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Alloytec Valve Stem Seals

wannaeatyourbrains

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Yeah, thanks man. It is a very helpful trick.

They are little buggers. It is a total mission. The springs are not exposed like on other motors, so it is really hard. Those ones at the back, in the smallest recess, where you can't see or get your hands in, and the tools won't fit, and you gotta work on it by leaning over the far side of the motor....whew, a man needs patience.

But damn, I am getting there. It can sure as hell be done.

I got a couple of hands free ways of holding the spring down. I found there is a sweet spot for spring compression that the bottom lip will slip in and hold them, and then they will just clip in when you give them a push or tap on top.

Nearly had another disaster this morning.

I got the evil bank finished, then I thought, oh ho, what is this.

What did I find lying in the top of the head but one of the little springs from the valve seals. A new one, not an old one...

I was absolutely depressed cause I thought I would have to pull them all off and put them all on again to find which one had lost his spring.

But luckily, little bit of deduction, the first one I pulled off, it was the one missing the spring.

In my haste, however, I forgot to put the rope in that cylinder before checking. Nearly lost the valve down the cylinder.

Again, but, fortune smiled on me, and it only dropped a short way.

The day was saved.

I thought how did this even happen, the spring come off?

I looked in the bag of valve stem seals. Ah, a couple of them have not been assembled very well, the rubber is not positioned well or the spring is half hanging off. So it pays to study them carefully before you poke them on with your fingers, into that dark pit of misery where they dwell. Make sure everything is in order.

This is some good advice I will be able to give to the next guy about this one.

Ha ha, I have a bunch, because I am always a comedy of errors.

Still got two eyes, haven't bled too much, and haven't broken or stuffed up anything yet, so I am well pleased with it all.

And just this very second those cam shaft locking tools came from Amazon.
 

Lex

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I put some valve stem seals in a motor (can't remember what motor), actually did a couple of them maybe 25 - 30 years ago.

On both motors l got the piston of the valve that l was working on to tdc (top dead center). The valve can't drop down. As you found out, when you forgot to put the rope in.
 

wannaeatyourbrains

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16 down, 8 to go.

Who's the expert about camshafts in these things?

Something gnarly has crept up out of the oil port somewhere over the years and scored the camshaft journal.

Check it out.

Should I worry about it?

Scored journal.jpg


Scored camshaft.jpg
 

shane_3800

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shane_3800

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Well, that is bloody good news. Thanks.

It's not great but the engine will run the other option is to get a second hand engine so just run it. Use a rag and thinners to clean the oil stains off.
 

wannaeatyourbrains

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I can tell you all now, this ain't nothing like Telly Savalas sitting in his comfy chair popping collets off in that video.

Wait till you get to the one nearest the brake booster. Whew...

Took me two days. Collets flying all over the show.

Had to make a whole new tool in the end.

Learned from experience, but. Got a pearler happening. Gonna save people a lot of grief when I am done. Would that I had started with what I know now...
 

wannaeatyourbrains

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Well, I would not call this the definitive guide, because I have only done it once. But if you are nimble and don't mind jumping into the engine bay, you can change your valve stem seals with the heads on and the engine in the car.

Costs $40 for valve stem seals. Mine did, anyway. I got them from Revhigh Automotive on Ebay, who deserve a mention here because the bloke who sent them was a very cheerful chap, and especially because they chucked an extra one in the pack for me, which I needed in the end because I stuffed one. It was a delightful surprise just when my heart had truly sunk, so good on them.

You will need a tube of gasket toothpaste to seal up some stuff when you are done, e.g. the timing cover. If your gaskets and seals are old, you might want to change all that as well.

I am too much of a tight ass to do it every time I open something up. I don't fix it if it ain't broke. I have a serious debt I am FIFO working to pay off, so every penny saved gets me nearer that objective. Seriously, I never drive past a rubbish tip in the industrial areas or abandoned car in the desert without looking for free ****. It has served me well so far. (The police have stopped checking my bucket now, they just honk their horn and wave hello.)

If something starts leaking after I am done, then I will go back and just do that bit again. I am happy to keep the car in good running order. I will buy something fancy when I am richer. I am that kind of contributor here. Tightest budget in the history of humankind.

I only have basic hand tools, nothing special, but that is all you need.

I won't go through every step here, because much of it is covered elsewhere.

In brief, rip the plenum off, then strip everything away from the timing cover and from around the valve covers to give yourself room to move.

One drama you might encounter if your car is automatic, like mine, is getting the harmonic balancer off, cause it is just gonna spin. You can pull the starter off and lock it there, but I know a quicker way.

I just put my jack handle on my breaker bar, stick a pair of multigrips handle first into the balancer, and brace it like this. Mind the handles aren't contacting the motor. You can get a bit of wood and tap down on the spanner from the top, which has never failed me yet.

Slide1.JPG


They make small wheel pullers these days which get it off without having to remove the radiator, so leave that on there.

Slide2.JPG


You don't have to pull the water pump off. Undo the bracket for the AC compressor, not the studs. There is one bolt at the back, a different size to the others. Three altogether, and you can push that to the side.

