Worn Rings and/or Valve Guide Seals

Having to add oil often after 20K well-ridden miles since Spring 2015.

Maybe ring time, but wondering about the Viton seals which were installed in the head that got installed with a set of 84 ZX cams at the same time in 2015.
Could the different cam lift cause accelerated seal wear, considering the valve stems were worn-in from the start with standard KZ1100/1000 camshafts?
The head and valves had 8K miles on them when installed, so valve stem wear would have been minimal.

Hadn't noticed oil on the stems when viewed through the ports last opportunity when the carb holders and exhaust were off in the past year or so.

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

Compression test and cylinder pressures ?? Try dry and wet and compare numbers.
Cylinder Leak down tests and results ??
Inquiring minds want to know
Dave

A leak down test should show if the rings and/or valves are leaking compression. Also, a compression test can show issues, but be SURE to follow the instructions in the Kawasaki Service Manual or the results of the test may be misleading.

If you decide to do a "wet" compression test by adding oil to the cylinders consider the following. Even a very small amount of oil added to a cylinder can make a big difference in the compression readings. I have seen more than one person advocate adding "about a teaspoon" of oil to each cylinder when doing a "wet" compression test. That may not sound like much oil to many folks, but a teaspoon is actually right around 5cc, and that is a lot. As an example of how little oil it takes to change the compression ratio I offer the following diagram. It uses a hypothetical cylinder with a total volume (cylinder & head) of 100cc and a dry compression ratio of 10:1. A little oil added changes things quite a bit, so if different amounts of oil were added to different cylinders one can see that the compression ratios might vary a lot. This example is not precise and is not any specific engine and it doesn't take into account oil that may seep past the rings, etc. It only is meant to demonstrate in very general terms how adding oil can change compression ratios even in a perfect engine. You can see how quickly the compression ratio jumps as a little oil is added to the cylinder. Ed

Street Fighter LTD wrote: Compression test and cylinder pressures ?? Try dry and wet and compare numbers.
Cylinder Leak down tests and results ??
Inquiring minds want to know
Dave

+1

What is the purpose of adding a small quantity of oil to the cylinders? Is it primarily meant to reduce the space in the combustion chamber at TDC as 650ed mentioned, or temporarily improve the seal of the rings at the cylinder wall as well?
I do not have access to a leak-down test tool, but do own an Autozone compression test gauge that has a pressure release valve.

A small amount of oil is to see if the compression comes up indicating bad rings.
Steve

Right on Steve, just for clarity Steve isn't talking about 2 or 3lbs improvement in compression, you are talking 10 -15lbs or more, correct Steve?

Yup. Leakdown test is the best way though.
Steve