Piston failure is not a common incidence usually associated with micro-structure aspect. Pin hole or skirt of the piston is affected that most of the failure was initiated by cracks. In this study, investigations of piston failure using experiments have been presented. The average value of the hardness is 61 HRB. Hardness of the surface is clearly differs from the crown to skirt of the piston. The high percentage of silicon, increased the piston life, but could not retain high temperatures during the operating time and finally failed. Copper percentage decreases the mechanical properties of the alloys. The micro-structure of the piston particles like small, angular and primary silicon and Mg2Si particles distributed in a matrix of aluminum solid solution throughout structure. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd.