{"id":13166,"date":"2021-04-02T17:24:43","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T21:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/?p=13166"},"modified":"2021-04-02T18:27:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T22:27:59","slug":"explaining-how-piston-rings-can-affect-engine-temperature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/2021\/04\/02\/explaining-how-piston-rings-can-affect-engine-temperature\/","title":{"rendered":"Explaining How Piston Rings Can Affect Engine Temperature"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header clearfix\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; display: block; margin-bottom: 30px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;\">\n<div class=\"avatar\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-right: 20px; width: 50px; height: 50px;\"><a class=\"author crop crop-image_290_290\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: #337ab7; text-decoration: none; position: relative; display: block; height: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 50px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 50%;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.enginelabs.com\/author\/gregacosta\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; object-fit: cover; height: 50px; width: 50px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.enginelabs.com\/wp-content\/userphoto\/gregacosta.thumbnail.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"80\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"byline\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 15px; display: inline-block; color: #a5a5a5;\">By&nbsp;<span class=\"author vcard\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\"><a class=\"url fn n\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: #5c5c5c; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; text-transform: uppercase;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.enginelabs.com\/author\/gregacosta\/\">GREG ACOSTA<\/a><\/span><\/span>&nbsp;<span class=\"posted-on\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #a5a5a5; text-transform: uppercase;\">APRIL 01, 2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"entry-content\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #474747; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; position: relative; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;\">\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Engine Running HOT? Watch This Video BEFORE Buying A New Radiator!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gNbzvWs-DEM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">When it comes to diving into dyno testing headfirst, one of the first people to come to mind is&nbsp;<a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: #ff5d1f; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/totalseal.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Total Seal<\/a>\u2019s Lake Speed, Jr. Between his days as the Director of R&amp;D at&nbsp;<a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: #ff5d1f; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drivenracingoil.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Driven Racing Oil<\/a>&nbsp;and now as Total Seal\u2019s Vice President of sales and marketing, he spends a lot of time in a dyno cell, testing the company\u2019s products. So when he finds something that he thinks is worth talking about, we tend to listen.<\/p>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">Recently, while doing some testing at&nbsp;<a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: #ff5d1f; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"http:\/\/shaverengines.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shaver Specialties<\/a>, he noticed an apparent correlation between thickness in the piston rings, and both water and oil temps of the engine. With his curiosity piqued, Speed set up a dyno session to specifically test the theory and see if the thickness of the piston rings actually affected the engine\u2019s temperature.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\">&nbsp;<\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\"><strong style=\"box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;\">Setting Up the Test<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">In order to conduct any test worth its salt, you need a reliable, repeatable baseline. For the tests, Speed used a small-block Chevy dyno mule at Shavers, which has over 1,000 pulls on it with a 0.7mm\/0.7mm\/2.0mm ring package on it over the course of the past several years. So to say it is a known quantity would be an understatement. \u201cWe know what this engine does,\u201d says Speed. \u201cThis engine has a very good baseline of what the engine temperatures should be with a given viscosity and type of oil, at a specific RPM, with a specific load.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1186622\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 930px; background: 0px          0px; border: 0px; width: 1450px;\"><a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: #ff5d1f; text-decoration: none; display: block;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.speednik.com\/files\/2021\/03\/video-explaining-how-piston-rings-can-affect-engine-temperature-2021-03-30_17-30-37_613148.jpg\" rel=\"shadowbox[sbpost-267385];player=img;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-267390 size-large\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%; height: auto; width: 930px; display: inline;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.speednik.com\/files\/2021\/03\/video-explaining-how-piston-rings-can-affect-engine-temperature-2021-03-30_17-30-37_613148-1440x960.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"960\" data-lazy-loaded=\"true\"><\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 15px; color: #6a6a6a; font-weight: bold; background: 0px            0px; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; border-left: 4px solid            #ff5d1f; margin: 20px !important 0px 15px 0px;\">The 1\/16th inch rings are over twice as thick (1.58mm) as the 0.7mm rings, which means more than double the surface area of the ring face rubbing against the cylinder wall. That alone makes it easy to understand the difference in friction between the two.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">For example, Speed says that with the 0.7mm\/0.7mm\/2.0mm ring package at 3,000 rpm, with a 75 lb-ft load on the engine, after running for 30 minutes, the engine will have the exact same oil and water temps, time after time. \u201cWe know that [under the previously stated parameters] with a mineral-based 10W-40 oil, the water temperature will be 170 degrees and the oil temperature will be 280 degrees,\u201d says Speed. \u201cIt does it over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">For the test, Total Seal reached out to&nbsp;<a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: #ff5d1f; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jepistons.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JE Pistons<\/a>&nbsp;and asked them to make a set of identical pistons, but with the more common 1\/16-, 1\/16-, 3\/16-inch ring groves. The Total Seal team then put a standard tension, traditional 1\/16-inch top and second ring on the pistons, along with a traditional 3\/16-inch oil ring, and ran the new rings and pistons in on the dyno.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\">&nbsp;<\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\"><strong style=\"box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;\">Starting The Test<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">\u201cWe noticed that the oil and water temperatures were coming up faster than usual,\u201d says Speed of the initial run-in session with the thicker rings. \u201cI thought, \u2018Hmm. That\u2019s different. It\u2019s never done that before.\u2019 So we actually checked to make sure everything was good with the oil and water systems. The next cycle, sure enough, it happened again. So now the question is, \u2018why?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">To Speed, the answer is simple; friction. \u201cThe rings moving against the cylinder wall is the number one source of friction in any internal combustion engine,\u201d states Speed, matter of factly. \u201cBy going to a thicker ring package, 0.7mm vs 1\/16-inch (1\/16 = 1.59mm), the bigger, thicker, higher-tension rings means more friction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">Speed then explains that the extra heat generated by the additional friction enters the cooling and oil systems, resulting in higher temperatures in those systems under otherwise identical operating parameters.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1186623\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 930px; background: 0px          0px; border: 0px; width: 1348px;\"><a style=\"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: #ff5d1f; text-decoration: none; display: block;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.speednik.com\/files\/2021\/03\/video-explaining-how-piston-rings-can-affect-engine-temperature-2021-03-30_17-31-00_888454.jpg\" rel=\"shadowbox[sbpost-267385];player=img;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-267391\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%; height: auto; width: 930px; display: inline;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.speednik.com\/files\/2021\/03\/video-explaining-how-piston-rings-can-affect-engine-temperature-2021-03-30_17-31-00_888454.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1338\" height=\"892\" data-lazy-loaded=\"true\"><\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 15px; color: #6a6a6a; font-weight: bold; background: 0px            0px; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; border-left: 4px solid            #ff5d1f; margin: 20px !important 0px 15px 0px;\">The oil temps got so hot in the 1\/16th inch ring tests, that it started to cause the oil filter label to peel off. Not exactly a scientific measurement, but interesting evidence, nonetheless.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4 style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\"><strong style=\"box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;\">Interpreting the Data<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">By now, I\u2019m sure most of you are starting to correlate additional friction with less horsepower, and you\u2019re 100-percent right. With a 3,000rpm to 6,000rpm sweep of the engine, there was an average difference of 20 horsepower between the 0.7mm rings and the 1\/16th rings. With a peak power of 455 horsepower and 482 lb-ft of torque, that\u2019s a solid 4.5-percent difference.