So the question is, on the underside of the cylinders, we have 6 O rings, Is that correct ? In the gasket set were 6 thin o rings and another 12 o rings but thicker. I presume the thicker ones would be if you had replaced the cylinder selves.
Ah, no.
The generic gasket kits contain 18 o-rings. 6 of the o-rings are on the upper grooves on the sleeves ( 1 per sleeve) and 12 of the o-rings are in the bottom grooves of the block (2 per sleeve bore in the block) to seal the sleeve to the block.
Have a look through this link
Cylinder sleeve Removal/Replacement
that I wrote up a couple of years years ago and there are pics showing the o-rings on the sleeves and in the block just prior to reinstalling the sleeves back in the block. I had fun doing this job and recorded it for the benefit of All.
Regarding the piston ring end gap quoted in the Service Manual - The Manual falls flat on its face regarding specs since it never mentions "As New" specs, only service limit specs. If a part is found out of service limits, then it needs to be replaced, but what if you buy aftermarket parts that
might need to be fitted?? You're on your own. This is the main reason I go to infinite lengths explaining fits and tolerances. In a lot of cases, we can no longer get parts for these bikes at Kawasaki and have to rely on aftermarket or used parts to keep them running and the only way to determine if a part will work is to know the As New fits and tolerances or rely on some standard and figure out what would be an acceptable spec.
The service limit for the top and second ring is .7mm (.028") which is the largest ring end gap that you can get away with. A new set of rings from some ring manufacturers might be supplied with a gap of 0.00mm to maybe 0.1mm and require you to file fit them to 0.1mm (.004") x bore diameter 62mm (2.441") = 0.24mm ( .009") and some ring manufacturers may supply them expecting you to be fitting them to new bores of 62mm so they size them to the required 0.24mm (.009")
Bottom line - You need to know what the fitment needs to be so you can determine if you need to fit them or just install them. This is where the "mechanic" in me became the "mechanic with engineering background" so I can completely understand what I'm doing and why. I also share the "process" of determining all this on the site to enrichen all of you who take the time to read what I write to further your understanding to promote being better than backyard mechanics working on their toys.
Cheers,
KB
