I'm thinking about sorting these out at some point in the future - engine is a little smokey on start up but just wondered if anyone has had any joy with the old "rope in the cylinder trick"? I want to avoid engine out and heads off as I really don't have the time or inclanation... Or does anyone else have a quick win?
Unless you take the engine out and the heads off how are you really going to know if it's the stem seals at fault?
Stem seals dont even come is seal / gasket set now. With flat 4 engines not much actually runs down the valve.
^^ WHS If its smokey on startup you probably have worn valve guides .. especially if the heads are all brown round the springs inside the rocker cover. Which is burnt oil being blown back into the rocker area. If your heads are not cracked it is worth getting the valve guides replaced. It will be much cheaper to bring/ send just the heads to a specialist if they arent cracked, after DIYing engine out as you will probably be happy saving £200 upwards labour for a garage .. The savings will pay for new heads.
^what they said. VW deleted the stem seals as they weren't much use. Even if you found some, you'd still need to take the heads off to compress the valve springs to fit them.
You can do it , I use compressed air to hold the valves closed, did a broken valve spring last year was a bit fiddly but doable
I would fancy the rope trick, knowing my luck it would end up with about 10 granny knots on the other side when I tried to pull it out lol
I was planning on the ghetto version of this (rope rather than air) - rather than compressing the valves with the heads off - valve guides won't be possible in situ however
Valve guides, rings or bores. Sounds like it needs a top end rebuild. Check end float 1st , if its a lot ,then it needs a full rebuild. A top end rebuild on a bottom end that has end float issues is a waste of money.
I rebuilt the engine so it's had new rings, bores honed and all bearings and shells replaced. I didnt however do the valve guides as I just needed it finished hence my reluctance to drop it out again. It's not a major concern for me so I'll live with it as is for the moment, i was just hoping that the seals could be done but sounds like a no-no.
I wouldnt bother too much, keep valve guides for later if the engine is otherwise in good condition. Some of the puff of smoke might really just be steam on first startup on a cold day....
Did about a thousand sets of stem seals on Ford CVHs in the late eighties using compressed air. Set to TDC and away you go. Having said all that I echo the previous comments, either leave it alone or do the heads properly on one of these motors. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
