Will an engine start on RUBBER piston rings? 

Silicone would possibly work better than butyl or latex rubber, some silicone can withstand pretty high temps.

"what burns out doesn't rust out" words to live by for sure!😄

I'd like to see those rubber piston rings tested in an actual car on the test track, so we could see how far the rings can truly take a car.

That went well, you should do it again with an oil ring and put the engine back in the car, and drive it to see how well it goes.

Probably needed an oil control ring in there to control the flow of oil. Looks like they kept combustion gases out of the crankcase, but forced oil off the wall upwards into the combustion chamber. Pretty fascinating!

Pro tip: just like at 17:16 always ensure that you have a steady stream of water pouring onto your alternator so it doesn't overheat.

To prevent the twisting O rings just bevel the top of the bore ever so slightly. then with a standard oil ring and 2 o rings as compression rings and a proper cooling system I believe this engine would run, and run well.

bruh these guys are literally having infinite amount of ideas

I 107% like all the crazy things you come up with! Your videos are well made, your crew is great, and BMI too! THANKS!! I'm amazed the O rings held up at all, I expected them to burn up/wear down right away...

As someone who enjoys making running model engines, using viton o-rings is actually common practice in place of traditional piston rings.

Man, seeing my expectations get turned on their head is rather exciting. I didn't think it'd run for 30 seconds.

Finally got some of your merch coming to Colorado, thanks for doing PayPal. Stoked!

What about using square O-rings. Like the ones used in the pistons of brake calipers. Think they would have better scrapping capability and more sealing surface.

please follow this up by installing the engine in a car, immediately start driving until it dies or runs out of gas. I had always assumed that the rubber would be consumed immediately. I am impressed with your dedication to whimsical ideas.

The reason that cilinder 1 and 4 only worked at high rev, is that the sealing between cilinder and piston by the tension of the piston rings is not enough at high revs. The sealing between piston and cilinder at high rev is established due the combustion pressure that gets behind the piston rings and push the rings harder to the cilinder walls. At low revs, like during the compression test, you get 8bar pressure at all 4 cilinders, but when a engine is running, the combustion pressure is much higher, with a healty engine arround 20bar at low rev, and arround 70bar at high rev. With the twisted rubber rings the sealing was good for 8bar, but above (low revs during running) they started to leak, then at high revs, the rubber rings started to get more pressure from behind due the combustion pressure , get more squeezed against the cilinder walls and could handle higher combustion pressure. A part of misfiring could also be due water on the ignition system like sparkplug cables etc...

Amazing how well it ran, never would have expected that. How about putting the engine in a Lada and test driving around a track until the engine finally stops, endurance test!

Put a conventional oil ring in the top groove so the rubber o rings can get oil lube and still provide compression. I bet that will work better

That was really awesome to watch. Here i was thinking it would only last 5 minutes. I'm impressed. I say go for it. I'd love to see that video. I had a blast watching this one. Thanks Team Garage 54. Also.. never underestimate the power and reliability of a Lada in my opinion. We need Ladas in the states. Talk about reliability. And it looks like a simple vehicle to work on. Please do correct me if I'm wrong though. Byes for now. See ya next video.

Normal engines use steel split rings for a good reason. On the power stroke the rings expand ( all the way down to the oil ring ) and scrub the oil back down into the oil pan. When the power stroke is over, the pressure decreases, the rings close up and do not pump oil up into the cylinder very much. What you have built is the exact opposite. On the power stroke the pressure pushes the O-rings into the grooves causing them to NOT pump the oil back into the oil pan. At the end of the power stroke the pressure decreases, causing the O-rings to expand, which pumps all of the oil on the cylinder wall up into the cylinder. This fowls the plug and causes other various problems.

