W108 M130 Engine

[mamali]

Hi is there anyway to replace valve seals without removing cylinder head? Any one in VA do that? Thanks

[Sugar Bear]

Yes by putting air in the cylinder through the spark plug hole before removing the valve spring. Are you looking for someone to do it? Shouldn't be hard to find but I'd look for an older foreign car tech to do it or someone that is willing to methodically follow a shop manual. All parts removed should go back in the position they were taken from especially the rocker arms/cam followers. Use genuine seals and valve cover gasket.

Good luck!!!

[mamali]

Originally Posted by Sugar Bear

Yes by putting air in the cylinder through the spark plug hole before removing the valve spring. Are you looking for someone to do it? Shouldn't be hard to find but I'd look for an older foreign car tech to do it or someone that is willing to methodically follow a shop manual. All parts removed should go back in the position they were taken from especially the rocker arms/cam followers. Use genuine seals and valve cover gasket.

Good luck!!!

Yes looking for someone to do it.

[vandor]

I'd also make sure that whatever cylinder is being worked on has the piston at TDC, just in case the valve falls. I've tried the air pressure method once on a different car, and it worked, but it was not hard to accidentally push on the valve and break the seal.

[Sugar Bear]

vendor x2, but...the piston must be at TDC exactly. If it is slightly down the air pressure can cause the engine to rotate.

[aluminum]

You can block the Motor from rotating ( front pulley / Ring Gear / converter bolt )
However downsides are that by the time a Head needs Valve seals quite often they need Valve Guides requiring Head off to replace .
Additional are that Its quite hard to remove and replace mercedes Valve spring retainers
but it can be done : Early 108's like 1966 on up through 1968 have a very high cost for a Head gasket if needed ( NOS off Ebay from most often germany over $300 )
If you have a Head gasket I would pull the head and rebuild it , *Mercedes Valve seats are Very hard and Easy to regrind or just Lap them in with the Valves replacing same as necessary . Most often you will discover you need new Timing chain / Timing Gears / Chain Guides and yes it's going to cost some money . *Replacing just Valve seals is most often a Hack type job not a real repair expected to last I suggest*to think long and hard before doing.

[mamali]

thanks guys need to find someone to do it.

[rumb]

Another way to to feed rope into the spark plug hole, that will keep from dropping a valve.

[Tomguy]

Fair warning: It may not solve your smoking issue. Often, valve guides are worn beyond tolerance, and no amount of new seals will fix it if so.

[subforry]

I usually have to place a block of wood under the valve and hit the spring cap with a hammer to free the valve spring retainers. So I would be surprised if they could be removed with the head in place.

[Idle]

The engine manual put out by Mercedes has instructions on how to do this.

But be warned: Some editions of this manual said the air pressure for charging the cylinder needed to be 600 psi. I think the actual amount needed to keep the valve up is 60.

The rope things works well, too, and is usually what the old school mechanics would use. This was, during the sixties, still a common thing since valve guides on Americans made cars would usually wear out at about 80.000 miles.

If your American car had over 100,000 miles you were driving a time bomb. A thrown valve, a knocking crankshaft bearing..... Something was going to let loose sooner than later.

[aluminum]

Wake up and smell the Bacon * * * * * * The condition of the Motor !
Start with a full mechanical Compression test on a warm motor and make a List of results
Then do A " Wet Test " adding 1 OZ of Oil into each Cylinder wait 10 Mins then test 1 Cylinder at a time .
Why ? because this is how to find out if the Piston rings are any good or not . If the reading go up " More Then " say 5 to 12 LBS or so your rings are shot Example : Dry test 110 Lbs Wet 140 LBS = Bad Rings
Normal Compression is about 150 LBS in good condition
If the Valve Seals are worn out again most likely the Valve Guides are worn out along with lots of other Cylinder Head and Valve Train Gear.
Note as further Example : if the Piston Rings are bad you can rebuild the entire Head the timing*Gears / Chain and still have the same problem.As well if you have a lot of* " Blow by Smoke "motor running Oil cap off this is an indication*of Bad Rings .

[cth350]

Lets not forget another symptom of needing more work...

If the oily residue that builds up on your oil fill cap has a white or light brown haze to it, kinda like chocolate milk, you've got enough water in there to suspect your head gasket has a problem. A follow up check of the cooling system with a pressure tester is a good idea at that point.

-CTH