Peugeot 207 1.4 - suspected seized engine

[Ady2021]

This is the blocked catalytic converter. You can see where it was blowing in the upper right hand corner. I managed to clean this one by removing the catalytic converter and then soaking it in a bucket of soapy water over night and it came out lovely and clean.

This is what the rings look like on these engines,

They are a 2-piece oil control ring which has a spring type metal expander in the middle. The rings were not stuck solid in the piston ring grooves but there was a lot of crud in the grooves. The main problem was that the spring type expander was blocked up solid with carbon and so there was nowhere for the oil to flow through the slots in the ring and back into the sump.

It was a motor factor that picked up that the actual rings in the car might be different to those specified in the catalogue. They found this out by doing a cross-reference to the dealer database and then I verified this by measuring the actual thickness of the old rings. From now on, I would always tear an engine down before ordering new rings just to be safe.

Overall, it was well worth the effort to change the rings. The hardest bit was honing the bore as it takes some practice to get the cross-hatch pattern right. Once you have mastered the skill then you could hone bores all day long. Practice first on a piece of tube.

[MattBLancs]

Thank you for the pictures. Have to say I am surprised that catalyst lives to fight another day (looks fit for scrap pile in that picture - glad to be proved wrong based on appearances!)

[ozvtr]

Thanks for the reply.
The catalytic converter looks terminal. But good job in getting it working again. Seems like it was blowing past the gasket in the bottom left hand corner.

[Robert1000]

Were the rod bearings damaged or badly used, or not? Did you use standard sized ones?
Have you machined the head?