Dodge dakota 2002 Service Manual page 1638

DR
PISTON & CONNECTING ROD (Continued)
STANDARD PROCEDURE—PISTON FITTING
Piston and cylinder wall must be clean and dry.
Specified clearance between the piston and the cylin-
der wall is 0.013-0.038 mm (0.0005-0.0015 inch). The
max. allowable clearance is 0.0762 mm (0.003 in.).
Piston diameter should be measured at the top of
skirt, 90° to piston pin axis. Cylinder bores should be
measured halfway down the cylinder bore and trans-
verse to the engine crankshaft center line.
Pistons and cylinder bores should be measured at
normal room temperature, 21°C (70°F).
(1) To correctly select the proper size piston, a cyl-
inder bore gauge, capable of reading in .0001
INCREMENTS is required (Fig. 38). If a bore gauge
is not available, do not use an inside micrometer.The
coating material is applied to the piston after the
final piston machining process. Measuring the out-
side diameter of a coated piston will not provide
accurate results. Therefore measuring the inside
diameter of the cylinder bore with a dial Bore Gauge
is MANDATORY. . To correctly select the proper size
piston, a cylinder bore gauge capable of reading in
.0001 increments is required.Piston installation into
the cylinder bore require slightly more pressure than
that required for non-coated pistons. The bonded
coating on the piston will give the appearance of a
line-to-line fit with the cylinder bore.
Fig. 38 Bore Gauge
1 - BORE GAUGE
2 - CYLINDER BORE
3 - 2-5/16 in.
REMOVAL
(1) Remove the engine from the vehicle (Refer to 9
- ENGINE - REMOVAL).
(2) Remove cylinder head (Refer to 9 - ENGINE/
CYLINDER HEAD - REMOVAL).
(3) Remove the oil pan and oil pump pick-up tube
(Refer to 9 - ENGINE/LUBRICATION/OIL PAN -
REMOVAL).
(4) Remove top ridge of cylinder bores with a reli-
able ridge reamer before removing pistons from cyl-
inder block. Be sure to keep tops of pistons covered
during this operation.
(5) Be sure the connecting rod and connecting rod
cap are identified with the cylinder number. Remove
connecting rod cap. Install connecting rod bolt guide
set on connecting rod bolts.
(6) Pistons and connecting rods must be removed
from top of cylinder block. When removing piston and
connecting rod assemblies, rotate crankshaft center
the connecting rod in the cylinder bore and at BDC.
Be careful not to nick crankshaft journals. DO
NOT try to remove black coating on skirt. This
is the dry film lubricant.
(7) After removal, install bearing cap on the mat-
ing rod.
CLEANING
Clean the piston and connecting rod assembly
using a suitable solvent.
INSPECTION
Check the connecting rod journal for excessive
wear, taper and scoring (Refer to 9 - ENGINE/EN-
GINE BLOCK/CONNECTING ROD BEARINGS -
STANDARD PROCEDURE).
Check the connecting rod for signs of twist or bend-
ing.
Check the piston for taper and elliptical shape
before it is fitted into the cylinder bore (Refer to 9 -
ENGINE/ENGINE BLOCK/PISTON & CONNECT-
ING ROD - STANDARD PROCEDURE).
Check the piston for scoring, or scraping marks in
the piston skirts. Check the ring lands for cracks
and/or deterioration.
INSTALLATION
(1) Check the crankshaft connecting rod journal
for excessive wear, taper and scoring.
(2) Check the cylinder block bore for out-of-round,
taper, scoring and scuffing.
(3) Be sure that compression ring gaps are stag-
gered so that neither is in line with oil ring rail gap.
(4) Before installing the ring compressor, make
sure the oil ring expander ends are butted and the
rail gaps located properly (Fig. 39).
ENGINE 8.0L 9 - 389