[kilobit]

Poormans Valve Stem Seal DIY How-To

Ok This How-to describes the removal/installation of the valve stem seals on a mkiv-tt
The only tool that you will need to buy are the valve stem removal pliers. You can use either the short or long kind, but this is a must!!

Stem Seals:
Exhaust: 90913-02088
Intake: 90913-02106


Other stuff:

Telescoping Magnetic autozone screwdriver tool
About 2 ft 3/4" pvc piping
notebook paper
about 2 rolls of 2" duct tape (kidding) you will need some tape, however.
Compression tester
Marvel Mystery Oil (solvent/cleaner) MMO
Marine grease (assembly lube)
About 30 cotton balls
some q-tips
5 lb or less rubber mallet
Dental pick or similar
10mm deep socket with extension
valve cover seals (2)
cam seals (2)

Also, i recommend an air compressor for this. I used about 22psi so a hobby compressor should work fine. If you decide to
do the rope trick, let me for-warn you, your rope can drag unwanted "crap" into your combustion chamber and you also
run the risk of it tying itself in a knot inside your chamber (eew!)


Making Your Tools:

1) Keeper Removal Tool: cut your pvc pipe about 9" in length and remove burrs. Place it around your magnetic screwdriver and tape it up. You may have to remove the bit holder if it has one.

2) Keeper Installer Tool: cut another piece of the pvc about the same size and tape one end good enough not to hurt your hand when you push hard against it and leave the other end burr free and open.

First off take your compression tester and **REMOVE** the one way check valve inside of it, blow through it to be sure its open.

Go ahead and remove everything you need to get the valve covers off..
After all that is done remove the intake valve cover and turn your #1 piston to TDC and remove timing belt and both cam gears.
Remove your cam per the service manual instructions and keep all cam bearing caps in order.

Now it is time to use your cotton balls!! put 2 in each crevice and make sure that nothing can fall into the head, or worse into the oil passage tunnels!!

**IMPORTANT**
Remove spark plug #1 and verify tdc with flashlight, then insert *modified compression tester hose.
Use a 22mm socket on the crankshaft pully and zip tie the ratchet to where it will not let the piston move once you pressurize it. (This is for contingency, if i hadnt done this i think i would have lost my valve because the compression tester hose had that one-way check in it and i think this saved me!!)

*Make sure that you remember to move the airhose and set new piston at tdc when you get to them!
*************

Now, apply air pressure to the cylinder. Grab your trusty keeper removing tool and use the magnet to get that bucket out. Now you should see the valve retainer and the 2 keepers that hold it all together.

Take you remover tool and center it on the retainer, then give it a wack with your mallet (Hard enough to crush a 10 cent gumball). Your keepers should be stuck right on your magnet.

Now remove spring and grab your Stem Seal Puller.
(you can put some duct tape around the edges of the pliers so you wont scratch the head if you like.)

Clamp down onto the puller and twist it to make sure that its broken loose, then quickly pull back on it and hopefully you will have successfully removed it.
(For me it seemed easier to do this step quickly and make sure you dont hit yourself in the face like i did, lol.)

Now grab a q-tip and put some Marvel Mytery oil on it and clean your valve stem. Then use your Dental pick to lightly (not with tip) rub the base to make sure all rubber is gone.

Pick up your intake side of stem seals (90913-02106) and coat one with MMO and gently insert it onto the valve stem making sure you dont cut it with the sharp edges. (I kindof rolled mine onto it)

Next you will take the 10mm socket you have and push it onto the valve guide. Now this is important! you will feel 3 clicks. first click is your 10mm snapping over the spring, the second is the first rubber lobe snapping around the valve seat and the third is a fully seated seal. I Also rolled mine lightly with the socket just to make sure it was on but dont put too much pressure on it.

Replace your spring and retainer, then with your fingers put the keepers on the top and press them down until its around the vavle stem and its a tight fit.

Now, rip a piece of notebook paper and lay it on top of the keepers and retainer, then with you keeper installation tool centered over it firmly push down about a half an inch then release. You might want to double the paper over to make it thicker but i didnt need to.

Replace the bucket onto the valve and continue to the next one.