Wow the compression is great now. I was amazed at the results. Perhaps I can put rubber rings on my tractor now😂

On the top two ring lands use square cut rubber seals like in automatic transmissions and use the factory oil control ring i really think the square cut rubber seals will do the trick I absolutely love watching your channel you guys do stuff like I did when I was younger lol keep it coming

Most funny part is that the water pours out straight onto the alternator. :D

Interestingly, the second compression ring usually has some oil control capabilities (known as a scraper-type design). A round o-ring will have limited ability to keep excessive oil from blowing past the piston. What would be interesting is if a florastor seal used in transmissions would work, but those have to be "sized" after installing to the piston. Maybe a square-cut seal (like those on oil filters) could work? Something to keep the oil from passing through and fouling the plugs. "Rubber" piston rings could work for 10, 20, or even 30,000km, but I would not buy a car that needs the engine overhauled every 30k kilos. Interesting experiment. Great work, keep inspired and you inspire others.

Growing up in Alaska, I heard stories of pioneers having to use oil soaked strips of leather belt strap as piston rings for a snowmobile in order to escape the wilderness.

I dont know if it was me you listened to, but I am very pleased that you have tried it! :D Im laughing at the moment, im at the part where you test compression for 2nd time on rubber rings, after it ran for a while :DD! Thanks for making me laugh, you guys are legends!

Guys have been using o-rings on model engines for years. Some of them have run at several years of shows with no failures. The Chinese are also selling models like this. You should put this in a car and see how it does. Won't do 100,000 km for sure, but I bet you can drive around the block enough times to get bored.

Another great show, you have become one of my favourite channels, keep it up and keep em' coming lads!

I have an idea. Use a correct oil ring for proper oil removal. Using an upper metal compression ring to protect the rubber from flame accessing the O-ring and preventing accidental. Diesel ing. Shave the inside of the rubber O-ring to give it a slightly flat surface to encourage it to stay incorrect position without twisting. I would be curious to see what happens and if it can be durable. Maybe add more rubber O-rings to help stabilize the piston help quiet the engine.

I've seen viton o-rings used on home made model engines and they work like a charm for years. They wont last for ever, but long enough for a moderate duty engine. 1. O-rings need be fitted with proper clearances so as to fill the groove properly when compressed. If the groove volume is smaller that the volume of the o-ring you will big problems as the o-rings cant crush beyond its mass properties. It will lock or "spill out". 2. This engine seems to be poorly tuned. Carb not set properly? It should be able to idle smoothly. LOVE THE CHANNEL!

I Love this! I'm going to try this on my Old Push Mower that has lost compression, & on my 08 Honda Fit junk car I bought for $400. I 'm turning it into a truck. Garage 54 style! I'll call it a Fitmino LOL.

with smaller model engines, the rubber rings work(Nitrile will last the best), but the use of an oil control ring definitely helps keep the cylinder clean

I've been thinking about this for quite awhile now, awsome yall made a video on it!

I wonder how well high temp o-rings would work, they can operate in temperatures as high as 260C. Another idea would be to use steel rings on the top of the piston and use o rings for the bottom two, should reduce exposure the hot combustion gases while potentially increasing compression.

Use silicone rings on the modified 4-ring pistons you made, in a car with proper engine cooling. See how long they run

For those who do not know seals need oil. It's the oil that makes the actual seal. The o-ring or even the metal ones just make a small enough Gap that oil can't make it through. And then the oil seals the gap

Fantastic job, guys. Bravo!

I think untwist and refit the rubber rings, and install the motor and go for a drive. To see what happens at higher load

Interesting concept but you have to be mindful that by changing from steel to rubber you lose a lot of the heat transfer from your piston crown to the cylinder walls

Brilliant work guys. Stay safe all.

Fantastic experiment Vlad! 👍

Great video as always, would love to see the engine running better, shame those 2 cylinders had twisted o rings. I think another 4 ring setup would be a good test with the top 2 rings as standard to help keep the heat away and the bottom 2 as o rings to boost compression

I'm surprised how well oil lubricated and cooled the rings. I'm absolutelly blown away...

Great videos you put out very educational thanks for posting 👍 from Tennessee USA 🇺🇸

Seriously more needs to be done with this, Very interesting.

I actually tested that on my miniature DIY engine. Just normal O-ring on the piston, and it works fine.

