valve seals

[gotama]

i have a 84 4wd s/w thats in baja mexico all year and she sits for 6 of those 12 months for 10 years now..car just started blowing blue before i left this year and im sure its just what 4wdchico said..valve seals harden up and crack..this motor has only 125k miles and only leaks oil and has great power and so so mileage bout 25 mpg..im gonna take down some new valve seals..ill need a valve spring compressor. compressed air? or not?..il do a comp test too..ive got an adapter to hold up the valves with compressed air while i change the seals if its nessasary..anything else i should have or be prepared for?..thanks in advance!

[CMB]

I just did the valve seals on my 84 a couple months back. I went with FelPro Seals for $20, as the toyota seals were 7 or $8...each! This completely eliminated the puff of smoke at start up on the 230,000 mile motor. I also cleaned up the rocker assembly while I had it off. I used scotch bright pads and brake cleaner. Things were pretty grimed up and I think cleaning the rocker assembly helped my gas mileage (33 last highway run with power steering belt off). Also bring valve feeler gauge. In theory removing and reinstalling rocker assembly shouldn't change valve adjustment, but I would do a valve adjustment if I were you. Another thing I noticed is that the the holes in the head that the rocker assembly thread into get extremely gunked up. This is worth noting because when you go to tighten the rocker assembly back down, gunk and grit will rise out of the thread holes and settle in between mating surfaces. I ended up cleaning these out with carb cleaner and q-tips.

Compressed air is not necessary, just take a foot long section of 3/8" hose, and push this in through the spark plug hole, putting piston at TDC for the particular set of vlaves you are working on. Compressed air would be great, but if you don't have the adapter or getting a compressor down there is a pain, the rubber hose method works just fine.

[dlb]

good info, carson.

[deejay1272]

I'm (STILL) in the process of planning to do this work on my Terjunken. I've been massively held up with other work and a variety of coolant leaks (only one left to address!) so this remains on my to-do list.

If you can draft up your thoughts after you finish the work, then I'd appreciate it. Never hurts to get input from lots of folks as I plan the job.

Thanks,
Dan

[gotama]

a standard valve spring remover will work?..just getting everything i need together now as ill be headed back to baja soon

[deejay1272]

a standard valve spring remover will work?

I reckon. CMB will be able to confirm, but my plan is to use a standard valve spring grabber thingy.

[Petros]

There are several types of valve spring compressors: the one that will work is any style that works from the top only, and does not require access to the head end of the valve. I rented one from Autozone that looks like a gear puller, but it pushes on the retainer and hooks on to the coils of the spring to compress it and allowed me to remove the keepers. I have seen other types that are hooked to the rocker shaft and a lever pushes down on the retainer allowing you to remove the keepers.

You might consider trying an adaptive that soften seals and improves seal performance. usually only cost about $10 or less, it is added to the oil. A lot simpler than replacing the seals.

[CMB]

I used this style of spring compressor:
http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... CHAQ8gIwBA

I had it in my tool box from old honda motorcycle work. A magnetic extension tool tmet al pick-up thingy (the pen style ones) are nice fro grabbing the keepers out of there. You don't want to lose any of those!

Seal conditioner might work on your "low-mile" motor, but the seals on mine were disintegrating. They were extremely brittle and cracked, and would crumble when touched, so I doubt oil additive would have worked in my case. 5,000 miles since I did the valve seals and still no more smoke.

Good luck!

[gotama]

"You might consider trying an adaptive that soften seals and improves seal performance. usually only cost about $10 or less, it is added to the oil. A lot simpler than replacing the seals.'

the previous owners put every known additive there is in this motor so i dont think that will do anything..thanks for the tip (magnet) and compressor info though!..gonna have to buy the compressor tool cause i wont be able to rent one im sure..i miss my most excellent car and cant wait to bomb around in it this winter in baja!..just a side bar note should i take down some rear drive shaft universals?..they have nevr been done (no nipples)

[Petros]

with that few of miles on it I would be surprised if your u-joints are bad. I have 300k miles on mine, and though they are worn and notchy, they still run fine without making too much noise. It is very unlikely they are worn so bad it actually might fail, and you can not replace them with hand tools because they are pressed and staked into the yoke. I would not worry about it.

I would take down a new timing belt and new front seal. You might also consider changing all the fluids, especially the brake fluid, it will make the brake system last longer to bleed out all the old stuff.

[gotama]

theres a saying down in mexico where i go..we say "its been baja'ed"..in other words the object is weathered (rusty)..my 2 y/o quad looks 15 y/o for example..ive been driving up and down the beach and alot of arroyos and the way all the other seals have broken and cracked i think maybe the universals will need attention some day.. but no noise/vibration at all..smooth as can be actually..they alwayss are turning in or out of 4wd..your prob right petros..after my universals went on my 87 ford p/u only after 100k miles ive been paranoid ever since

[Petros]

The u-joints on all toyotas used sealed bearings and are swagged into the yoke, and are intended to last the life of the vehicle. I doubt sand or sea water would affect them. I would not compare them to any US made car or truck, on both our old chevy van and our ford 1-ton, the u-joints needed to be lubed and usually replaced at about 60k miles, sometimes more. Same as ball joints, on our ford 1-ton they lasted about as long as a good set of tires, on my Tercel I just replaced my first one this year at about 300k miles, my wife's Mazda 4wd minivan has original ball joints on it too at about 300k miles.

[deejay1272]

Can anyone tell me if there's a trick to removing the keepers that hold the valve spring in place? I have a spring compressor tool, but still having issues actually removing those keepers (I'm trying to use. A magnet, but no luck)

Thanks!

[Petros]

pry them out with the tip of a small screw driver or knife.

[deejay1272]

Thanks Petros - I ended up using a 3/4" socket to whack the tops of the springs and break the fasteners free from whatever varnish was holding them in place. This trick worked like a charm.

I installed all 8 valve stem seals yesterday, but I still noticed blue smoke. I'm wondering if I pushed the stem seals down far enough when I installed them. How hard do you have to push those things down on the valve guide cap in order for them to work properly?