The valve stem seals on my 93 Jimmy need to be replaced, there is about a second or 2 at start up of some smoke, No other time during driving does it smoke, oil consumption is VERY low. Is there something I can add to slow down the process of them deteriorating to hold the process off of having to replace them, or is it something that will just have to be done?

Also, how many valve stem seals are in the 4.3 vortec Vin W?
Thanks for the help!

 

There is 6 intake valves, and 6 exhaust valves in your engine.

Its not a job for someone who isnt mechanically inclined. However, if you are intelligent and have all the tools, you can follow instructions that Im sure you can find in these forums.

 

IMO, if it is just barely smoking on start up, I wouldn't touch it. Leaving it go until you are dropping a quart between oil changes and/or fouling your plugs because of the oil.

As ohsofly stated, it isn't particularly difficult (especially if you have an air compressor to pressurize the combustion chamber to hold the valves closed while you remove the keepers & spring retainer), but is a rather involved job.

 

Thanks for the response, doing it wont be a problem, I was just hoping there was something else I could do to "help" it for now until I am able to find time to get it done.

 

You could try some marvel mystery oil (or similar oil additive) at your next oil change. It might swell the seals a bit and help them be more effective to stave off the problem for a while. I'm not really a fan of the 'fix in a bottle' type things though.

 

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of that stuff either, this is the first oil change since we got it a month and a half ago, I am just going to do a full synthetic for now, not sure if the previous owner did, then fix them in the spring, Thanks again for the help