Try replacing the piston rings with hydraulic cylinder packing seals

Love these what if experiments, so cool

Great video guys . Liked this one a lot .

Eu gosto demais dessas experiências um abraço aqui do Brasil

This cannot end well... I stand corrected.

this is some very interesting content. I never would have expected it to work out so well.

PEEK plastic rings would be interesting experiment, we use in top fuel engines that material preventing piston scuffing...

Something about the surprise box thing has always felt like encouraging gambling....

a good experiment might be to make a piston out of EPDM, Neoprene, Nitrile, SBR, Silicone, or Viton. Maybe put an aluminum core in it to connect to the rod then surrounded by a thick layer of rubber to fill the cylinder and no rings.

You all are awesome.. This video was so interesting. I never thought it'd run much less that long...

Another totally fun off-beat excellent experiment!!

Maybe drop the diameter of the rings by like 1%-3% and switch to silicone like others suggested. I think with slightly smaller rings of better material this becomes a big thing

putting one in the oil control land without blocking the drain holes in the piston forced oil up. What people call an oil ring is simply a drain, the 2nd ring is what actually scrapes the oil off the cylinder. Put the original oil control ring back, replace the top 2 with at least vitron or better flueroelastomer rings in a higher durometer. Getting backup rings in the pack would be ideal also, possibly teflon. It would all work real well if everything was properly sized with the right materials, wont be as long lived as metal rings but the only real problem will be the surface speed of the rings with any real rpm. No reason it shouldnt idle for days or weeks though.

Amazing fireshow on the first engine start!

These actually look like hydraulic seals, their optimal temperature is around 110C to 130C, they burn at 180C. Your regular engine runs at 90C. They could last awhile there. Install a hydraulic lip seal in the middle and aim it down, so the lip expands while moving downward. Or use lip seals on all rings, two facing down and the top one up, to keep the pressure in the combustion chamber.

I’m amazed that they didn’t melt away!😂👍that’s insane! I call that a success!

I absolutely love how you guys make things possible 😌

I would love to see an oil ring and 2 Orings in a car for proper testing. Great video! Cant wait for the next one.

This is one of your best videos guys.

Two other things to check...Check for a carbon trailed distributor cap, and check the cylinder head. I suspect the valve clearance is too tight, and, check the valve guide seals. It's hard for me to imagine that the O-rings let all that oil into the chambers, and not have any blow-by. I'm willing to bet, the O-rings did even better than you thought!

This one was REALLY interesting! 😳 Loved it.

I guess the engine didnt die because of the rings having blow by, but because the pistons started sticking. The metal rings are the only thing directinh heat from the pistons to the engine block, if you use rubber for this task the pistons will get hot until they expand to the point where they tick to the cilinder walls.

If I remember corectly one of the outboard engine manufacturers was running a two-stroke with Teflon piston rings the reason for that was so that they could use very little two-stroke oil in the mix to make a fairly clean burning two-stroke

Use a different profile ring such as a square or rectangular, and re-machine the ring grooves accordingly. I was surprised as you when it ran so well!

THIS WAS A WONDERFUL EPISODE AND DESERVES MORE RESEARCH WHAT CANT READ PROPERTIES OF UNDEFINED SHOT

I agree with @Russell Smith and I'll add try adding the engine into a car and see if it has enough power to move the vehicle. How long the O rings last for will the question but I believe it will make for a great experiment. Guy's that was an 107% success. Great video guy's!

Yes continue with this experiment please I would like to see this through

Many different styles of rubber o rings on the market these days. Viton you'll have to be more specific. They make green, red, orange, blue, black viton rings these days. Silicone viton rings. I believe you are onto something here and I agree with the oil control ring. I also believe it would need a ring closer to the top that's rated for intense heat. So maybe would be a combination of colors. Maybe even 4 rings. Make the ring grooves deeper. You could have 1 high temperature resilience ring at the very top. 2 black rings in the middle and lastly the oil control ring. If you were looking for an engine that would last near indefinitely you'd have to find a way to re-sleeve the cylinders with a Teflon tube that could also handle high heat. Then there would be almost no friction between parts only friction between the compression of the rings. Allowing the piston to really flow freely while still keeping compression.

