Nice, I'm about to start this project on my new (to me) '99 Montero. I'm in SoCal too. What I've done in the past, albeit on my 4G63 mitsu, was wiped some grease in the keeper's groove in the valve, then when you compress the valve you can just "stick" the keepers to the stem of the valve and when you release the pressure on the valve spring the keepers go right I to place.
I just did this job over 3 saturdays, with help. It's one hell of a job with the heads on the car. 1. There is no perfect valve spring compressor tool that you can buy for doing this job with the heads on. The tool you used looks perfect for that specific valve, props for that. We used a combination of 3 different tools, and had to modify all of them to work right with each different valve spring. Everything is in the way when the heads are on, so every valve has a different angle, different things in the way, so no tool is perfect. 2. I used the air compressor trick and I'm glad I did. I noticed the valve drop 1/3" or so in your video using the rope trick. With the air compressor trick, the valve doesn't drop at all and stays completely seated to the head and it makes the keepers MUCH easier to replace (not to mention, keeps the keepers from falling inside the cylinder. It CAN happen even with 1/3" of play). The keepers were way easier to replace when the valve was completely seated against the head and the spring was ALL THE WAY compressed. Every millimeter of spring compression counts when replacing the keepers. If you decompress the spring and the keepers aren't in all the way, this is what happens, in your words "and the keeper just went flying somewhere". Make sure the keepers are completely in place before you decompress the valve. I learned the hard way, twice (I lost 2 keepers doing that). Also, with doing the air compressor trick, you're essentially doing a leak down test. Listen for leaks through the intake, exhaust, oil cap, and look for bubbles in the coolant, and check every cylinder. I found two intake valve leaks (through the intake) which I was luckily able to fix with just carb cleaner. Likely just dirty intake valves due to the bad valve stem seals. You can tell a lot about your engine with a leakdown test, so I think the air compressor trick is superior to the rope trick. I also lost 2 retainers because of the cheap parts store (autozone, o' reillys) valve spring compressor tools. They don't compress the spring evenly and the spring can slip out and send the retainer flying. A retainer bounced off the walls and hit my windshield, causing a big rock chip. To remedy this, I used a zip-tie to hold the valve spring inside the tool to keep it from flinging out. Thanks to my neighbor for that tip. Also, you can't do this job without a magnet. The magnet is essential to retain the keepers during removal. I used a telescopic antenna magnet tool You WILL most likely lose stuff, so make sure to cover the intake AND the oil holes in the heads to keep stuff from getting in the engine. I didn't cover the spark plug tubes, but that's also a good idea. All in all, it's a big job. I couldn't have done it without my friend. And beer.
+r0llinlacs great comments! i would be concerned that the air pressure wouldn't be enough to hold the valve in place, but would have been easier if the valve didn't move. rope also makes it easier to walk away and not need to finish a valve.
@@philipjcaputo Air pressure will hold the valve in place fairly securely but you need 90 psi or better to do it safely. Just dont push down on the valve stem hard. If you break the seal on the seat, it will drop the valve. You need a pretty decent air compressor to do this too as the air leaking past the rings can empty a small compressor fairly quickly. You need to be quick about it. Grease on the valve stem grooves helps immensely. Also lube the lock grooves up too. Put a dab of grease on the tip of a long skinny flat blade screwdriver then stick the lock to it. Much easier to position the lock and still be able to see what you are doing. Vaseline works pretty good too as long as it's not real hot outside. It starts getting pretty thin the hotter it gets. Breaking the valve locks to spring retainer "lock" is key initially. Otherwise, getting them to separate by just using the tool can be tough and possibly break the seal on the valve seat. Use a 9/16" socket, place it on the valve retainer data slight angle. Take a hammer and hit it not square to the valve. This breaks the lock between the locks and the retainer making removal much easier.
There is one thing to look out for when you use the rope method when changing the valve stem seals; I was finished with cylinder 4 and went to pull the rope out. It had tied itself into a figure-8 knot inside the cylinder. There was no way around it, I had t pull the head to get the rope undone. And as long as one head was coming off, the other did too, for a complete valve job instead of just valve stem seals.
