spark plug tube seal removal/install (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Mar 1, 2019
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Location
Goshen, KY
Woking on my valve cover gasket etc, and the tube seals are giving me trouble. The seals themselves broke apart when I removed the valve cover, sending little bits of plastic into the valve train. So I've been fishing pieces out. I was able to chisel out the seals (seal puller wouldn't get em to budge) and when I went to reinstall, the new ones wouldn't fit... like not even close. So I'm wondering if the seals themselves have a metal ring inside them. If so, the rings have fused themselves to the valve cover. I've been trying to not damage the metal in there but if it's still seals, then I'll beat a little harder. They won't budge with a 4lb hammer and a flat head screwdriver (yet).
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got a pic of it without the new seal in? I think there is a metal part of the old seal still in there and I've just chiseled out the rubber/plastic
 
got a pic of it without the new seal in? I think there is a metal part of the old seal still in there and I've just chiseled out the rubber/plastic

No, you got the whole seal. It's a very small metal ring inside, doesn't go all the way through and doesn't go all the way to the edge. Just clean up what's left behind and tap the new one in using a hammer and appropriate size socket for a press. They don't just push in by hand.
 
Metal ring would have been about right here - but again, it's small. Not like a bushing.
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Photo of mine for reference. These seals will need to be tapped in, they won't just push in by hand. Looks like you need to clean it up a bit more.

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You can see the inner metal rings in some of these torn ones from another post.
 
see that step near the opening? I think that might be the inner part of the old ring. New ring wont come close to fitting, no amount of hammering will get it in, it would require trimming the seal

I just did these on mine a couple of weeks ago. I coated the outer edge of the ring in oil and tapped it in with a socket. What you're showing is not part of the old seal.
 
It looks like part of the old seal is still in there, the metal ring...

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Maybe we're saying something similar and I'm getting confused. The metal ring is in the inner ring of the seal. All it looks like to me is that he needs to clean up the rubber.
 
Hey Hey! *Krusty the clown voice*
View attachment 2484643

I must be missing it, but I didn't see that in the other pictures posted by others. Did you have some type of adapter for a smaller seal in there originally? Then you removed to put in the correctly sized seals now?

Also, any tips for the valve cover gasket job? I've got this same job coming up with parts in the garage waiting on me (valve cover gasket, spark plug tube seals, throttle body gasket, FIPG, vacuum lines, etc.)
 
I must be missing it, but I didn't see that in the other pictures posted by others. Did you have some type of adapter for a smaller seal in there originally? Then you removed to put in the correctly sized seals now?

Also, any tips for the valve cover gasket job? I've got this same job coming up with parts in the garage waiting on me (valve cover gasket, spark plug tube seals, throttle body gasket, FIPG, vacuum lines, etc.)

seals were original (I think) but they were so brittle that when I whacked them out of the valve cover, they just left behind the metal ring and I wasn't sure if that was part of the old seal or not. Judging by the pictures these guys posted of the empty valve cover and their description of how they were able to install new ones I could tell that mine still had leftovers of the original seal. A couple of whacks on the lip of the ring with a flat head and grabbing with a vice grip and pulling with all my might and they popped out pretty clean. New seals went in pretty easy with a rubber mallet.
 

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