Is this piston bad(pic), or this reed??

[Uptown_Blaster]

Still having starting problems with my blaster so I cleaned the carb and took out the reed and tried to inspect the piston but Im honestly not sure what I'm looking at. The pistons appears to have a few small scratches but im not sure if they are anything serious. This picture is what I see when I look down behiind where the reed was.

I would also like to know if my reed looks ok. again im not quite sure what the symptoms of a bad reed are.

btw, I did not do a compression test before I broke everything down. I know I should have but I know I still need to do that.

 

[4cfed]

piston is definatly scratched up,,, best to pull the top end, hone it and put anew piston and rings in before it gets worse, also.. reeds are hard to tell in the picture. do they sit flat on the cage?

 

[98 tunner]

piston is definatly scratched up,,, best to pull the top end, hone it and put anew piston and rings in before it gets worse, also.. reeds are hard to tell in the picture. do they sit flat on the cage?

I agree Even though you pulled the cage you can still do a compression test

 

[Uptown_Blaster]

I'm not sure what hone means? sorry. Is changing the piston a hard or expensive process?

As far as the reed, if your referring to the yellow part, then yes it is sitting flat on the cage.

 

[jjj_85]

The reeds are prolly fine it sounds like as long as you cant see any cracks in them. I would take care of the piston asap though. I wouldnt say its hard it you have any mechanical ability at all. If you dont I will suggest a clymers manual then you will be a pro in no time at all. They make it real simple with step by step directions and pictures.....I love pictures. You can read through the process that way and see if your comfortable doing it.

 

[Brainmatter]

I'm not sure what hone means? sorry. Is changing the piston a hard or expensive process?

As far as the reed, if your referring to the yellow part, then yes it is sitting flat on the cage.

You 'hone' the cylinder to restore the surface finish to it.
The tool that is used is called a cylinder hone, so people normally just say 'hone' the cylinder instead of 'I believe you need to restore the surface finish of the cylinder by using an appropriately size/grit cylinder hone to remove any minor surface imperfections and promote proper ring seal'....yeah, you can see why 'hone' is much easier. But that's why you'd want to do it.... so the rings seal nice and purty!

 

[jjj_85]

Great explanation there Brianmatter!

 

[sr5bidder]

if your going though the trouble of taking it apart you might want to get the cylinder measured and see if its ready for the next size up piston while your at it... you can get the new pro-x piston and machine work for $120-$150 if you shop around