1xsculler

With nothing left to try to reduce my oil consumption I have decided to R&R my valve stem seals. Other than new seals and the little orange fitting sleeves what else should I have on hand, i.e. gaskets, etc.

alx

depending on how stuck they are you might need valve cover gaskets.

you will need an air compressor with spark plug adapter, spring compressor and a bit of imagination.

take your time. job looks intimidating, but it is not. take pics before taking things apart. you will be surprised when you start putting things together how memory of how things were drifts away

good luck

angelglo

FYI, the cylinder head cover and the front cover do not use gaskets. They use sealants and I would suggest getting the correct benz one. They need to be the correct thickness

eric_in_sd

I'm new to this type of tool; is there an adapter that goes from 12mm to 1/4" FPT?
All the adapters I see (e.g. Lisle) are part of a compression tester kit, so have some weirdness on the female side.

alx

there are reusable gaskets that can be purchased for the om642 valve covers. getting the one-time sealant- based ones (factory setup) is dark magic few people are capable of performing without leaks down the road.

alx

some weirdness on the female sale... you are telling me... lol

on the subject - you will need a mercedes/ european brand valve compressor tool kit.

angelglo

Thx for the info re the valve cover gasket but I'm not sure if that info is correct but please correct me if I'm wrong. The cylinder head cover also acts as the bearing surface for the cams. The sealant can be torqued down to a very minimal thickness and I do not think the gasket can be torqued down to be thin enough. so, you might be able to get it to work for the om642 motor but not the m272 or m273 motor. take a look at the pic and you might notice that it would be virtually impossible to have the gaskets stay in place it is a very smooth flat surface and a ready made gasket will not stay in place.

1x, btw, I'm sure I mentioned this to you before and I'm not trying to be a JA, but you start new threads on the same subjects. It gets frustrating for people doing a search and when if they have to keep looking at different threads for the same issue. but do what you want because I'm not a moderator either

angelglo

1x, also, in your other thread, I asked you if you have the torque sequence? you need to remove the cylinder cover in the correct sequence since it also acts as the bearing surface for the cams. if you warp the cylinder cover, you may as well buy a new head and cover since they are a matched pair. there are other issues that you might need to know. so just keep us informed on your progress. I do not know how much you have researched so I will just wait until you ask

eric_in_sd

hahaha I was hoping you'd get a kick out of that. I'll sniff around; thanks.

eric_in_sd

jeez did I just say I was going to sniff around the weirdness in the female side?

alx

What has been imagined cannot be unimagined.

angelglo

FYI,

I don't know if you already know but you might also need a timing chain tensioner depending if yours can be reset or not.

eric_in_sd

It's been a while; did you do this repair?

1xsculler

No, I have not done this repair yet although I did purchase the valve stem seals. I am just adding two quarts of Mobile 1about every 1500 miles and living with it as the car runs great.

eric_in_sd

I contacted El Mecho, and he said, well, that seems like a lot of money to fix something that isn't that much of a problem. I wonder how much oil it has to drink to screw up the cats. Mine are marginal, but supposedly they don't last all that long in the best of cases.

1xsculler

I intend to keep this car for another 65k miles when I'll have 200k on it and I won't take it to a dealer, or any shop, unless I absolutely have to. If I do the valve stem seals I will take a day and do it myself.

BlownV8

My cats are fine with over 200k miles.

eric_in_sd

Wait, weren't you telling me about aftermarket cats in Cali? I thought you'd replaced yours.

eric_in_sd

I'm like you - I like doing stuff myself - but I take insanely long to do stuff, and I've got kids that need the car. Maybe this summer when a couple of them will be out. I still don't have the procedure clear, though.

BlownV8

Mine are original. Not in Cali.

angelglo

buying cats in Ca suck.

sak335

If you go to the diesel forum where I put my timing chain replacement thread, I have photos of and describe the valve cover sealant procedure. I can provide the torque procedure to if you need it, but basically you start from the center and work your way out in both directions.

eric_in_sd

What about Commiefornia doesn't suck?

angelglo

if and when you do it, I would suggest that you set aside at least 2 days to do the job.