I've read of using cord/rope to fill cylinders to keep the valves from dropping during a valve seal swap. Has anyone here done that in the tight engine bay of a 3rd gen?

With the typical valve seal cloud of smoke on startup, are there any other parts that should be replaced at the same time? Valve guides?

 

I used a cylinder leak-down gauge to pressurize the cylinders when doing valve seals. Worked extremely well. (100 psi held the valves closed rather well.....)

It is an easy job, just time consuming. Cylinder 8 was the most fun, as my car has A/C. The rest were easy to get to.

 

Use compressed air to hold up the valves. Remove the check valve in the hose for a compression tester, and screw it into the spark plug hole. Hooked it up to your compressed air and change the seals. You would have to pull the heads to change the guides. You might want to replace the valves springs if they have alot of miles on them.

I have never used the rope trick, but it seems like a PITA compared to using compressed air.

 

Thanks for the help. I'd heard of the compressed air trick, but did not know how it compared to cord in terms of ease.

 

I used the rope. Put it in the cylinder just like i change the plugs, use my hand for eyes. I figured trying to get the rope in the cylinder was easier than trying to attach a compressed air connector. You only need to put a few feet of rope in.

My other advise is take off the hood. Opens up the area for better light and room to work on the back cylinders.

 

Rope is fine. I've done it. No need to take off the hood, either. Work lights were invented for reason. I had no hood clearance issues on the rear holes.

The trick to the rope is having to find the #1 firing, having to feed it in, bump it over, this that and other. Yes, in the end, it all works out, however, as Lo-Tec stated, it is kind of a PITA to go through the process.

 

I learned a little trick from my shop teacher. Rotate the engine until the piston is at it's highest point. The valve can then actually rest on top of the piston and there is enough of the stem to still be able to pull it out.

 

I did try this method but had trouble breaking the keepers loose. Could be because I have dished pistons.


...and I know that removing the hood is not required. It is only 4 bolts, and I felt it was definitely worth it.

To tell where the pistons were I left the distributer cap off and used the position of the rotor to tell which piston was at TDC (plug firing). Used this to lash the rockers as well.

 

i did mine with the heads off. I don't see why using compressed air would be any different, but I took a socket just big enough to fit over the keeper and faced the open end over the valve stem. I took a hammer to give it a couple raps and the keepers shot out into the socket. Just absolutely make sure they don't fall into the oil passages

 

How did you put them back together???

 

i used clamp compressors.

 

I found that when changing my valve seals, you need to hit the keeps a whole lot harder than you would initially think. I also found that if you whap them hard enough, you can pop the keepers out without compressing the spring first, which saves a big PITA if you have a cheapo screw type spring compressor like I did. Just get a deep socket about the diameter of the spring retainer, put an extension on it and wail away. A little WD-40 helps too. Good luck and have fun.

EDIT: Also, I used nylon rope to hold the valves in place, worked just fine for me. Once you get the knack of it, doesn't take long at all.