Replacing Oil Valve Stem Seals - Without Removing The Cylinder Head

[burnt_crisps2 1]

My 205 1.6cti 8v had always smoked a bit since acquiring it 5 years ago. However it finally failed its MOT due to blue smoke at idle. (last year)

So I searched the forum and the web for a guide on how to replace the valve stem seals without removing the head, as I did not want to do a complete head removal.

 

I could not find a well written guide, just various info saying it was possible.

So having done the job I wrote up the procedure below and finally getting round to posting info.

Trust it helps someone else when they come to do this and of course it's basically applicable to other engines too.

 

Procedure to replace oil valve stem seals Peugeot 205 1.6 cti, gti 8v without removing the cylinder head

Items required

• 4m (12ft) of 6mm Nylon Rope (B&Q DIY store or other)

• 1m (3ft) of 25mm square steel tube Steel Square Tube (B&Q DIY store or other)

• Sealey VS1671 VS1671- Valve Stem Seal Pliers Long Stem Straight 16/24Valve

• Sealey VS160 VS160 - Valve Spring Compressor OHV

• New Oil valve stem seals

• New cambelt and tensioner (good practise to replace, unless known to be almost new)

 

 

1. Preparation:- Ensure you have a working area covered in newspaper on which to place items that are removed and keep in the correct order of removal.

2. Remove spark plugs

3. Remove air cleaner (if original) and air intake pipework

4. Remove AFM (Air Flow Meter)

5. Remove distributor (if this has been leaking oil, then replace the ‘O’ ring now ready for later fitment)

6. Remove upper cambelt cover

7. Jack offside and remove aux belt

8. Manually turn engine until aligned with locking slot and also camshaft is also aligned.

9. Lock crankshaft using screwdriver in ring gear teeth and loosen the crankshaft bolt

10. Realign crankshaft as necessary.

11. Lock camshaft

12. Remove crankshaft pulley.

13. Remove cambelt covers and slacken tensioner

14. Remove cambelt (mark direction or rotation if going to re-use)

15. Remove camshaft cover. (Sounds simple but you will probably find its almost welded into place. Often people will have used silicone sealant when replacing and you will need to use a Stanley knife blade or similar to release along one side (rear) before you can remove. Take your time!)

16. Lock camshaft pulley using tool (this can be easily made from 2 pieces of flat metal, to form a Y shaped tool) and loosen bolt.

17. Remove camshaft pulley

18. Remove oil way pipe

19. Remove camshaft bearing cap bolts evenly.

20. Remove camshaft

21. Using a long handled flat blade screwdriver lower delicately into first plug hole

22. Manually rotate crankshaft until screwdriver is at lowest point.

23. Remove screwdriver

24. Take the nylon rope, fold in half and mark the centre with a black felt tip pen.

25. Feed 2m (6ft) of nylon rope into plug hole one until you reach the black marker point

26. Manually turn the crankshaft until it stops, check rope is held fast

27. Use a small magnet to pull the valve cup out of the bore. It’s almost impossible to grab and pull with your fingers. MAKE sure you have the shim. They usually stick in place due to the oil sticktion, so just turn it over, check it’s there and then turn it back over and place with the other removed parts in sequence of removal order.

28. Construct the frame that will hold the valve spring compressor. Essentially this is 3 lengths of square tubing held together with nuts & bolts. The spacing of the bearing caps is not even in width or depth although some are identical, hence the mounting holes need to be elongated to accommodate. The angle bracket is moved from inlet to outlet valve.

29. Get a suitable sized socket which fits the top of the valve washer and with a hammer give it several sharp taps. This will loosen the collets, otherwise when you compress the spring it will just depress with the collets.

30. Install the compressor jig.

31. Using the compressor to compress the spring and then remove the collects. (A small magnetised screwdriver helps achieve this quickly.)

32. Remove the compressor jig.

33. Make sure you have laid out paper on your work area and keep all parts in the correct order of removal, so you can replace in the original position.

34. Remove the spring and valve plate

35. Before using the valve stem seal pliers wrap insulating tape around each of the arms to protect the precision cup bores.

36. Using the valve stem seal pliers, position almost fully down and then grip hard. Use a rotating motion (like a pestle and mortar motion) whilst pulling up and usually the whole stem seal will come out in one go. If it’s really hard and brittle it will break into 2 pieces.

37. Make sure you get all the old crusty bits of rubber removed from the base of the valve sleeve. If necessary just clean out all the oil, soak it up, to ensure it’s all clean.

38. Take the new valve seal and pop into a small container of engine oil, to ensure it’s fully oiled.

39. Now place over the valve sleeve.

40. Press it fully down using a close fitting socket (use a dry valve oil stem seal to select the correct size) by placing on top and using your thumb to push down. You will feel it push home.

41. Check the new seal is fully home by using a dentist mirror or measure the distance down the stem.

42. Replace the valve spring and plate.

43. Reposition the compressor jig.

44. Squash the spring and then insert the collets. (The collets can be a right fiddle to get in place. It sometimes helps to wiggle the compressor left, right, or up, down, to centralise and let them slot into place.)

45. Remove the compressor jig.

46. Replace the shim. Ensure it is the same way up as when originally removed.

47. Replace the cam follower.

48. Move onto the next valve. (You need to do 1 inlet and 1 outlet valve)

49. Manually move the crankshaft and remove the rope from the cylinder

50. Repeat from step 21.

51. Repeat until all 8 valves have had new valve stem seals fitted.

52. BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE. Set the Crankshaft back so the pistons are at their lowest point. This is the position at which you can lock the crankshaft.

