Dodge dakota 2002 Service Manual page 1580

DR
PISTON & CONNECTING ROD (Continued)
(11) Use a hammer handle or similar object to
push the piston and connecting rod through the cyl-
inder bore.
(12) Store the piston/rod assemblies in a rack.
CLEANING—PISTON AND CONNECTING ROD
CAUTION: DO NOT use bead blast to clean the pis-
tons. DO NOT clean the pistons and rods in an acid
tank.
PISTON
Clean the pistons and pins in a suitable solvent,
rinse in hot water and blow dry with compressed air.
Soaking the pistons over night will loosen most of the
carbon build up. De-carbon the ring grooves with a
broken piston ring and again clean the pistons in sol-
vent. Rinse in hot water and blow dry with com-
pressed air.
CONNECTING ROD
Clean the connecting rods in a suitable solvent,
rinse in hot water and blow dry with compressed air.
INSPECTION
INSPECTION—PISTONS
Inspect the pistons for damage and excessive wear.
Check top of the piston, ring grooves, skirt and pin
bore. Measure the piston skirt diameter (Fig. 90). If
the piston is out of limits, replace the piston.
Fig. 90 Piston Skirt Diameter
PISTON SKIRT DIAMETER (MIN.)
101.887 mm (4.011 in. )
ENGINE 5.9L DIESEL
The upper groove only needs to be inspected for
damage. Use a new piston ring to measure the clear-
ance in the intermediate ring groove (Fig. 91). Mini-
mum clearance is 0.045 mm (0.0018 inch), maximum
clearance is 0.095 mm (.0037 inch). If the clearance
of the intermediate ring exceeds specifications,
replace the piston.
Use a new oil ring to measure the clearance in the
oil groove (Fig. 91). Minimum clearance is 0.040 mm
(0.0016 inch), maximum clearance is 0.085 mm
(.0033 inch). If the clearance exceeds specifications,
replace the piston.
Fig. 91 Intermediate and Oil Ring Clearances
1 - FEELER GAUGE
2 - RING
3 - PISTON
Measure the pin bore (Fig. 92). The maximum
diameter is 40.012 mm (1.5753 inch), Minimum is
40.006 mm (1.575 inch). If the bore is over limits,
replace the piston.
Fig. 92 Piston Pin Bore
1 - PISTON
2 - PIN BORE
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