Has anyone here ever change piston rings by not removing the cylinder head?

[Kaieye]

I have a friend who is very talented mechanically. My truck was smoking a little and we found out (doing a few test) that the rings were worn a little. I later assisted him by dropping the oil pan, removing the connecting rods and changing the piston rings.

I just thought that this was a little bit unusual...

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: Kaieye
I have a friend who is very talented mechanically. My truck was smoking a little and we found out (doing a few test) that the rings were worn a little. I later assisted him by dropping the oil pan, removing the connecting rods and changing the piston rings.

I just thought that this was a little bit unusual...

it's doable - if you drop the crank, you can pull them out from the bottom. I'd imagine it's more a pain to put them back in, Just because you need to squeeze them to the piston to get it to slide in. On the top side, you have a ton of open space, from the bottom you're going thru the whole block.