This is not a fun job on any car. 4 cylinder cars are not terrible but V6's & V8's can be a challenge. I'd plan on doing one side at a time. Removal of the old seals can be a challenge. I've found a good pair of adjustable channel lock pliers works really well for this. I use the Irwin brand ones that have the push button to activate the adjustment. They are much more adjustable in finer increments and have minimal material to allow easier access in small areas. Grip the old valve seat, twist it several times until it breaks free then pull it off. Sometimes a pair of good Vise-Grip needle nose pliers is required. You have to be careful not to smash the steel outer ring of the seal too much as you only lock the seal on that much harder. Grease on the valve grooves and valve locks help hold then in place. Using a small dab of grease on a long skinny flat blade screwdriver to stick the valve lock to it works wonders too. Gives you better control and you can actually see what you're doing. Lisle makes a cool tool to aid this process, removal and install. The removal process works great and is quick. The install part does not work. The same thing can be accomplished with a magnetic spark plug socket for $15 and a hammer. The magnet is important as it keeps the valve locks from flying lord only knows where. Good luck getting new ones too. Parts stores rarely carry them or can even get them. It's dealer only most of the time and days to get them if they even can.
@@gravityimage5 if it blows smoke after it's been idling for say 5 minutes and you give it a rev it's the valve stem seals if it blows smoke when you drive it hard it's the rings
Great Job I have did this before it's no cake walk. But I need to know whats the part no. on the valve spring compressor because I need one to do my seals on my 1999 Mitsubishi Montero sport 3.0. I have the other type of valve spring compressor.
The cams push the valves down and the springs push the valves back up. In doing so, the valve stems rub against the seals. The seals will wear quickly if the car is very low on oil.
Nice, I'm about to start this project on my new (to me) '99 Montero. I'm in SoCal too. What I've done in the past, albeit on my 4G63 mitsu, was wiped some grease in the keeper's groove in the valve, then when you compress the valve you can just "stick" the keepers to the stem of the valve and when you release the pressure on the valve spring the keepers go right I to place.
I just did this job over 3 saturdays, with help. It's one hell of a job with the heads on the car.
1. There is no perfect valve spring compressor tool that you can buy for doing this job with the heads on. The tool you used looks perfect for that specific valve, props for that. We used a combination of 3 different tools, and had to modify all of them to work right with each different valve spring. Everything is in the way when the heads are on, so every valve has a different angle, different things in the way, so no tool is perfect.
2. I used the air compressor trick and I'm glad I did. I noticed the valve drop 1/3" or so in your video using the rope trick. With the air compressor trick, the valve doesn't drop at all and stays completely seated to the head and it makes the keepers MUCH easier to replace (not to mention, keeps the keepers from falling inside the cylinder. It CAN happen even with 1/3" of play). The keepers were way easier to replace when the valve was completely seated against the head and the spring was ALL THE WAY compressed. Every millimeter of spring compression counts when replacing the keepers. If you decompress the spring and the keepers aren't in all the way, this is what happens, in your words "and the keeper just went flying somewhere". Make sure the keepers are completely in place before you decompress the valve. I learned the hard way, twice (I lost 2 keepers doing that).
Also, with doing the air compressor trick, you're essentially doing a leak down test. Listen for leaks through the intake, exhaust, oil cap, and look for bubbles in the coolant, and check every cylinder. I found two intake valve leaks (through the intake) which I was luckily able to fix with just carb cleaner. Likely just dirty intake valves due to the bad valve stem seals. You can tell a lot about your engine with a leakdown test, so I think the air compressor trick is superior to the rope trick.
I also lost 2 retainers because of the cheap parts store (autozone, o' reillys) valve spring compressor tools. They don't compress the spring evenly and the spring can slip out and send the retainer flying. A retainer bounced off the walls and hit my windshield, causing a big rock chip. To remedy this, I used a zip-tie to hold the valve spring inside the tool to keep it from flinging out. Thanks to my neighbor for that tip.
Also, you can't do this job without a magnet. The magnet is essential to retain the keepers during removal. I used a telescopic antenna magnet tool
You WILL most likely lose stuff, so make sure to cover the intake AND the oil holes in the heads to keep stuff from getting in the engine. I didn't cover the spark plug tubes, but that's also a good idea.
All in all, it's a big job. I couldn't have done it without my friend. And beer.
+r0llinlacs great comments! i would be concerned that the air pressure wouldn't be enough to hold the valve in place, but would have been easier if the valve didn't move. rope also makes it easier to walk away and not need to finish a valve.
very cool , thank you for sharing !!!!
@@philipjcaputo Air pressure will hold the valve in place fairly securely but you need 90 psi or better to do it safely. Just dont push down on the valve stem hard. If you break the seal on the seat, it will drop the valve. You need a pretty decent air compressor to do this too as the air leaking past the rings can empty a small compressor fairly quickly. You need to be quick about it.