Do all the intake sides, remember to set each cylinder to tdc and zip tie the ratchet and apply air pressure.
After your done i used marine grase to coat the buckets and such for lube.

Exhaust side is a little different. First you will need a #3 phillips to remove the vaccuum actuator for the turbo so you can get to your seals easier.
Also note that every exhaust seal left rubber on the valve that has to be scrapped off!!! The exhaust seals do not click like the intake ones do so dont panic, just be sure that they are fully seated without pushing too hard on them.

If you have any questions please pm or email me and i will be happy to help you through it. I can also help you on the phone if needed.

I have included some more pictures and some short video clips of this.

Videos:
Removing the keepers
Installing the keepers
Installing keepers #2

Pictures:

All pictures and videos can be found here

http://www.42l.com/gallery/valvestemseals

 

[kilobit]

Sorry for the huge pics, hehe didnt think it would do this!

 

[x X CLoud X x]

awesome writeup...... how long did this install take?

 

[kilobit]

awesome writeup...... how long did this install take?

Well, i dont consider myself a mechanic by any means, but i have always worked on my cars growing up and i am also new to the supra, so it took me a while. About 4 hours removing all the crap to get the covers off, then when i got started it took me about 2 hours on the first valve! After i discovered the paper trick, i had done all of them in about 5 hours. Keep in mind i did everything in order and was meticulous about it all. If i was to do it again it would talke me prbobably about 4 hours on the valve stem seals not including dismantling the car.

 

[myrpmredline]

Life size pics?

Nice write up.

 

[pwpanas]

Nice write up. :bigthumb:

...Also, i recommend an air compressor for this. I used about 22psi so a hobby compressor should work fine. If you decide to do the rope trick, let me for-warn you, your rope can drag unwanted "crap" into your combustion chamber and you also run the risk of it tying itself in a knot inside your chamber (eew!)...

Sure if your spark plug area is filthy, and you're not careful, EITHER the rope OR your air hose can drop some dirty oil in (chances are the crud is organic and will be burnt and/or blown out your exhaust port on the first firing) ... and that is IF it happens and IF you don't bother to use a long q-tip to get it out before you continue to the next cylinder ... but either way imho a touch of crud on the top of the piston is better than a bent valve (which is what can likely happen if you try to force a dropped valve back up with the piston).

Also note that if you decide to do the air trick without zip-tying the ratchet, OR air forces the piston down in the opposite direction that your ratchet is set to, and then you loose air pressure even for a second (as happened to you!!!), OR if your valve seat has a bit of carbon on it, as you said you can drop a valve into the cylinder and then you're into another 10+ hours of work to pull the head, plus new head gaskets, head bolts, etc. Oh and fwiw I'd recommend a breaker bar instead of a ratchet (with the zip-tie(s)) to keep the piston at TDC, since air can force the piston from TDC in either direction...

Fwiw I've literally done dozens of valve stem seal jobs, every one was using a rope (not air), and I've never had the rope automagically knot up inside the cylinder... ...although I did date a gal that could pop a cherry in her mouth, eat the cherry, and then tie the stem with her tongue! :yum:

I agree the choice is up to the person doing the job ... both ways (as well as many other parts of the job) have their risks and benefits. I agree that using air is more convenient, but imho the extra time it takes to secure your valves with a few feet of clean nylon rope instead of air is well worth it.

Again, it's clear that you've done a lot of work writing this up. I especially like your tips about the cotton balls, and the details of cleaning up any bits of rubber from the old valve stem seals. Thanks for sharing your experience and your learnings...

 

[gmacrae]

Great writeup, thanks very much Can you please sort the pics out - i just see the red Xs

 

[kilobit]

Great writeup, thanks very much Can you please sort the pics out - i just see the red Xs

If you do this with air pressure and piston at tdc the valve will not fall fully into the head, its just another precaution. I have to admit i was going to use the rope trick but i had small rope and it was getting hung in knots. Then i realized that im just being a pussy and did it with air pressure, lol. Like i said keep the piston your working on at tdc with a ratchet on your crankshaft pully so it doesnt move.

