valve stem seals

[Brian (up north) Morris]

hi the valve stem seals on my sierra have hardend sitting in the garage all that time no suprise. so whats the best treatment to add. untill i get chance to change them ta 

[Brian (up north) Morris]

lol really ...ok cheers daryl 

[Brian (up north) Morris]

lol :-))))

[James Doulton]

I think that there was a suggestion that you can change the seals without taking the head off but I cannot imagine how. Does anyone know how?

[Adrian Southgate]

I'd be interested in the answer to that as mine need doing. Maybe it involves bringing the piston to the top of the bore and then just using a fork of some kind to lever the retainer down to free the collets? Just a guess...

As long as you don't lever the valve it should be ok although what do you lever under... there is only the cam or ball stud adjuster once the rocker is removed...

[Paul Sheridan]

Three ways to hold the valve up :-  4mm dia rope fed into the bore, then the engine turned over to jam the rope against the valve head (keeping an end out).  There are adapters to screw into the spark plug threads in order to pressure the cylinder with compressed air.

You can also use a steel rod bent at the end to feed through the spark plug hole and turn to keep the valve closed.

As Daryl has said, the rope method is probably the easiest.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO BLOCK UP ALL OIL WAY HOLES  as you can be sure a collett will ping off and disappear like the proverbial white rabbit :-)

[James Doulton]

Well, I'm amazed. I have never seen a valve spring compressor like that before but it was the very first thing that came up under "valve spring compressor" on ebay. I had only ever seen a G clamp type before. It is obvious really - hooking onto the lower coil of the spring - more like a suspension spring compressor, which I have a few of. But in all my years, I have never seen one like that. So you only need to hold up the valve to stop it dropping when the spring is off. Neat.

[Steve Kerswell]

If it was me, head off, valves out, quick lap in of the valves, inspection of parts, bores, valve guide wear etc. (I know there are no guides), but it pays to look, all back together by tea time. But that's me :-))