Reusing Piston Pin Circlips

adventurco

Nick Ol' Eye
DTT BOTM WINNER
I installed the stock piston using new circlips, then later determined that the rings were out of spec and decided to go with a OS piston/bore.

The motor has NOT BEEN RUN since the circlips have been installed. Am I safe to reuse them when I install the new piston or should I just get a new set?
 
advCo said:
I installed the stock piston using new circlips, then later determined that the rings were out of spec and decided to go with a OS piston/bore.

The motor has NOT BEEN RUN since the circlips have been installed. Am I safe to reuse them when I install the new piston or should I just get a new set?

imho, you'll probably be ok, but, answer me this... how much are new ones and how soon can you get them to your place? If its relatively cheap and fast.... id be ordering new ones.

Ive heard of ppl using them multiple times without issues, but dad also had a snowmobile that had one come out, and the carnage was amazing.
 
For clarity - the circlips are brand-new, you just need to remove them and reinstall? I don't see any issue with that. Installing them doesn't deform them or cause them to loose their tension. Just time/heat etc I would think.

That being said chances are your new oversize piston kit might come with new wrist-pins and circlips anyhow.
 
The circlips are brand new. The piston kit didn't come with them. I will probably just buy another set for peace of mind but I'm mostly just curious what everyone thinks.
 
Regardless of whether or not you buy new ones or not, ( I have reused many over the years) When you install them, be sure to make the gap either at the very top or the very bottom. If the gap is at either side, the motion of the piston going up and down can compress the ring enough that is can pop out. then you will need a whole lot more that clips.
 
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