Fitting new piston rings cost?

[bereisland90]

Hi i'm buying a defender which is low on compression, it's a 1989 2.5 diesel. Can you tell me roughly how much it will cost to get new piston rings fitted, and where to go to get it done cheapest?

 

[Turboman]

might be worth looking at the valves and head gasket first. Is the compression low on all pots or just one?

 

[bereisland90]

I think it is low on all four. An engineer went out to see it today and the test he described doing was jacking up the car and turning the back wheels with gear selected which he said should result in the pistons creating a lot of resistance but there was relatively little. The land is apparently difficult to start but does get going eventually. there are no funny smoky emissions.

 

[ruffday]

That dosnt sound like a very good way to test it to me.

 

[Turboman]

I think it is low on all four. An engineer went out to see it today and the test he described doing was jacking up the car and turning the back wheels with gear selected which he said should result in the pistons creating a lot of resistance but there was relatively little. The land is apparently difficult to start but does get going eventually. there are no funny smoky emissions.

Ah well, there are different ways to define engineer. Sounds like you should get a proper compression test, many garages will have a tester they arent that expensive. If compression is low ther are a number of causes to look at before rings.
It may be that it is a slow starter cos the cold start isnt working. Ther could be any number of causes of this beside rings.
I think you may need to get some better advice!

 

[Turboman]

That dosnt sound like a very good way to test it to me.

Bit of an understatement mate!!

 

[MPfive]

op2:op2:op2:

 

[bereisland90]

If it does need piston rings do you know how much it would cost?

 

[johnny curt 1]

whats yer location fella as theres a fair few lads on this forum that could appear and tell yer edzachery whats up with it

possibly even do the work fer a few beer tokens

 

[bereisland90]

I'm in Rugby

 

[eightinavee]

The best thing to do is to walk away,from your questions it is clear you have little experience or knowledge of diesel engines or land Rovers.Most of these engines are well worn and were not too good even in their younger days.Putting a set of piston rings in a worn engine is just asking for trouble and a recipe for throwing away lots of money.
Better to wait until you can afford a later TDI model in good condition - they can still be found.The important thing is to find someone who actually knows what they are looking at to point out any potential faults ets.(And that is NOT an AA inspection)