doesn't! Eventually the coolant level in the radiator got too low, and the engine overheated......I installed a rebuilt cylinder head also.

This was the worst piston skirt when rebuilding the engine.......it was scuffed in one area, and had one score line, but I decided to use it anyway, and now 12 years and over 70,000 miles later, I'm glad I did!



The night I dropped her in the truck! Saturday June 11th, 2011.......

Thanks!
After being sold and bought back.....TWICE.....here is what she looks like now-a-days......