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Thread: Valve stem seals

  1. #1
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    Valve stem seals

    I'm think about doing valve stems seals, which I have never done before. (leaving the head on) I have some mild oil smoke when coming off vacuum.
    There are general YouTube videos on valve stem seals, but not specific to BMW or the M10
    Anyone have any good resources or walkthrough links?
    -Thanks
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  2. #2
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    Can you do this job without taking the head off? do you have to remove the cam?
    If someone has done it with the engine in car, I would love to hear the steps in a nutshell.
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  3. #3
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    Some different opinions I found on google. Some say you can do it with the head on and use compressed air or rope shoved in the spark plug hole to keep the valve from dropping. Some say its not worth the hassle and to just pull the head and do a little more refresh of everything else while its off.

    https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ce-valve-seals

    https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...-head-on-block

    https://www.bmw2002faq.com/forums/to...lve-stem-seal/
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  4. #4
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    You have to pull the cam to do the valve seals, so you basically have to pull the head to do it. Pretty easy job, pull intake, exhaust, distributor, and timing cover and it'll pull right off.
    I've also found that it's really difficult to remove the springs / retainers with the little handheld valve spring compressor (not enough clearance within the valvetrain), you would need the full size wraparound compressor.

  5. #5
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    Thanks for the input. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions.
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  6. #6
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    From what I have heard, replacing the valve guides at the same time is a good idea, they wear out and just doing the seals may not be ideal. I believe you'd need a machine shop to replace the guides.

    I am planning to do the seals and guides this winter as it smokes a lot on deceleration, I have about 120K miles on the seals/guides since they were replaced last last. Seals look OK and no smoke on the startup, so it must be the guides. They do not last long...

    Max

  7. #7
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    Cool

    Use Viton Valve stem seals, Nitrile stem seals don't last as long.. One and done with Viton.

    $_61.JPG

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/31038093289...oAAMXQlrxRdNeA

    or

    Fel Pro SS 72567 for 1/2 the price $10.00 I have a set of each and installed a 3rd set of SS 72567 on a cylinder head I'm renewing, these are Viton and Fit 320i's see application chart.

    s-l1600.jpgs-l1601.jpgs-l1602.jpg


    https://www.ebay.com/itm/18453811570...QAAOSwk4Jfscr6


    Randy
    Last edited by 320iAman; 09-16-2021 at 01:09 PM.

  8. #8
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    New Question:
    I don't know what the head gasket material is for the M10, Do you think the head with 250K miles needs to be resurfaced? A shop told me this. I was planning on leaving the block in the car, so I don't know if you must then resurface the block too?
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  9. #9
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    Cool

    You don't need to remove the cylinder head to install the Valve Stem Seals, with a Valve Job then resurface is a good idea as the Cylinder head is removed, quite a bit of work going into this to remove the cylinder head from the engine block and then reinstall.

    Generally you don't have to resurface the engine block deck when you resurface the Cylinder head again its done when rebuilding the engine block, then both surfaces are straightened out or resurfaced- flat and level. The M10 is a bi-metal motor the Cylinder head is Aluminum and the Block is cast iron steel. Aluminum warps more than steel over a period of time so if resurfacing the cylinder head might as do a valve job as well since it is out of the the car.

    Note: when doing a valve job- the valve face will be ground down a bit losing some circumference and this will cause the valve seat contact zone to change thus the valve seat will have to be adjusted as well on all valve seats intake and exhaust, this is included in valve job-then the sealing of the valve face to valve seat is tested to make sure that there is proper contact between the two and a strong seal is formed. There are additional considerations like the length of the valve itself-3 way valve grind generally the top of the valve, the valve face and the kick angle are reground and made a new. A proper Kick angle helps keep the carbon from building up on the bottom of the valve- its knocked off by the action of the valve spring snapping closed and the small particles sent out the exhaust. Factory kick angles generally are not optimal--they build middle of the road. the Kick Angles that are optimal me and my jr partners did is cataloged and is proprietary and not for sale. More on the Kick Angle, an optimal kick angle helps alleviate carbon creep - that carbon deposits move up the bottom of the valve on to the exhaust valve face--which is quite common and almost always seen on the exhaust valves when doing a valve job, not so much on the intake valves. Short way to say it all, the valve is Blueprinted-Blueprinting a motor and its parts is taking factory middle of the road approach and adjusting specifications to the performance end of the spectrum- Spectrum range is where a motor can run stable. Car factories blueprint everything-they are middle of the road though unless one wants to fork over more dough for their performance packages or buy a high end Automobile to begin with.

    Randy
    Last edited by 320iAman; 10-02-2021 at 11:28 AM.

  10. #10
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    Thanks. I'm not sure how much, or how little, I want to take on. A lot to think about.
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    My current cars:
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    '92 Honda accord
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    '81 BMW 320i
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  11. #11
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    Cool

    Are you losing oil ? Valve stem seals that have shrunk will let oil get by-in other words burn oil a lot- This happened to me once with Nitrile valve stem seals so sent the head in to get rebuilt and planed plus Viton valve stem seals while waiting for it, I cleaned the carbon off the pistons with a hard plastic stick using a vacuum cleaner to pick up the chips as I went along, got the head back and no more oil burn. There are other considerations as well, warped head, broken head gasket, rings not sealing, Compression test will tell about the rings, leak down test the valves sealing-for you a compression test and if this is good then rebuild the cylinder head, and you'll be good with a new head gasket kit. Head gaskets that are not sealing generally you see white smoke out of the exhaust-radiator pressure test will tell you if coolant is getting into the combustion chamber. Every year at tune up time I loosen the Cylinder head Bolts 1/4 turn / 90 degrees and then torque to stage 3 Torque in sequence, this helps alleviate cylinder head warping by keeping the cylinder head clamped down equally throughout.

    Randy
    Last edited by 320iAman; 10-04-2021 at 11:47 AM.

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