valve seal change

[Night Wolf]

is it possible to change the valve seals with out removing the head? what special tools are needed?

[cp[mike]]

you gotta remove the springs and retainers to access the valve seals underneath, so really what you need to look into is how to do this without removing the head. youll need a compressor fitting to pressurize the cylinder to hold the valves up, and a spring compressor that works strictly from above... and be very careful...

[F22HB]

Rotate the engine to bring the piston up then buy a valve spring remover(on the car type). The valves should fall and hit the piston. Thats the old school way to do it.

[cp[mike]]

Rotate the engine to bring the piston up then buy a valve spring remover(on the car type). The valves should fall and hit the piston. Thats the old school way to do it.

thanks, ive never quite thought of it that way... how far do they drop in before stopping? im assuming not too far that the spring wouldnt be able to compress enough to still put the locks in. good tip

[ceelooboob]

another way i read in my manual is to fill up the cylinder with string so that the valve falls onto the string(of course leave some string to pull it back out).

[Night Wolf]

Rotate the engine to bring the piston up then buy a valve spring remover(on the car type). The valves should fall and hit the piston. Thats the old school way to do it.

lol sounds cheap & easy. my kind of way


btw is this the tool?

[ATS666]

yes that looks like the tool.

I did this job less then amonth ago in my driveway with out problems....

I didn't let the valve hit the piston, I jammed yellow nylon rope down the cyl and rotated it till the I felt resistance.... I used the felpro brand seals.

[Night Wolf]

alright I did the valve seal replacement on bogey2tones car. but it still smokes. the car has new valve steam seals, new head gasket. where else can it be leaking into the cylinder bores? do you guys think it is the rings?

[wed3k]

alright I did the valve seal replacement on bogey2tones car. but it still smokes. the car has new valve steam seals, new head gasket. where else can it be leaking into the cylinder bores? do you guys think it is the rings?

smokes upon deceleration or acceleration?

[Fake Thug]

alright I did the valve seal replacement on bogey2tones car. but it still smokes. the car has new valve steam seals, new head gasket. where else can it be leaking into the cylinder bores? do you guys think it is the rings?

On our engines more likely than not when the valve seals go bad usually the guides are already worn. Not always but likely. Did you compression test?

[Fake Thug]

Rotate the engine to bring the piston up then buy a valve spring remover(on the car type). The valves should fall and hit the piston. Thats the old school way to do it.

Have you done this personally? How much clearence in the combustion chamber with the piston tdc? I've seen people loose valves that way and the only way they were able to retrieve them was by pulling the head. If the stem falls below the guide you are screwed.

[Fake Thug]

is it possible to change the valve seals with out removing the head? what special tools are needed?

What I do is use the compressed air method. I use an air compressor, compression tester hose adapter(I pull the check valve out), and a universal valve spring compressor(I modified mine to work in a tight area). You set the cylinder at tdc on the compression stroke, run at most 90 psi thru the cylinder to hold the valve in place, Compress the valve spring, use a magnet to pull the keepers, set the keepers aside and pull the spring and retainer off. Then I use a pair of small locking pliers to pull the valve stem seal off. I did mine using felpro seals because they were cheaper but I would have preffered the honda seals.

[wed3k]

What I do is use the compressed air method. I use an air compressor, compression tester hose adapter(I pull the check valve out), and a universal valve spring compressor(I modified mine to work in a tight area). You set the cylinder at tdc on the compression stroke, run at most 90 psi thru the cylinder to hold the valve in place, Compress the valve spring, use a magnet to pull the keepers, set the keepers aside and pull the spring and retainer off. Then I use a pair of small locking pliers to pull the valve stem seal off. I did mine using felpro seals because they were cheaper but I would have preffered the honda seals.

the rope idea is a better method because of the air compressor loses pressure the valve still drop in anyways. plus not everyone has an air compressor with the proper attachment.

[Fake Thug]

the rope idea is a better method because of the air compressor loses pressure the valve still drop in anyways. plus not everyone has an air compressor with the proper attachment.

I got my craftsman compressor used for $150. A compression tester is usually like $20. As for losing pressure its a pretty slow drop. Yes the pressure will bypass the piston rings. Not that it matters much anyway because you can set the compressor to cycle below a certain psi. If your engine is in good health then you have plenty of time to change 4 seals, but for a first timer it will take a while. It took me 8 hours my first time. That averges out to 2 hours per cylinder. krikey!!!