I'm doing a valve stem seal replacement on a 93, w engine with 154k miles with the heads on. Pretty rough job but i'll get it.
The first two exaust valves had just a little of the old seal left. No bonnet or anything. I bought the truck used, It has been smoking when it sits awhile when I crank it up. Not using much oil at all.
The drivers side looks like it will be a bears hinney to use the valve spring tool on but.... any tips?
The fuel supply line under the plenum had a slit in it. Replaced those.
It's has a 35 code. IAC

 

Man I've seen a handful of valve stem seal replacement threads today on the forums. I too just picked up some new seals and the tools to get er done, well hopefully. Gonna start on it tomorrow.

 

Finished the valve job. a few tips,driver side plenum was very clean. had a major fuel leak. replaced the "nut kit".
put the gear shift in 1.
pivot the alternator toward the fender,
the exaust valve spring next to the brake booster will take some work to compress, I had to adapt the compressor on loan from the parts store and then put it back like it was because the handle was too long.
not too bad a job, and no more smoke!!!

 

I just finished mine too. A bit more involved than I had originally thought. Took me 2-3 hours for cylinder. That was inserting rope and cleaning the parts. The heads were rather sludgy too. My compressor would not fit no matter what on that last spring by the brake booster. The handle on mine can not be easily modded. So I had to buy the pry bar style one, so now I have both. Luckily for you, you have a torque rating for the valve lash and rockers. That was the only thing that has me a little worried. I double and triple checked mine though. Still be a bit before I can test fire it.

 

Changing valve stem seals must be in the air. I just finished mine yesterday at 172,000 mi. Got too dark/cold to put the serpentine belt, shroud, plugs and wiring back in, so I will do that today. I did it over a number of days so I am not sure of my total time but I did note that one cylinder, #4, took me 1 1/4 hours to do. I estimate a total of about 10 hrs start to finish. I used the rope method so that probably added to the time.

#5 was the worst one to complete and even after I finished I saw that one of the keepers on the exhaust was raised so I had to go back and redo it. I found that getting the "o" rings onto the stems correctly to be the most difficult. Hard for me to see or feel them pop into place especially the cylinders near the firewall. I really need better lighting.

Getting the valve covers on and off was a real pain. My neighbor had his truck done locally and I got a couple of quotes around town to do this job....$400. I paid $25 delivered for Fel-Pro intake pressure seals and exhaust umbrella seals and both "o" rings kits, got a loaner spring compressor from the parts store. So I saved about $375 on labor or about $37.50 per hour tax free.

Here is what I found:

Checked the torque on all the rocker arms before dis-assembly and they were all at 20ft-lbs

The valves moved smoothly in the guides so I don't think any were bent. I did notice that the seals I pulled from the intakes on #3 and #4 were really worn so I guess that is where most or all of my smoke was coming from.

I found one pushrod that was ever so slightly bent so I replaced it. The springs were square and the same height so I left them in. The rockers, *****, and nuts were all OK so I reused them.

No gunk in accumulation in any of the areas (I had used Seafoam a few weeks before) and all the oil drain lines were open.

All in all a very satisfying project.

 

Yes getting the o-ring on was a little tricky. I mostly worried about the damn spring compressor letting go and firing right at me. I used a small flat blade to get it slide down past the lock groove. Then I used the seal installation tube to seat the o ring. I just marked the tube for how far down it had to be. Drivers valve cover was a pain in the *** to remove and install again. Then it just kinda fell into place by itself almost, hah.

 

Finished mine up this morning. Started right up and no smoke. Success! Drove it for a bit and then did an oil/filter change. Drove it some more and still good. On to the next project........

 

The driver side valve cover going back in just fell in after I put the gear shift in 1 and pivoted the alternator in toward the driver fender.
The exaust valve under the brake booster was as bad as it looked like it would be.... A tool with one finger a little longer than the other would have been nice.
I used a little contact cement on the cover side of the valve gasket. They kept coming off' (somebody else can worry with that later)
It was a good job. I would recommend it to a do it yourself IF you got a little cool.

 

How close are any of you to Chattanooga and what would you charge to do mine? LOL

 

anybody within an hour or so from Chattanooga wanna do this for $$$? I'll bring to u.