Valve stem seal replacement, losing oil

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Joined
Nov 28, 2016
Threads
2
Messages
32
Location
HOUSTON
Long story short, I've been losing oil since I bought this truck used but didn't know where. It wasn't a high priority since the truck seemed to run fine and I was not seeing plumes of smoke starting it up although the exhaust smelled different. It wasn't until recently I decided to borescope the cylinders and that's when I found that my valve stems were leaking.

I am losing roughly a quart of oil every 3k miles of normal driving.
This is on the 5.7L 3UR.
276k miles.

I'm currently trying to prepare myself to tackle this job.

It was already tedious removing all the crap out of the way to do the valve cover gaskets recently and now I'm having to do it again and then doing the cam tower reseal since I'm already there.

Will be definitely using an air compressor to keep the valves in place, but my little 3 gal compressor may not cut it. I also need to to figure out which style valve spring tool will work too.


 
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How many miles on the engine? Switch the oil to the one that swells the rubber, it will reduce the consumption.

Personally, I only do the valve stem seals with the cylinder head out and hot tanked / degreased. It is virtually impossible to set the seals right with the head still in the engine bay, because it is impossible to degrease the valve guides properly. Also you have the second opinion about this kind of job as your own back ages. I no longer give two fscks about oil losses if it's not asking for topping up between oil changes, which is 5k miles or 6 months for all engines in the family.

Also check your PCV valve. Or replace, it is both cheap and easy to do.
 
How many miles on the engine? Switch the oil to the one that swells the rubber, it will reduce the consumption.

Personally, I only do the valve stem seals with the cylinder head out and hot tanked / degreased. It is virtually impossible to set the seals right with the head still in the engine bay, because it is impossible to degrease the valve guides properly. Also you have the second opinion about this kind of job as your own back ages. I no longer give two fscks about oil losses if it's not asking for topping up between oil changes, which is 5k miles or 6 months for all engines in the family.

Also check your PCV valve. Or replace, it is both cheap and easy to do.
High on miles. 276k.
PCV valve is good.
Currently using Valvoline Restore and Protect 5w20 so I may switch it up to 5w30 high mileage next.
 
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