53. I will say this again ... BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE. Set the Crankshaft back so the pistons are at their lowest point. This is the position at which you can lock the crankshaft.

IT IS SO EASY TO FORGET THIS ESPECIALLY IF YOU GET SIDETRACKED AT THIS POINT!!!!!

54. Liberally pour oil using a small eye dropper or similar over the valves, cam followers, cam bearings.

55. Replace the camshaft and bearing caps

56. Carefully and evenly tighten the nuts in a clockwise pattern from centre out.

57. Once they are fully down. Tighten to the correct torque.

58. Pour some more oil in the bearing oil ways in the bearing caps and replace the oil way pipe

59. Replace the camshaft pulley

60. Align and lock the camshaft pulley

61. Install a new cambelt and tensioner (or replace original belt if known to be almost new). The 1.6 8v engine has dimple marks on the crank and cam shaft pulleys which the cambelt white lines will align with.

62. Once aligned, set the tensioner on.

63. Rotate the crankshaft several times and check the alignment of the crank and cam shafts are still perfect

64. Replace all other items in reverse order, tightening to the specified torques.

65. Check oil level.

66. Check engine bay and ensure all tools have been removed

67. Check engine bay and ensure all parts have been replaced and securely tightened

68. Start engine and allow to run for a short while

69. Stop engine and recheck everything is all OK.

 

NOTES:- Construct the frame that will hold the valve spring compressor.

I basically did this on the fly. Just measured the basics, drilled holes and mounted compressor hardware. Then moved onto next position and adjusted as necessary. Once I had done a couple it covered all options throughout the remaining valves.

Two bars are 180mm long and the cross one is 135mm long. Holes are about 55mm and 100mm from rear in the Two main bars and elongated.

The left hand bar is able to move sideways (to the right) by 10mm due to slotted hole in left hand of cross bar.

Cross bar has angled plate which is 60mm across by about 90mm. (40mm base, 50mm angled)

Angle is about 65 degrees

Drill 2 holes centrally, 25mm apart in base of angle holder.

Drill holes to suit Sealey compressor - 44mm apart, about 22m up from angle.

Cross bar needs 2 sets of holes (inlet and outlet positions) about 38mm from left and about 88mm from left.

Trust the pictures help make sense of the above.

cti stem seal removal

 

Take the opportunity to polish up the cam cover with a nylon flap wheel. Works quickly and takes all the grime off in no time.

cti polished camcover

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Great write up, thank you for taking the time to do it.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Really needs pictures though to be honest. In particular, of how you made the compressor jig.

 

It's easy enough to follow for those of us who have done a head refurb before, but I'd guess that a lot of people who would use this guide will be doing so becuase they've not done the job before, so a lack of pictures will lead to some head scratching in places.

 

Not knocking you though, it's great that you actually went to the trouble to right it all up after the event to help others

Edited January 31, 2012 by GLPoomobile

[kyepan 291]

well done! great post.

 

tip on

 

4. Squash the spring and then insert the collets. (The collets can be a right fiddle to get in place. It sometimes helps to wiggle the compressor left, right, or up, down, to centralise and let them slot into place.)

 

a dab of moly grease on the collet helps it stick to the screwdriver and makes it easier to seat when you place it onto the valve head.

Edited January 31, 2012 by kyepan

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

I know it is possible to do without removing the head in such a way as you've posted & that is a geat write up for future reference.

 

But, if the valve stem seals are worn so badly that your car fails the MOT due to smoke, it would benefit much better from having the head removed, valve guides etc checked for wear & a fresh head gasket minimum imo.

 

g

[daneldridge23 15]

would it not be much quicker and easier just to take of the head, i cant imagine how your back must of felt after this! especially on a 16v! good read tho

Edited January 31, 2012 by daneldridge23

[burnt_crisps2 1]

Very late in replying..... but not a regular on here....

 

In answer to the later posts saying its better to remove the complete head just to fix valve stem seals.

 

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!!!

 

Car had always been fine and only issue was oil valve stem seals which like everything else in life deteriorate with time and eventually fail.

I did post pictures (but as newbie could only do ext. links) which now seem to have been lost in the ether.

Will try and repost - or get my son to do as he is a long time member/poster.

 

It is only possible to do this on an 8valve engine.

Don’t even think of doing this on a 16valve engine, it can’t be done; you have to remove the head.

 

If you are rebuilding or swapping an engine then make sure the valve stem seals have been recently replaced.

If you can’t find that out, you probably need to do them anyway.

Rubber seals like oil stem valve seals can and will fail if an engine is rarely or not used for some time.

My son had an Mi16 engine failure and got a replacement engine which had been rebuilt but had been out of the car for some time (months or more).

The rebuild had not included the oil valve stem seals (even though the head had been off), so even though it had been OK when last run, they had failed, simply because they were not getting the usual heat/cooling cycles that would be experienced with normal daily use. The rubber then just gives up and crumbles/shrinks etc.

As you can guess it’s a total pain to take a 16valve head off in situ and then strip just to do the valve stem seals. It should always be done as a matter of course if the head is off imho.

[burnt_crisps2 1]

Should have said this...

It is only possible to do this on an 8valve engine.

Don’t even think of doing this on a 16valve engine, it can’t be done in situ on a 205; you have to remove the head.

[burnt_crisps2 1]