What do piston rings look like when they are worn enough to let too much oil leak by, but not worn enough to disintegrate? If I looked down the side of a piston (say, using a borescope) could I see that the rings were bad?
The way I think of piston ring, as the rim wears off, there is less and less pressure forcing the ring against the sides of the cylinder. When the rings start leaking oil, can you actually see some daylight between the edge of the ring and the wall of the cylinder? Or does the leakage start a long time before there is any visual evidence?