Slide3.JPG


Undo that bolt at the back of the motor to be able to remove the wiring harness and coil packs right away from your work space. I wish I would have done that in the start, because it so got in my face. You have to eventually anyway to do the hard to get to valve springs.

Take off the valve covers. I note you would be able to change your thermostat easily with your engine exposed like this.

Remove the timing cover. Note the position of the two shorter bolts when you do it. You can always measure up later to figure it out if you blow it, there is one at the top and at the bottom, by my reckoning. I moved one after measuring. I reckon someone had got it wrong before me.

Pull off the timing chains so the camshafts can be removed. Be careful you don't strip those bolts with the smaller heads that hold the chain guides in. I torqued them right last time, but somehow they had got helluva stuck.

I got them off by gently hammering a 3/8 socket onto them, but then I had to go get new ones. Just wish I had been more careful in the first place. I am just saying, it is real easy to do, so focus on those. You don't want any f-ups there.

Unbolt and remove the camshafts. DON'T DROP THOSE BOLTS, there is bottomless holes for them to go down. Didn't happen to me because I saw it coming, but again, something to be aware of. That will ruin your day. Mind you note the order everything goes in, and the direction of the little arrows etc., if you do not have the manual.

Pull out the lifter/tappet thingamyjigs, being careful not to drop them either, could be they would fit down some of those holes together with Luke Skywalker.

Now, pay attention folks, else you regret later.

Carefully look in there with a torch. Block all the holes with some tissue a collet could fall down.

Then park your car somewhere with a wide flat surface around it, where an airborne collet can be found.

Then cover everything in your engine with a sheet, except for the bit you are working on, like you are doing heart valve surgery.

Collets and valve retainers are going to be dropped, or fly off at speed, and you gotta be prepared.

What I just said here is going to save you enormous time, and be really good for your psychological wellbeing, trust me.

So now you are ready to jam the valves up with rope. Get yourself a bit of rope. I just used rope like this.

Slide4.JPG


You got the spark plugs out so you can turn the motor easy. Put two drinking straws taped together into the spark plug hole of the valve springs you want to work on, so you can figure out where the top and bottom of the piston stroke is.

Slide5.JPG


This picture was before I played hide and seek with collets, see. I am speaking from experience.

Turn the motor over with your wrench on the harmonic balancer bolt. With spark plugs out it is so easy.

When the piston is at the bottom of the stroke, thread your rope in through the spark plug hole.

Don't stress about the rope. I just poked mine in with my finger in a haphazard fashion until no more would go in. 4 foot of rope, I guess.

Then put the straw back in and turn the motor until you are top dead centre, or thereabouts. It will get hard to turn. Just firmly jam that rope in there. No need to go too hard.

That just jammed the valves up for me with perfection and no fuss or bother every time.
 

Skylarking

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Nice... just need to add “wear eye protection” ;) to be sure to be sure :p
 

wannaeatyourbrains

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OK, now to do the intake valve springs, I used one of these I bought from China for $10. (Note I have stuffed up the top of the spark plug tube too, you wouldn't want a collet to go down there.)

Slide9.JPG


But you gotta modify it. First thing you have to do is grind all the protruding bits off the sides, so it looks like this.

Slide7.JPG


Then you have to smash the silver jaws closer together that lock onto the top of the valve retainer so the thing is going to fit into the space. You have to grind it, with those little semicircles, so it fits perfectly on the retainer with no slipping either way. You got me? The silver jaws have to be hammered narrower, and seize the retainer firmly on the top.

Slide6.JPG


Then you gotta bend the arms just as I have indicated here. This will be a good tool after you have played with it some. Ideal for those intake valve springs, gonna make your life much easier there.

Slide8.JPG


Now is the time to WEAR EYE PROTECTION. I was really stoked to join the other members of the Collet Appreciation Society who know that, and who know about struggling with magnetised screwdrivers and using grease for glue.

I always make friends with this stuff. The things that bind us, so to speak.

Wear clear goggles and get a torch, too. It is dark as all **** in an Alloytec head, and you can believe me good lighting is gonna save you a lot of time and heartache as well.

After you have modified your tool, it is going to fit in here like this, and you can poke that longer arm home with a screwdriver. If you do not poke it home, you will find out exactly what the eye protection and collet loss avoidance procedures are for the hard way.

Slide10.JPG


Here are a couple of essential tools. My favourite prying device and my magnet.

Slide27.JPG


You can knock down on the valve retainer with a socket first to loosen stuff up, but be careful. Collets are going to come flying out if you knock too hard.

Then put the spring compressor on, tighten her up, dislodge the collets with the poker and extract them with the magnet.

Bam, those ones are a breeze. You can see the collets actually on the magnet there.

Don't do any sort of spring compression without the magnet next to those collets to catch them in the case of an accident. Might sound paranoid, but if you have spent the hours on your hands and knees like I have, or lying under a jacked up car with a mirror, or pulling off exhaust shields etc. you don't need to...well, you would be collet wary also.
 
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