One of the questions posed was, is oil control ring sticking more common these days and if so why?
If you hypothesise that oil control rings are stuck as a result of burning oil that goes through the PCV system, then three factors might logically impact on oil loss; engine oil volatility, blow-by gas flow rate and blow-by gas temperature.
If you put aside the impact of oil volatility and focus on blow-by, one might expect both flow rate and temperature to increase with compression ratio. Just out of curiosity, I Googled the compression ratio of all the cars I've ever owned. Is it just me or do I see a progressive trend to higher compression ratios and could this be contributing to higher levels of oil loss (and by inference, higher risk of stuck oil rings), regardless of oil volatility?
Morris 1100 1.1L (1978) 8.5:1
Fiat Mirafiori 1.2L (1980) 9.2:1
Austin Maesrto 1.3L (1985) 9.8:1
Honda Accord 1.6L (1987) 8.4:1
Toyota Carina 1.6L (1990) 9.4:1
Toyota Corolla 1.4L (2002) 10.5:1
Daihatsu Sirion 1.0L (2006) 10.5:1
Kia Picanto 1.0L (2014) 10.5:1
Suzuki Celerio 1.0L (2016) 11.0:1
If you hypothesise that oil control rings are stuck as a result of burning oil that goes through the PCV system, then three factors might logically impact on oil loss; engine oil volatility, blow-by gas flow rate and blow-by gas temperature.
If you put aside the impact of oil volatility and focus on blow-by, one might expect both flow rate and temperature to increase with compression ratio. Just out of curiosity, I Googled the compression ratio of all the cars I've ever owned. Is it just me or do I see a progressive trend to higher compression ratios and could this be contributing to higher levels of oil loss (and by inference, higher risk of stuck oil rings), regardless of oil volatility?
Morris 1100 1.1L (1978) 8.5:1
Fiat Mirafiori 1.2L (1980) 9.2:1
Austin Maesrto 1.3L (1985) 9.8:1
Honda Accord 1.6L (1987) 8.4:1
Toyota Carina 1.6L (1990) 9.4:1
Toyota Corolla 1.4L (2002) 10.5:1
Daihatsu Sirion 1.0L (2006) 10.5:1
Kia Picanto 1.0L (2014) 10.5:1
Suzuki Celerio 1.0L (2016) 11.0:1
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