Hey guys,

My truck smokes on startup real bad, and never quite cleans up when it gets warm. I'm wanting to put some new valve guide seals on, but wanted to get some opinions if that sounds like what might be the problem first. Any thing to look for, or do when changing the seals?

Thanks,
Matt

 

I just put valve seals in my 360. Has 116K. I didn't see much difference in the smoking. My old seals were hardened and a few were in pieces. Worth a try, though. You will need an air compressor, spark plug hole adaptor, valve spring compressor and lots of time and patience. It took me about a day. But I also had to jack the motor up and move the power brake booster to get the spring compressor on. Working around the humongous A/C housing was a pain also. My truck sat for seven years and it seems that the smoking is coming from stuck rings. It seems to be clearing up gradually.
Pull your valve covers and remove the rocker arm assemblies by loosening each bolt a little at a time. I removed all the plugs and put air on a cylinder. The cylinder will go to the bottom. I was worried about the valves dropping. But after doing a couple I really don't think you have to worry about that much unless your valves are shot which means pulling the heads anyway. Put the spring compressor on and compress the spring. Remove the keepers with a small magnet. I had to tap the valves to get the keepers free and the valves didn't even budge. Remove the valve spring retainer and spring. Remove the old valve seal. Put on a new seal. Put your valve spring & retainer back on and the keepers. When you reinstall the keepers use a little grease to hold them in place. Remove spring compressor. New valve cover gaskets are a good idea, too. I'm sure someone has posted this job before and mentoned things that I forgot so try a search. Good luck.

 

i believe to aid in keeping the valve from dropping you can also put the piston at top dead center on the cylinder your working on, that way if the valve drops it won't drop all the way into the cylinder and can be retrieved with a small magnet inserted in the guide or a coat hanger pushing the valve back up the guide through the spark plug hole...if it did accidentally drop.........for extra insurance anyway......

 

Instead of compressed air, you can also use a piece of rope, that
you run down the spark plug hole, then bring the piston up. The
rope will press against the valves, keeping them closed....