Valve Stem Seals

[thesameguy]

That'd be nice. I typically choose expedited shipping, but that option here turned $10 into $50 and didn't seem worth it. The last non-expedited thing I ordered from aliexpress took 16 days to arrive and I'm generally expecting that again. Maybe being a simple tool (vs electronics) it'll move more quickly or swiftly. Valve stem seal replacement seems like an excellent President's Day activity.

[my8950]

Esslinger makes a valve spring tool as well.

[Black-Out]

I know I'm coming in on this a bit late, but did you check/replace your pcv valve and/or clean and check the oil separator by chance? Last time I had this exact issue on my XR it ended up being the factory pcv was faulty and under decel there was enough left over oil in the intake she would puff and you could smell it because the separator was partially clogged from years of use..... because it was storing liquid oil rather than allowing it to drain back to the crankcase completely, on decel there was enough low pressure to pull the oil up into the intake and it would eventually make it's way through the engine. There were no leaks externally, no broken or bad valve stem seals, just enough liquid oil to make it puff, puff, pass on decel........

[thesameguy]

I haven't ruled that out yet, no. I have a new PCV valve and grommet for the valve cover separator coming today and will try those first. I just wanted to have the backup plan prepped in case they fail. The head was fully rebuilt less than 30,000 miles ago so I'm dubious it's the valve stem seals, but can't entirely rule them out. The head has unknown mileage on it - it was a junkyard part as the original head was cracked - but the block has 300k on it. The engine in general has been through a lot. Could also be the turbo - it was sold as "near new" but it was still a used part - anything is possible at this point!

[Dangie]

I had to replace all of the valve stem seals on my latest race motor after my cylinder head guy used the incorrect seals. Took less than an hour with two of us working on it using the KD tool and the rope trick. You pull the spark plug, and rotate the engine so the piston in the cylinder you are working on is down. Fill the cylinder with some nylon rope that is just slightly smaller in diameter than the spark plug and then rotate the motor to compress the rope. Voila! The valve will stay firmly in place after you remove the retainers and spring, swap the seals, and re-install.

[thesameguy]

Air compressor + leak down tester > rope trick.

[thesameguy]

Got the email yesterday morning that my imposter KD tool had arrived, and got even more excited on my way home as the oil smell was getting pretty bad. Maybe too bad. Like, not valve stem seals but active external oil leak.



Oh yeah, there it is. CHRA leaking to the outside is a new one for me, but it's what I've got and it's pretty severe now.

Not exactly sure what my move is... I've never particularly cared for this turbo as it's simply too large, but it seems like there's a weird gap in the T3-based turbos between 250hp (where a T3-Super60 fits) and 350hp (where you have the hybrid T3/T4, like mine). I'm not interested in switching families, I want to keep this bolt in, so T3 4-bolt in, T3 5-bolt out, and a 2.75" (IIRC) inlet. I'm hoping I can find the original order for this turbo and there's a smaller trim that'd be a good fit.

I think I will also replace the oil feed line with AN plumbing. I found the factory oil line really gets in the way of any useful heat shielding, so now's my chance. If anyone happens to know what the thread on the head is for the sensor/feed port, that'd save me some searching.

FWIW, the imposter tool looks solid:



Mixed feelings about cheap but difficult valve stem seal replacement vs. easy but expensive turbo replacement.

[thesameguy]

.... but, uh, it's now quite obvious what was happening here:

http://forum.merkurclub.com/forum/viewt ... 30&t=32524

when my turbo went ppooooooooooooooooft. Since it only goes a few hundred miles a month generally I think it was just slow-motion turbo failure.

[my8950]

Did you do valve stem seals also?
I'm curious to know which you used/would use...???

[Ed Lijewski]

Fel-Pro stem seals work fine. Be sure each is fully seated on each valve guide.

YMMV

[my8950]

Fel-Pro stem seals work fine. Be sure each is fully seated on each valve guide.

YMMV

That's pretty vague though...These are both "Fel Pro" but significantly different.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fel- ... GsQAvD_BwE

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fel- ... j4QAvD_BwE

[Ed Lijewski]

Vague schmague. I went to Advance Auto and asked for valve stem seals for a 1988 Merkur XR4Ti 2 3l turbo. What they brought to the counter I bought and installed. Worked great. (Note: in my case I found the original seals weren't bad, but one seal wasn't fully/Fully seated on the valve guide, resulting in sucking oil.)

YMMV

[thesameguy]

I don't think either of those Summit parts are for the 2.3t. Fel Pro SS70037 is for the early cars and Fel Pro SS72683 is for late cars. That's your option. The part numbers you post are for Ford mod motors and GM small blocks. There is only one "style" of Fel Pro seals for our cars.

[my8950]

I don't think either of those Summit parts are for the 2.3t. Fel Pro SS70037 is for the early cars and Fel Pro SS72683 is for late cars. That's your option. The part numbers you post are for Ford mod motors and GM small blocks. There is only one "style" of Fel Pro seals for our cars.

I'm just listing fel pro valve stem seals since there are the two options. Spring or Hood type...

[thesameguy]

I'm not sure why you think there are choices. Fel Pro only lists one part number for any given year.