My 94 1.8L swap is burning oil, and I'm pretty sure the vast majority of it is the valve seals.
I'd like to replace them, but if I have to take the head off, I'd rather just pull the engine out and to a full rebuild.
This isn't a daily driver, so even if it's slower than pulling the head, that's fine. I just can't think of a good way to get the keepers / retainers on and off with the head on.
there are a couple ways of doing it:
1. get an air compressor and a fitting that is the same thread pattern as a spark plug, use that to keep the valves up
2. stuff a cloth down the spark plug hole. make sure you can get it back out.
you could do valve seal replacement while engine is assembled. to keep the valves from droping into the cylinder, bring engine to TDC and do valves on 1 and 4 cyl, then rotate to BDC and do cyl 2 and 3. Careful not to drop the valve spring retainers, use something magnetic to catch them as you remove. clog all the holes around the work area.
Yeah, I know to keep the cylinders at TDC and pressurize to keep the valves up, I was more worried about getting the keepers in and out with the head on. Seems a bit silly. Oh well.
not at all, the keepers/locks are very sleazy things. just have to be very careful. you need small tweezers, small flat screwdriver, plastic/wooden stick, Vaseline, towels/rags, long nose pliers, and some more odd things to make it a simplified job.
When I did the valve seals I did not bother with preasurizing the CC, and just let the valves rest on the piston.
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