Spelunking in the oil pan

[Agnem]

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Found this, and a piece of foil, probably from an oil change that was poorly done sucked up in into the oil pump intake screen on a 7.3 I'm about to drop into the Moosestang. Kinda thinking this is part of a valve stem seal, but looking for your opinions. I'll be taking the valve covers off promptly for a full inspection as well, since the gaskets there needed to be replaced anyway.

 

[Dieselcrawler]

is that plastic?

the peice of foil coulda been from an oil additive, like lucas. they have that metal foil under the cap.

 

[Agnem]

It does appear to be a hard plastic. I know Ford had foil under their Motorcraft oil caps for some time as well. Also, for scale, that green line is about 1/8" thick.

 

[Dieselcrawler]

sorta looks like a valve seal peice, but hard to tell. isnt that the only thing in our motors that is plastic?

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

The Fel-Pro exhaust valve guide seals are that same exact color.
Is there any indication of oil leaking past the exhaust manifold gaskets Mel?
Is so that'd be the first Set of valves to be looking at.

 

[OLDBULL8]

It does appear to be a hard plastic. I know Ford had foil under their Motorcraft oil caps for some time as well. Also, for scale, that green line is about 1/8" thick.

Typical first post....

If wishes were horses, begars would ride.

 

[Agnem]

Huh?

Anyway, it's hard to say Ron. This motor does have a fair amount of mung all over it, including the exhaust manifolds, but there is definitely more oil on the exhaust manifold near #1 and #3, then farther back. I was attributing this to the valve cover gasket, but I wouldn't doubt it could be leaking oil there. Now, having never had to do a valve stem seal before, what all is involved? I'm guessing the spring has to come off and then the thing just pops out? Guess I need to get me one of those compressed air glow plug hole adapters to hold the valve up?

 

[94turboidi]

I was going to do my valve seals and ended up just letting the machine shop do them while I had the heads off. I would have liked to of tried them but was in a hurry so I just had him do it.

 

[GenLightening]

Huh?

Anyway, it's hard to say Ron. This motor does have a fair amount of mung all over it, including the exhaust manifolds, but there is definitely more oil on the exhaust manifold near #1 and #3, then farther back. I was attributing this to the valve cover gasket, but I wouldn't doubt it could be leaking oil there. Now, having never had to do a valve stem seal before, what all is involved? I'm guessing the spring has to come off and then the thing just pops out? Guess I need to get me one of those compressed air glow plug hole adapters to hold the valve up?

Once you get the cylinder pressurized (or get the piston to TDC, as we don't have much room between the piston and valve, and you only need to keep the valve from dropping in) , take a hammer and pop the spring retainer a couple of times to break things loose. You'll hear it when it happens. Then use the spring compressor. Really easy.

 

[itsacrazyasian]

i'm having a hard time trying to tell how big that is but i can take a pic of a new valve stem seal when i get home, i have a few bags of them in my toolbox.

 

[david85]

I would go for bringing the piston to Top dead center on the hole you're working on instead of using compressed air. But basically all you need is a valve spring compressor and a magnetic screw driver comes in handy to catch the keepers once you tap the spring retainer loose.

On a scale of 1 -10, I'd call it a 3, but it will take some time to do them all.

 

[icanfixall]

Wow.... Now you have a treasure hunt on your hands Mel. My feelings are its part on the very top of an exhaust seal. If so that will require a set of seals on both intake and exhaust just because you are that far into it. I have the special Ford spring compresser you can use if you go that direction. All you do is bring the piston up to top dead center on the power stroke rotation. Then the piston is only about 45 thousands lower than the head. The valve will only drop around 90 thousands when it finally hit the piston top. Remember the valves are sunk or recessed into the head seatsaround 50 thousands.... The spring compresser is really easy to use. Just remove the rockers. Use the rocker bolt to hold compresser to head and bend it over the valve. I like to use a good magnet to grab hold of the smll valve spring keepers. That way you never drop or loose one... I lost one years ago on a stretched 383 small block chevy going into the wifeys V12 Jag. Somehow it got caught inside of a valve spring.... Made one hell of a noise and ran terrible. I thought I flattened the new cam so I got another cam free. surprisingly that engine ran great with the other cam.... Year later I "found" the broken keeper in the head during a valve job... It was broken in two pieces... Guess I didn't really have a flat cam lobe after all... So now I always use a magnet...

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Tis really easy to do especially if the motor isnt installed.
A standard spring compressor will work just fine.
I opt to pressurize the cylinder for reason more than just retaining the valve. It'll give ya some indication of how much blowby the rings are allowing.
I just removed the GP adapter for the compression tester and plumbed a fitting to the air line. Then compress the spring and give the retainer a light tap as Doug suggested. Those keepers somehow seem to glue themselves to the valve stem. IIRC it took me about 3 hours to do the job on Travs E2 in the engine compartment.
Any Q's give me a shout Mel.

 

[Agnem]

OK, so here is another question then. Should I hold off on putting the pan back on until this is done? The motor is inside my shop and it's pretty dry, but I don't want to risk any rust. Should I spray the internals with WD-40 or something?

 

[bike-maker]

I'd definitely use air pressure in the cylinder. Most of the time, you have to tap the retainers with a hammer to get the locks to pop free. The valve sits at an angle in relation to the piston; meaning that jamming the valve into the top of the piston can bend the valve pretty easily......