Guest Waynerrr Posted June 19, 2008 I'm an extreme novice at car repair but looking to give something a go if it needs doing. At the very least lending a hand to someone who knows what they're doing. I need to replace the stem seals and as the head is coming off to replace the gasket and hopefully skimmed, seems like a good opportunity to do it. That said, I've not seen how to do it anywhere. I did have a guide for replacing them without removing the head but I don't know how much of that still applies. Anyone know a good guide or tell me what tools I'll need? Any help much appreciated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mikey S 29 1 Cars Posted June 19, 2008 I'm an extreme novice at car repair but looking to give something a go if it needs doing. At the very least lending a hand to someone who knows what they're doing. I need to replace the stem seals and as the head is coming off to replace the gasket and hopefully skimmed, seems like a good opportunity to do it. That said, I've not seen how to do it anywhere. I did have a guide for replacing them without removing the head but I don't know how much of that still applies. Anyone know a good guide or tell me what tools I'll need? Any help much appreciated. you will need a decent deep valve spring compressor and a set of head stands at the minimum. first step is to remove the camshaft, remove the followers and retrieve the shims (they will be on the top of the valve springs). using the compressor, compress the springs and remove the colletts, i use a small headed magnet. release the compressor and remove the spring and cap. the stem seals will be visible, using a pair of pliers pull the old seals off. place the seal on the stem and gently push it down to start it, i then use a 10 or 11mm deep socket to drive the seal down onto the guide. hope that helps. mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
v6Max 0 Posted June 19, 2008 Just to add to what Mike has said; When you take the cam shaft bearing caps off put them in numbered bags so that you put them back where they came from. Do the same with the buckets, shims and springs as well. When you come to put it all back together it can be "fun" getting the split collets back on the valves; try using a screwdriver with a blob of grease on it - this will hold the collets as you put them in place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stiofan 0 Posted June 19, 2008 hi, you can get a special tool for removing and replacing valve stem oil seals,its like a pliers with circular tongs, if not you can pull them off with a normal or long nose pliers. if the seals are old they'll probably crumble a bit. When putting new ones on, carefully press them down with a suitable sized socket,about 10 or 11mm i think, it can be tricky to get them to go straight down ( i found it tricky anyway!). Ideally the socket shoud be pushing on the outer seal casing rather than the top lip, good luck with it, steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alan_M 66 1 Cars Posted June 20, 2008 Just to add to what Mike has said; When you take the cam shaft bearing caps off put them in numbered bags so that you put them back where they came from. Do the same with the buckets, shims and springs as well. When you come to put it all back together it can be "fun" getting the split collets back on the valves; try using a screwdriver with a blob of grease on it - this will hold the collets as you put them in place. The camshaft bearing caps are numbered already Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Fenton 1,542 Posted June 20, 2008 Head stands will make it a bit easier but are not essential. I've done numerous heads without using them anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Waynerrr Posted June 20, 2008 Thanks guys, sounds technical but I'm sure it's not. Where's the best palce to get the valve spring compressor? Local motorist discount centre didn't have one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alan_M 66 1 Cars Posted June 20, 2008 Thanks guys, sounds technical but I'm sure it's not. Where's the best palce to get the valve spring compressor? Local motorist discount centre didn't have one. Halfords sell them, if its for an Mi head then you need the biggest one (Widest & Longest). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jas-E 1 Posted June 21, 2008 its fairly easy to do as i found out when i did mine..did it without the head stand aswell... make sure the seals have been completely pushed in though..i thought i had them all fitted in but when i had a look before i put the valves in half of them weren't..so a slight tap with a rubber mallet on a 11mm socket confirmed that they were all in properly... good luck... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeremy 71 Posted June 21, 2008 I too need to do this, so is there anyone in the Clacton On Sea Essex area able to assist me? It is a 1.9 with the engine insitu. Bear tokens available. Thanks Jeremy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Waynerrr Posted June 30, 2008 Getting there guys, can you take a look at these please? We've got down to the stem seals but they're just falling to pieces. We've tried to clean out the guide where we think the new stem seals should slide into, however it doesn't look right, it doesn't look deep enough. Number one, cleaned out as best we can: Number two, one cleaned out and the existing stem seal: Number three, two stem seals: Number two with a new seal sat on top: Something we're not clear about, the new stem seals have this metal section surrounding the rubber, however, we're not pulling this out with the old ones? Is it still in there? How do we get it out? New stem seal (side): New stem seal (top): Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
