zheiling

I was changing my oil the other day and I found some metal on my oil plug... It wasn't shavings. It was a broken valve guide seal spring. WTF?! Now my question is what damage could it have done on its way from the head to the oil pan? Time to tear into the heads and maybe do some upgrading.

SuperSport01

The spring that goes around the seal... I doubt it would have caused any damage unless it got between the rods or between the rods and crankshaft. If it had got between any moving parts to damage anything I doubt that you would even be able to tell it was the valve seal spring.

02 SS

Zheiling, I found the same spring in my oil pan last weekend. Have you tore it down yet?

KCS

iTrader: (20)

It probably didn't go through the oil passages on the way down to the pan, so I would bet that you are safe there. You'd probably notice if it did.

What springs and retainers are you using? Did you replace the seals when you did the cam swap?

02*C5

iTrader: (1)

This is looking like a holiday weekend tear down.

Jon@Texas-Speed

iTrader: (18)

If it made it to the pan and out without any issues, pull the valve covers and replace the seals and go on. I wouldn't be concerned as long as it is the only broken one and you now have it.

Jon

toadzq8

iTrader: (43)

Jon's right if it made to the pan your maybe OK. You need to pull the valve covers and check the rest of them and plan on R&R the seals soon!

blue99fbody

iTrader: (5)

mine did this early in the season, and i just kept on spraying for another 4k miles lol

tom falco

That means only three things could have happened. The seal was defective or the keeper to seal clearance is to tight. Or you floated the valve and the keeper or rtainer broke the seal ans spring. This clearance is very critical and often overlooked. How much lift do you run and what is the clearance seal to retainer?????

zheiling

I tore it down this weekend. Took off the valve covers and started on the driver's side one spring at a time. Made it through 5 springs decided that I didn't want to go through every single spring by removing it and looking at the seal so I took a small inspection mirror and checked out all the other valve stems. I found the seal with the missing spring and replaced it. The mirror saved me a lot of time. Should have thought of that earlier but the with my dual springs I didn't think I would be able to see the seals. The one with the missing spring was also unseated from the valve guide and was just floating on the stem of the valve.

One pain in the a$$ was that we ended up dropping a valve lock and had to spend 20 mins looking for it in the engine bay.

As for the lift it is .595/.605 on a tsp 233/239 cam.

-The seal was probably damaged when we installed it due to having to tap it down with a hammer and socket because the seals don't have the seat attached

357i

iTrader: (4)

Glad you got it takken care of, its a pain when you loose a keeper, they are so small and seem to fall into the tightest spots

BrownBoy

iTrader: (10)

Good job on the fix and good idea with the mirror!

Jon@Texas-Speed

iTrader: (18)

Glad to hear you got everything fixed on it. Let us know if you ever need any replacement parts like seals or keepers. We can get you that stuff individually if you ever need it. You don't have to buy the complete kit.

Jon