Grease on the valve stem grooves helps immensely. Also lube the lock grooves up too. Put a dab of grease on the tip of a long skinny flat blade screwdriver then stick the lock to it. Much easier to position the lock and still be able to see what you are doing. Vaseline works pretty good too as long as it's not real hot outside. It starts getting pretty thin the hotter it gets.
Breaking the valve locks to spring retainer "lock" is key initially. Otherwise, getting them to separate by just using the tool can be tough and possibly break the seal on the valve seat. Use a 9/16" socket, place it on the valve retainer data slight angle. Take a hammer and hit it not square to the valve. This breaks the lock between the locks and the retainer making removal much easier.
Have not sold it yet. But will soon. Love the Montro . Always have has valve seal problems on all my Mitsubishi cars i owned for the last 25 years.
Harvey Gand hiw much cost for the repair of the valve stem seal
There is one thing to look out for when you use the rope method when changing the valve stem seals; I was finished with cylinder 4 and went to pull the rope out. It had tied itself into a figure-8 knot inside the cylinder. There was no way around it, I had t pull the head to get the rope undone. And as long as one head was coming off, the other did too, for a complete valve job instead of just valve stem seals.
This is not a fun job on any car. 4 cylinder cars are not terrible but V6's & V8's can be a challenge. I'd plan on doing one side at a time.
Removal of the old seals can be a challenge. I've found a good pair of adjustable channel lock pliers works really well for this. I use the Irwin brand ones that have the push button to activate the adjustment. They are much more adjustable in finer increments and have minimal material to allow easier access in small areas. Grip the old valve seat, twist it several times until it breaks free then pull it off. Sometimes a pair of good Vise-Grip needle nose pliers is required. You have to be careful not to smash the steel outer ring of the seal too much as you only lock the seal on that much harder.
Grease on the valve grooves and valve locks help hold then in place. Using a small dab of grease on a long skinny flat blade screwdriver to stick the valve lock to it works wonders too. Gives you better control and you can actually see what you're doing.
Lisle makes a cool tool to aid this process, removal and install. The removal process works great and is quick. The install part does not work. The same thing can be accomplished with a magnetic spark plug socket for $15 and a hammer. The magnet is important as it keeps the valve locks from flying lord only knows where. Good luck getting new ones too. Parts stores rarely carry them or can even get them. It's dealer only most of the time and days to get them if they even can.
Hi. Great video but what make/model tool are you using to compress the springs?
Mitsubishi's are great for blowing smoke because of worn valve stem seals
Nice! would you say the light smoking exhaust is from this or worn cylinder rings?
@@gravityimage5 if it blows smoke after it's been idling for say 5 minutes and you give it a rev it's the valve stem seals if it blows smoke when you drive it hard it's the rings
@@Djr67 nice, so when driving it hard, how much smoke is considered a large amount.
@@gravityimage5 if you can see it in your rearview mirror I'd say that's a lot.
@@gravityimage5 If you can see it when you look in your rear vision mirror I would say thats too much
nice video, you're very smart. good job
How many feet of rope did you feed into the cylinder space?
Great Job I have did this before it's no cake walk. But I need to know whats the part no. on the valve spring compressor because I need one to do my seals on my 1999 Mitsubishi Montero sport 3.0. I have the other type of valve spring compressor.
+T ROY search for this "overhead valve spring compressor", you'll find examples on ebay and amazon (and other online retailers)
thank you very much indeed; very helpful!
What causes the valve stem seals to wear and cause oil leaks?
The cams push the valves down and the springs push the valves back up. In doing so, the valve stems rub against the seals. The seals will wear quickly if the car is very low on oil.
what happens if you raise the piston without rope, how much will the valve drop?
Hey mate, where did you get the valve spring compressor?
I just ordered a part off of Amazon
I'll pay you to fix my 02 montero. Blue smoke at tail pipe when idling.
Harvey Gand did you fix yours already coz that's my problem too
Hello my Montero starts smoking blue, will this could be a stem seal? Thank you..
Very cool...thank you sir
What tool did you use
have a question. what was the reason to replace the valve seals?
If they are worn, oil will leak into the cylinders. You will see smoke coming out of the exhausted pipe.
I've never seen blue smoke, it's more like a grayish. But pretty much your car is going to produce smoke..
thank you
Dmitriy Dolotov you bet!
To de magnetize something beat it a little with a hammer on a bench or something or smack it on a bench
There is no need for the rope the compressed air will hold the valves up
That's the purpose of the air hose with the spark plug fitting. I kept wondering why TF is he using rope.
No, I have not fixed mine. I decided to sell the truck. To many additional problems