stihl oem piston and cylinder install

[Ron Greenbank]

Has anyone installed an OEM stihl cylinder and piston? I've done two aftermarket installs that worked fine. After the last one my wife informs me the company she works for has a Stihl distributorship. I decided to redo an MS290 and got the cylinder and piston for a great price. I even got the Stihl piston ring clamp. I already had the cheap kit with the red compressors. I'm having a hard time getting the cylinder to slide down on the piston. I agree with people who say the rings are brittle and I'm afraid to get too aggressive. Is there a certain way to use the Stihl ring compressor. I appreciate any pointers you could give me.

Ron

 

[earlthegoat2]

When I did one on a 290, I’m pretty sure I did not use a ring compressor at all. I just worked the piston down into the cylinder side to side a bit and the tapers that were built into the bottom of the cylinder and the top of the crankcase area did the rest.

 

[grizz55chev]

You missed the chance for an upgrade to the 039, easy power gain with little effort.

 

[brock1994]

Did you put oil on the piston / rings and cylinder? I normally thoroughly coat all components and then they usually just pop right in.

 

[pioneerguy600]

When I did one on a 290, I’m pretty sure I did not use a ring compressor at all. I just worked the piston down into the cylinder side to side a bit and the tapers that were built into the bottom of the cylinder and the top of the crankcase area did the rest.

^^^^^^
This way for the clamshell engines along with a little rocking of the cylinder sort of left to right will collapse the rings and the cylinder will slide down easily. Make sure the cylinder is kept aligned with final position it will be secured in, do not spin the cylinder once it starts down over the piston, a ring end could pop out into a port and get snagged, not good at all if that happens.