Replacing valve seals

[nightowl]

Hi,
Have a 1888 Ford Ranger 2wd pickup with a 2.0 litre 4 cyl. engine. It seems to have some blow by and would like if someone could tell me how long it would take to replace the valve seals, which I would think is about 8 and the cost of parts. Forgot to mention it is a SOHC and hope the head does not have to come off...

Thanks

 

[DJ2.3]

Blow-by usually refers to compression leaking past the rings, and replacing the valve stem seals wont fix that.... You can replace the seals with the head on the truck. I would plan on it taking most of a day, but it could probably be done in 4 or 5hrs if you are experienced and have the right tools. A proper sohc valve spring compressor would save you some time. Really all you gota do is pop the valve cover off, set piston to tdc with both valves shut, put air pressure in the cylinder with a leakdown tester or something, then remove the valve spring and seal, put the little plastic condom thingy on the valve stem, oil it and slip the new seal on... repeat this process 7 times, reassembled and your done.

 

[trail B2]

When valve guide seals are bad a good indicator is when you go down a long hill and use the engine to slow you down.Then you hit the bottom and reapply the gas there is a huge cloud of blue smoke.They are completely about oil control.When the seals are bad its usually caused by valve guide wear.
As 2.3 says blow by is around the rings.The easiest way to check that is to do a wet and dry compression test.I would throw the numbers on the site.You'll hear a whole bunch of so what or oh my god then you'll know about where you are.

 

[nightowl]

Thanks for the info and heads up. Reason I am asking is that I have some oil going into my air cleaner from the valve cover cap tube connected to air cleaner. Also sometimes I see out my mirror a puff of blue. The puff of blue is noticed at random on a straight run down the road. So I suppose a dry or wet compression test will tell me if its the rings or valve seals or ....

Thanks people for the advice