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Can anybody give me a hint on how to put the piston back into a dcs34 makita chainsaw without breaking the ring, I cannot see how you are supposed to compress the ring to fit in the barrel, no room for fingers.
Thanks up front Eric

You're supposed to use a piston ring compressor but for a one-off occasion you can get away with making a 'barrel' out of thin steel - tin can probably or a thin coke can - cut the end off, cut up one side and cut enough metal off so that when it's 'wrapped' into a cylinder there is very little/no overlap. Obviously don't use the rippled/ridged part of the tin can.

Put the cylinder of metal into the bore and allow the top of the tin cylinder to 'flare' open a little. Drop the piston/rod down this cylinder and as you push it should compress the ring as it enters the cylinder bore.

Bit slap-dash but it works.

kellys_eye wrote:You're supposed to use a piston ring compressor but for a one-off occasion you can get away with making a 'barrel' out of thin steel - tin can probably or a thin coke can - cut the end off, cut up one side and cut enough metal off so that when it's 'wrapped' into a cylinder there is very little/no overlap. Obviously don't use the rippled/ridged part of the tin can.

Put the cylinder of metal into the bore and allow the top of the tin cylinder to 'flare' open a little. Drop the piston/rod down this cylinder and as you push it should compress the ring as it enters the cylinder bore.

Bit slap-dash but it works.

Hi thanks for the prompt reply, but the head and barrel are all one casting so piston has to go in from the bottom hense lack of finger/tool space

If there's room for the piston then there should be room for the additional 'tin can' to compress the ring..... the exploded diagram shows the orientation of the piston (at full stroke length) as it goes into the casing.

Quite honestly, if the manufacturers did it, so can you!

http://www.toolpartspro.com/makita-part ... parts.html