intake valve leak. whats my play? (pics!)
12-21-2013, 05:08 PM
#1
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 501
intake valve leak. whats my play? (pics!)
so i was doing a final cleanup on my heads to put them on tomorrow.
i stick my finger in the intake runner and notice globs of built up oil near the valve stem protrusion. i spray some degreaser in their and by chance notice it leaking through into the combustion chamber. i had the head sitting on end. i spray more and see that it shoots right past the valve.
mods are in signature below. a while ago the car had a supercharger that eventually had to be removed because a bearing in the blower broke and part of the impeller got eaten away as it was rubbing on the blower housing. those worn away parts of the impeller went into the engine i would assume. i dont know if they went in as chunks or small dust like particles.
pics below of are the leaking valve, a different valve that appears to not be leaking, and a pic of what the cylinders looked like when i took the heads off. you can see how far off the valve is sitting in the leaking valve when compared to the non-leaking valve.
so, im hoping against logic that the problem here is that the valve is simply sitting on some type of debris that is preventing it from seating properly.
i assume though that the reality is that the valve head is somehow bent or warped. this is probably whats going on because it is the worst possible case for me and my wallet.
before i took the engine apart, the car seemed to run fine. it did have a very loping idle, but this may have been due to the cam, or mismatched maf and injectors, or a vacuum leak, or something else, or any combo of things. i rarely drove the car, maybe once a year for the past 5 years or so.
future plans for the car is most likely it will be given to my nephew in 5 years from now. small chance i just sell it.
now, how bad would it be if i simply left it like this and it is actually a leak and not sitting on debris that could eventually clear itself out? i guess it would be stupid for me to not investigate the problem.
if i just get a spring compressor and take the valve out and sit it on a flat surface, i will know right away if the valve is the problem, yes?
lets say its a bad valve, i can just buy a new set of valves and replace them all (just in case) and be done, or would i need to have professional machine work done to the valve seats?
can i try my hand at lapping the valves or is that old and stupid?
if it turns out you guys think i just need to take them to a good shop, how much cash am i looking at needing to resolve this situation, ballpark?
lastly, if i do need to get these heads to a shop for valve work, do i need a world class shop, or is this stuff pretty easy for any average shop to do?
sorry for the long post, thanks in advance for any help
leaking valve, clearly not sitting in the seat properly:
non-leaking valve, sitting in seat properly i assume. although now that i look at the pic, it looks like it may not be seated perfectly either?:
cylinder when heads came off. this may actually be the cylinder that matches up with my leaking valve, but im not sure. regardless, all the cylinders looked like this, maybe worse.
i stick my finger in the intake runner and notice globs of built up oil near the valve stem protrusion. i spray some degreaser in their and by chance notice it leaking through into the combustion chamber. i had the head sitting on end. i spray more and see that it shoots right past the valve.
mods are in signature below. a while ago the car had a supercharger that eventually had to be removed because a bearing in the blower broke and part of the impeller got eaten away as it was rubbing on the blower housing. those worn away parts of the impeller went into the engine i would assume. i dont know if they went in as chunks or small dust like particles.
pics below of are the leaking valve, a different valve that appears to not be leaking, and a pic of what the cylinders looked like when i took the heads off. you can see how far off the valve is sitting in the leaking valve when compared to the non-leaking valve.
so, im hoping against logic that the problem here is that the valve is simply sitting on some type of debris that is preventing it from seating properly.
i assume though that the reality is that the valve head is somehow bent or warped. this is probably whats going on because it is the worst possible case for me and my wallet.
before i took the engine apart, the car seemed to run fine. it did have a very loping idle, but this may have been due to the cam, or mismatched maf and injectors, or a vacuum leak, or something else, or any combo of things. i rarely drove the car, maybe once a year for the past 5 years or so.
future plans for the car is most likely it will be given to my nephew in 5 years from now. small chance i just sell it.
now, how bad would it be if i simply left it like this and it is actually a leak and not sitting on debris that could eventually clear itself out? i guess it would be stupid for me to not investigate the problem.
if i just get a spring compressor and take the valve out and sit it on a flat surface, i will know right away if the valve is the problem, yes?
lets say its a bad valve, i can just buy a new set of valves and replace them all (just in case) and be done, or would i need to have professional machine work done to the valve seats?
can i try my hand at lapping the valves or is that old and stupid?
if it turns out you guys think i just need to take them to a good shop, how much cash am i looking at needing to resolve this situation, ballpark?
lastly, if i do need to get these heads to a shop for valve work, do i need a world class shop, or is this stuff pretty easy for any average shop to do?
sorry for the long post, thanks in advance for any help
leaking valve, clearly not sitting in the seat properly:
non-leaking valve, sitting in seat properly i assume. although now that i look at the pic, it looks like it may not be seated perfectly either?:
cylinder when heads came off. this may actually be the cylinder that matches up with my leaking valve, but im not sure. regardless, all the cylinders looked like this, maybe worse.
12-22-2013, 02:50 PM
#5
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: arizona
Posts: 1,398
hi,
you are hilarious, i liked your post.
the valve needs to be put on a valve machine, lathe or mill to determine if it is bent.
it does not look like your valves have ever been cut before so the straight ones are likely reusable, but as mentioned above, have a pro shop check them out.
you can spray carb cleaner in every port then look at valves to see if they are weeping fluid.
if your cyl head is slightly warped, it is around 30.00 to mill each one flat. if you have them milled .025" from stock it will increase your compression slightly which means more hp, torque and mileage but you might need to run 91 - 93 octane.
the worst case scenario for the one valve is a new seat in the head = 15.00, a new valve = 6.00.
a complete basic valve job only might be around 160.00
your engine looks like it has more than around 80k on it, if it was smoking and you can feel a sizeable ridge on the top of the cylinder then your cyl bores are worn, rebuild it or drive until it dies.
it probably idled rough because that one cyl had almost no compression. go pull a plug wire off your other car and it will have a rough, idle.
go to local cruise night, drag strip or car club and ask what shop they use or do a google search online.
you do not "need" hardened seats.
you are hilarious, i liked your post.
the valve needs to be put on a valve machine, lathe or mill to determine if it is bent.
it does not look like your valves have ever been cut before so the straight ones are likely reusable, but as mentioned above, have a pro shop check them out.
you can spray carb cleaner in every port then look at valves to see if they are weeping fluid.
if your cyl head is slightly warped, it is around 30.00 to mill each one flat. if you have them milled .025" from stock it will increase your compression slightly which means more hp, torque and mileage but you might need to run 91 - 93 octane.
the worst case scenario for the one valve is a new seat in the head = 15.00, a new valve = 6.00.
a complete basic valve job only might be around 160.00
your engine looks like it has more than around 80k on it, if it was smoking and you can feel a sizeable ridge on the top of the cylinder then your cyl bores are worn, rebuild it or drive until it dies.
it probably idled rough because that one cyl had almost no compression. go pull a plug wire off your other car and it will have a rough, idle.
go to local cruise night, drag strip or car club and ask what shop they use or do a google search online.
you do not "need" hardened seats.
Last edited by barnett468; 12-22-2013 at 06:33 PM.
12-22-2013, 06:32 PM
#9
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: arizona
Posts: 1,398