You could widen the second groove and install a TFER hydraulic seal. It's a PTFE ring and rubber expander. Available in bronze loaded types as well. Maximum speed though is 12 feet / second. With an 80 mm stroke, that's 1371 RPM.

I seen it but can not believe the motor is running. Great idea.

That worked way WAY better than I would have ever guessed.

Good experiment. 👍 Unexpected result. Nice!

Use some flat back-up rings on top and bottom of the o-ring in oil groove

There is a small gap starting at the cylinder wall and goes inwards towards the center of the cylinder where the air/fuel mix doesn't combust. It's just a few millimeters deep (or maybe even less) so you shouldn't have to worry about flame touching the bare rubber rings but after the engine gets up to normal operating temperature is where you might start seeing excessive abuse on the rubber. Another point of concern might be with the rubber rings absorbing oil and fuel over time causing the rubber to expand and become more porous. Long term exposure to those chemicals and that kind of heat/friction abuse is a recipe for disaster, eventually. Excellent video.

I support this channel not because of their crazy ideas I love their effort their creativity and team work just to fit random parts on their engines.

That's amazing..... I really thought it was going to start, but lock after 30 seconds. Wow 🤯

That could be very interesting to try silicone ring for their temperature resistance And if your bathroom is not finished, how about take some times to made new parts ? Brake disc and metal pads , and if possible take exterior tiles made for cold resist, they should be more density ceramic Have fun guys You're crazy and ..... I love it 😎👍👍

Old Packard motors used tempered oak pistons with leather rings.. yep!

Amazing! I would never have guessed!

Global O-Ring and Seal Neoprene, or Chloroprene rubber, was the first synthetic rubber developed commercially and exhibits generally good ozone, aging and chemical resistance. It has good mechanical properties over a wide temperature range. Neoprene resists degradation more than natural or synthetic rubber. Additionally, the material resists burning better than exclusively hydrocarbon based rubbers, making it appropriate for fire retardant applications. .

HIGH TEMP JB WELD!!! use that next! Ive held a spark plug into a cross threaded head on a subie, worked great

That was an amazing experement, I thought the o rings would melt or get hard but no they were as good as new when you took them out. It looks like oil was getting up into the cylinder. I would like to see another test with the engine tuned a set up with a cooling system so the only variable is the rings.

Great video! I would like to see you use 2 Viton high temp o-rings on top with a regular oil ring on the bottom. Should work well.

I use silicone rings in my nitro RC engines and they are amazing for a race or 2 if short

Wow, I'm really impressed! I bet there's race applications for this!

I can't believe rubber piston rings had 120psi of compression after running and revving for a while. Amazing!

Might be more trouble on a car with tighter tolerances- the ring there partly to transfer heat from piston to engine block to cool it, if cylinder heats up more it might seize/knock. Tighter tolerances tend to make them more fragile.

Good experiment, certainly increased compression, there's probably a rubber compound that can withstand higher heat, interesting that they would naturally expand greater than the casing, but would probably benefit from running a bit cooler & as some mentioned an oil control ring.

Amazing! definitely didn't expect it to run so well. One thing got me though is the flames coming out of the carburettor - almost like timing or spark plugs were connected up wrong? If you had 8 bar across all 4 cylinders it definitely should have idled and ran very well you'd think

Amazing, oil is not good for rubber usually, I know rubber handles heat without a problem also, but like you Vlad, I'm amazed that those rings survived everything! LADA!!!!!

This experiment deserves complete installation with proper cooling and ignition setting, then install to car. We want to see, how long it can last on streets. Great one!

this video definitly need a part 2 with better rubber rings, ones that can withstand high temperatures

A good rubber has never let me down. 😂

Garage 54 answering the questions you never you knew you needed the answers to. I am now scared people are going to actually do this to sell a car. Impressed they did so good.😲

Nice video, always educational