Should these valves be replaced?

So I’m currently in the process of doing my head gaskets, but I’m doing valve seals and cleaning the heads as well. I think the valves look ok for the most part, but the intake valves seem to have a section on the stem that is a smaller diameter than the rest of the stem. You might be able to see in the pictures, just above the white coloring. I would love to hear some opinions on whether these are reusable or if they should be replaced. Thanks!

 

in pic two, that step is normal. They are most likely a two piece valve, stem and head, that are spin welded together. This sounds scary, but has been common for many decades.

I am sure that there is a spec in the FSM for the stem diameter.

Even if they are slightly out of spec, I'm sure there are engines with 300K on them with much worse valves still running as I type this.

 

Clean them up, mic them stems and see if good

 

They look pretty normal to me. Obviously I didn't measure yours, but I didn't measure mine when I did my head gaskets last year. All I did was clean them up, lap and do simple leak test after installation. I did replace the seals. Btw, those should clean up nicely.

 

like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCSbUoj4o1E

 

Yep, just like that.

 

I need to light my smoke in the stall

 

Hopefully you marked the order they came out. But only way to really know is mic check them.

 

A mic will tell you if the stem is worn but it won't tell you if the guide is worn. Put them back in the guides and see how much wiggle room they have

 

Thanks for all the good responses! So first, I mixed up which were intake and exhaust valves in my first post. It was the exhaust valves that had a questionable spot on the shaft. After cleaning them up it looks like maybe they just have a naturally tapered part after the polished surface. Also, they’re all a consistent diameter on the micrometer and there’s no play when they’re in the guides so I think they are good to go.

I did this little leak test thing and 4 of my exhaust valves on one of the heads are letting water through. Should I bother with lapping them? Im torn between doing things right and just moving on so I can get my truck back haha.


My last question is a little more concerning. I mixed up the order of some of the buckets and springs The valves are all in order, and I assume that the springs and retainers can be put in any order without consequence. But I am a little worried about screwing up the proper bucket locations. The buckets have numbers printed on the inside but they don’t follow a specific order and there are duplicate numbers. For example, the passenger side intake buckets are 43,44,48,46,46, and 44.



Definitely not ideal. Any advice is appreciated

 

A couple of things.

I would lap the valves. You’ve gone this far so you might as well do that in my own opinion. I had a few leaking and I lapped mine. That took care of the leaks. At least checking using the water test method that you have done. A machine shop uses air / vacuum from my understanding to check. I did have my heads checks for cracks or leaks at the machine shop. The machine shop owner told me to lap the valves myself to save paying him to do it.

Regarding the valve buckets, you should have kept track of them but you already know that now.

I’m trying to think what your options are. One, you could bring the heads, cams and buckets to a machine shop and have them sort it out. Probably not cheap but an easier option.

The other way you could do is to install them and check the clearances yourself using a feeler gauge. Once you have the clearances, you can see how far in or out of range you are. The numbers on the buckets are used to denote the thickness. The service manual has a table that provides the correlation from the number to the thickness. You will also need a micrometer to measure the bucket itself. I think I have some information in my head gasket replacement thread.

You will be checking the valve clearances on a bench. Install the valves, springs, buckets and then install the cams per SM as if they were being installed on the car. Prop up the head using something on either side. I used some scrap 2x6s and a towel to protect the surface resting on the wood. Remember, at this point some of your valves will be open since the cams are installed hence the need to prop it up. Once propped, you can use a crescent wrench to turn the cams to the proper positions to check each valve. Btw, I didn’t say this would be easy but it’s a way you can do it. Easiest way, not cheapest, would probably be a machine shop.

Oh, regarding the valve springs and retainers. I wouldn’t be concerned about mixing them up. This assumes there is no difference in part numbers between intake or exhaust springs.

 

Thanks, that was good advice. I did end up lapping them and used feeler gauges to get the buckets in a good order. A little bit more work but now I kinda know how to do that stuff.

I finished everything up and started it today. No check engine lights but there are some sounds I’m concerned with. I’m going to upload some videos to YouTube and then post them here

 

It sounds kinda whiny to me. That rattling is just my exhaust.

And in the next one you can hear how loud the ticking is. Does this seem like a normal amount of lifter tick, and I just forgot how noisy these engines are?

 

At first thought I say it sounds a bit loud. On second thought, I almost want to say it sounds normal to me. These engines are noisy at idle after warming up. I can try to record mine later. Not sure how helpful that will be considering all mics are not the same.

 

Right. A lot of room for subjectivity. After the idle settled and driving it around a bit I’m no longer worried about the ticking, but I can still hear the whining while driving. It’s only noticeable if I get the rpm’s up a little. Everything is running super smooth though so idk

 

The whine almost sounds like it is power steering related.

 

ya it does sound that way, but if it was a power steering thing I would expect it to get louder when I turn the wheel. I did some research and it sounds like a lot of people have had a similar sound that they were unable to track down that never caused any problems so I think I’ll live with it unless it gets worse haha

 

Interesting, I took a look at that thread. I would take the belt off and see if the noise goes away. At least you’ll know it’s not internal.