**Not a rachet but a breaker bar. I actually used a breaker bar***

**PICS, yea im actually in the process of fixing them to a more suitable size and it should be up in a few minutes.

 

[gmacrae]

... and if using air pressure with the piston at TDC, you could just keep the car in gear instead of the ratchet

 

[kilobit]

... and if using air pressure with the piston at TDC, you could just keep the car in gear instead of the ratchet

Very true, but you would have to put it into neutral every time you switched cylinders to get tdc on the one your working with and my hands were greasy.

Btw, pics are all done and perfect :hsugh:

 

[MtFujiSupra]

The pictures ROCK and so do you dude! Great Job! BTW, have you checked-out your work yet? No more smoke?

 

[gmacrae]

Awesome thanks for the pics

 

[kilobit]

The pictures ROCK and so do you dude! Great Job! BTW, have you checked-out your work yet? No more smoke?

No actually i havent, i cannot get the crankshaft pulley off and wanted to replace timing belt, etc. I will let you know this weekend how it turned out (hopefully)

 

[kilobit]

Just curious if this has help anyone with their installation yet?

 

[Stringer Bell]

GREAT INFO!!!! Thank you man

 

[gts_guy]

I am in the process of doing mine most of the ways you have described. It has helped quite a bit. Thanks!!!

BTW the intake part number is 90913-02090, not sure if it was changed or not but that is the part I got from Elmhurst.

 

[kilobit]

I am in the process of doing mine most of the ways you have described. It has helped quite a bit. Thanks!!!

BTW the intake part number is 90913-02090, not sure if it was changed or not but that is the part I got from Elmhurst.

Well, reguardless of part numbers make sure that your intake side has the ridges inside where the rubber is. If it doesnt have ridges its exhaust side!

 

[bonz]

Nice write up. :bigthumb:

Ok, but if you decide to do the air trick without zip-tying the ratchet OR air forces the piston down in the opposite direction that your ratchet is set to ... and then you loose air pressure even for a second (as happened to you) ... OR if your valve seat has a bit of carbon on it ... as you said you can drop a valve into the cylinder and then you're into another 10+ hours of work to pull the head, plus new head gaskets, head bolts, etc. ...oh and fwiw I'd recommend a breaker bar instead of a ratchet (with the zip-tie(s)) to keep the piston at TDC, since air can force the piston from TDC in either direction...

Sure if your spark plug area is filthy and you're not careful EITHER the rope OR your air hose can drop some dirty oil in (chances are the crud is organic and will be burnt and/or blown out your exhaust port on the first firing) ... and that is IF it happens and IF you don't bother to use a long q-tip to get it out before you continue to the next cylinder ... but either way imho a touch of crud on the top of the piston is better than a bent valve (which is what can likely happen if you try to force the valve back up with the piston).

Oh, and fwiw I've done every valve stem seal job using a rope (not air), and I've never had the rope automagically knot up inside the cylinder... ...although I did know a gal once that could pop a cherry w/stem in her mouth eat the cherry and then tie the stem with her tongue! :yum:

I agree the choice is up to the person doing the job ... both ways (as well as many other parts of the job) have their risks and benefits. I agree that using air is more convenient, but imho the extra time it takes to secure your valves with a few feet of clean nylon rope instead of air is well worth it.

Again, it's clear that you've done a lot of work writing this up. I especially like your tips about the cotton balls, and the details of cleaning up any bits of rubber from the old valve stem seals. Thanks for sharing your experience and your learnings...

I can do the cherry stem thing. Maybe this gal and I need to meet?

 

[kilobit]

Ya and when you 2 get together give me a call and we can experiment!!!

 

[gts_guy]

Well my valve stems are done and all i can say is PITA... Your guide and 98MKIV's guide were just as much help as the FSM and my thanks goes out to both of you. I did check the valve clearance while I was in there too. I "almost" lost 1 keeper but since I had covered the entire engine with towels and sheets I located it.

Haven't reinstalled the valve covers because I am going to polish them this morning before I put them back on so that I will not have to remove them again for awhile (hopefully).

Thanks for the writeup and the pictures, made things a bit easier for me!