How do you take valves out of cylinder heads (just curious)?

Now that I have pretty much my whole engine taken apart, I have been inspecting parts of it with the zeal and curiosity of a five year old playing with Lego.

Having looked around the disassembled cylinder heads, one mystery strikes: How do you take the valves out? I don't need to do it but I am just curious. I know they get pushed from the top by cams, I tried reproducing that motion but the spring was too strong. I saw no fasteners that could be released to let the spring-loaded mechanism out.

Please enlighten me.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEe8C5u1LWg

 

do you think I should do it now that i have my heads taken out and it's relatively easy? there is no indication that anything is wrong but i was thinking preventative treatment. Also, if I clean them real nice, does it enhance the engine performance ?

 

Some of the questions you have asked, while taking what seems like a month to disassemble the engine, makes me think its not going to run again.

 

Amusing yet not funny.

 

what kind of value does this useless garbage add to this thread, community, or humanity at large?

 

I was implying that if you need to ask this question I'm sure there's other things you haven't done. Like are you have the block and heads checked for warping? Or having them magnafluxed? You did overheat it umpteen times....

 

I'm not gonna answer that as a matter of principle because all of my questions are very simple and specific, such as this one, which makes them easy to answer to those who have the knowledge and usually leave no need to be stepping out of the specifically given context.

 

Foampile,
It sounds like you should really get a manual for assembly and disassembly of your entire truck. It is a great reference without the sarcasm and judging.

My recommendation is that you have waterless hand cleaner and a rag near by so your book is not your oil rag.

 

You may want to look into performance upgrades at this point if that's something you're interested in.

 

Yes. I am aware of the concept of valve grind and essentially this question could be rephrased as "should I grind my valves now that I have it all taken apart?" but also consider that modern vehicles are built so they seldom actually need it. Essentially, is it worth doing it?

I also have the luxury of not needing my truck to make a living. I take public transportation to work and live in a highly walkable urban area. So I can easily prolong the fix by a couple of weeks in order to make fancy adjustments and learn more about my truck.

 

I would also like to add to my question, what is the best size valve spring compressor for my truck. I found

$84 OTC 4572 Large Valve Spring Compressor , black

this so far, not sure if the size is right.

 

The key is a good valve spring compressor, and I don't know the exact design of these heads, but in a overhead cam, ALL the valves usually need to be compressed at once then the cam is slide out or saddles unbolted.

This is really a machine shop job since they have the tooling to remove the cam and the valves, and then inspect and repair the individual parts.

I have several valve spring compressors, for different style heads and can lap my own valves if needed. But swapping out valve guides or seats is beyond my abilities.

Howard

 

Why did you take it apart in the first place?

 

it's also kindof cool how he uses a press with a lever in this video to remove them rather than a valve spring compressor.

 

to replace the head gaskets. they were in a bad shape due to an overheating situation i had. so now i am in a position to do many useful things to the engine as it is all taken apart. so much fun

 

Max Troll Award.

Congrats.

My 4 YO son used to ask me questions like this.

 

That head has already been hot tanked with the valves in places...normally, at this point in time, the head is covered in old grease and damage is hard to see, plus the hot tanking destroys valve seals...

Again, make sure you can get the cams in and out PRIOR to attempting removal, and you know exactly what seals, o-rings and such are need to go back in. A master valve grind kit is awfully handy.

Howard

 

subbed for lolz