<\/p>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">\u201cYou\u2019ve got to remember that over 40-percent of the engine\u2019s friction comes from the ring package,\u201d says Speed. \u201cHowever, the horsepower difference isn\u2019t really the interesting thing. What\u2019s really interesting is that with all the same variables the 1\/16-inch ring package ran considerably hotter.\u201d In fact, the engine oil got so hot, it peeled the label off of the oil filter.<\/p>\n<section class=\"group-caption group-caption-rendered\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; display: block; border: 0px          !important; margin: 10px 0px; background: #ffffff; max-width: none !important; padding: 0px !important;\">\n<ul class=\"list-attachments thumbnails row-1 clearfix\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; display: block; line-height: 24px;\">\n<li class=\"thumbnail col-2\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; display: block; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.42857; background-color: #ffffff; border: none; border-radius: 4px; transition: border 0.2s              ease-in-out 0s; float: left; width: 465px; clear: both;\"><a class=\"group-caption-image-box\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: #ff5d1f; text-decoration: none; display: block; padding-right: 5px; border: 0px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.speednik.com\/files\/2021\/03\/video-explaining-how-piston-rings-can-affect-engine-temperature-2021-03-30_17-27-53_029245.jpg\" rel=\"shadowbox[sbpost-267385];player=img;\" data-image-mobile=\"https:\/\/www.speednik.com\/files\/2021\/03\/video-explaining-how-piston-rings-can-affect-engine-temperature-2021-03-30_17-27-53_029245.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; display: block; max-width: 100%; height: auto; margin: 0px; width: 460px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.speednik.com\/files\/2021\/03\/video-explaining-how-piston-rings-can-affect-engine-temperature-2021-03-30_17-27-53_029245-768x505.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-loaded=\"true\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"thumbnail col-2\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; display: block; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.42857; background-color: #ffffff; border: none; border-radius: 4px; transition: border 0.2s              ease-in-out 0s; float: left; width: 465px;\"><a class=\"group-caption-image-box\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: #ff5d1f; text-decoration: none; display: block; padding-right: 5px; border: 0px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.speednik.com\/files\/2021\/03\/video-explaining-how-piston-rings-can-affect-engine-temperature-2021-03-30_17-27-49_787864.jpg\" rel=\"shadowbox[sbpost-267385];player=img;\" data-image-mobile=\"https:\/\/www.speednik.com\/files\/2021\/03\/video-explaining-how-piston-rings-can-affect-engine-temperature-2021-03-30_17-27-49_787864.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; display: block; max-width: 100%; height: auto; margin: 0px; width: 460px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.speednik.com\/files\/2021\/03\/video-explaining-how-piston-rings-can-affect-engine-temperature-2021-03-30_17-27-49_787864-768x505.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-loaded=\"true\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; background: 0px 0px; font-size: 16px; color: #6a6a6a; font-weight: bold; padding: 10px            10px 10px 15px; text-align: left; line-height: 24px; border-left: 4px solid #ff5d1f; margin: 20px !important 5px 15px 0px;\">As you can see, there is an extremely noticeable difference in coolant temperature, oil temperature, horsepower, and torque between the 0.7mm, 0.7mm, 2.0mm ring package (red lines) and the 1\/16-, 1\/16-, 3\/16-inch ring package (blue lines).<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">To further prove that it\u2019s not the temperature alone accounting for the horsepower difference, Speed then controlled the oil and water temps of the 1\/16-inch package to bring them in line with those of the 0.7mm package\u2019s tests and found that there was still a difference in power. It wasn\u2019t as large of a split as it was without the temperatures matched, but as Speed points out, your vehicle is a closed system, so introducing more heat will increase the overall system temperature.<\/p>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 20px; line-height: 24px;\">\u201cThe fact is, the 1\/16-inch ring generates more friction which robs power and generates excess heat,\u201d Speed says, definitively. He also adds that with over 1,000 pulls on the 0.7mm ring package, you aren\u2019t giving up any durability with the thinner rings. \u201cThe 0.7mm steel ring with the PVD coating are so much more durable, it can outperform a cast-iron, ductile, moly-coated ring over time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By&nbsp;GREG ACOSTA&nbsp;APRIL 01, 2021 &nbsp; &nbsp; When it comes to diving into dyno testing headfirst, one of the first people [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-techpost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13168,"href":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13166\/revisions\/13168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}