Great video. Just a little advice - the way to measure depth with a caliper is to use the end opposite the jaws. Place the small end (of the caliper) on the valve guide and extend the small center section down to the surface of the head to get your reading. You'll find you can measure a whole lot of hard to get at stuff using this method. I have a 2008 Subaru Outback.and do all my own repairs. I really appreciate your videos. Have you ever done one on changing the fluids in the driveline?
Cool - I do the same wire wheel trick to clean the valves, but I stick mine (carefully) into my drill driver and spin it in the opposite direction of the wire wheel. I like to think it helps ensure even coverage and and even cleanliness. As for tapping the valve guide, my only problem is, the only spare valves I have in the shop now are broken or bent! :-)
Great Idea brother! Worked like a charm. When a machine shop is over the budget, this is definitely the next best thing. Don't mind the haters on here. If they knew what they were talking about they wouldn't be so condescending. While I agree a machine shop is the best way and the correct way. However my grandfather used to say there is more than one way to skin a cat. Liked and subscribed...
Adding a small stainless steel washer between the socket and valve guide would provide more contact surface area and prevent the guide from wanting to slide into the socket
A very long time ago I worked in an engine rebuilding shop. Guides then in aluminum heads had a small wire ring to stop that problem guess it isn't "necessary" any more (lol). Also first week there I was buffing valves, got a small piece of carbon (which carried fine steel dust from the process) in my eye & wound up having to have the rusty part "ground" out of my eye. EYE PROTECTION around a wire wheel & a respirator wouldn't hurt either (maybe not as bad now without the lead in the gas) but cheap insurance. Great tips - loved my Subaru!
When you open up you caliper you’ll see a rod come out the end it’s called a depth rod works really well for the type of measurement you were trying to get
I was watching this to learn about valve guides.I remember my dad telling about older Subarus having a problem with valves actually getting tighter instead of loosening up like other vehicles that need valves adjusted.
What could go wrong if I use a socket or other tool to knock out old valve guides? Also could I knock in new guides using a socket that fits perfectly over the valve guide tip? I really don't want to go to a machine shop but if I have to I will.
Is the wiggle test accurate for checking valve guides or should I take it to the shop so they can measure the valve to guide clearance? Trying to save money as much as I can but should I be fine if I don’t have excessive play?
Thanks very much for the subaru head series Brian! It's something I've been really wanting to get into. I hope your gonna do more videos to do with subaru engines.
What were the symptoms which enabled you to realise this was happening? I've got a 1jz and I've changed the stem seals, but the car still smokes on the overrun, (blue). I've done a compression test and it's fine, could the valve guides cause smoke on vacuum? Thanks
Most of the valves I use are smaller than the stem, just above the head, under cut, swirl polished, stainless valves usually, not stock valves, but even the small motorcycle valves I just worked with , the 5mm stems were about 4-4.5 mm smaller to flow more, and prevent this I'm guessing, looks like subie would fixed that!
Old comment I know, but maybe it'll help someone else. GSC Power Division makes valve guides that have a ring in them that 100% guarantees the valve can't drop.
If the guide dropped once, it's going to drop again. That's not a proper fix to the problem. All you accomplished by beating that guide back and forth was making the guide bore looser than it already was. Total hack.
Larry Cavanaugh that will depend on the circumstances if the head gasket has gone or a pipe and lost all the water the engine overheated the aluminium would expand far quicker then the valve guide so under normal running conditions with water everything will be heated equally and expand equally
just order a valve guide driver from the manufacturer of the motor, put the head in the oven 300 degrees the guide will go in or out easy peasy, get rid of the carbon. no machine shop needed.
Always knurl them prior to installation. Just a slight impression will suffice and keep those guides from dropping. Provides just enough "bite" when the metal heats.
My ej259 head valve guide has dropped a bit...about a quarter of an inch. Without taking the head off, is there anything I can really do? live.staticflickr.com/65535/49025793162_f89bef05ee_b.jpg
Doesn't make much sense to me why the guides don't have a small lip on the edge to prevent them from sliding into the head. Is there some reason for them to float like that? Great video as always man.
These intake guides come from the factory extended down into the intake port. The reason is that they are cooled by the fuel/air mixture passing thru the port. The exhaust guides are out of the port to keep out of the heat and help cool. Moving them out of the port is asking for trouble. Hope you replaced the valves that you were pounding on with a hammer.
I think it's because if there was a lip to catch on the head, instead of any force pushing/sliding out the guide the guide would embed itself into the head over time and probably destroy it.
It’s manufacturing costs it should have been good but was not. As guy doing the job said soot build up seized valve a bit that pulled guide down. The witness marks on the valve proved that. Load of soot probably town driving hardly any highway, light loading probably caused this. Did Subaru test that out for extended period. So fault was caused by soot rather than faulty guide/head problem. So knocking back and cleaning valves may be a great fix. I would probably want to ream the guide just in case it got pinched during the knocking and it would clear any crap out. Interesting problem. I make mine work so should not be an issue.😀
Mr. mobile1, you can use the "stick" that comes out of the backside of your calipers to take the guide's height measurement. Use the butt of the caliper on the top of the guide and drop the stick down to the cylinder head. I think this would be easier and provide a more repeatable measurement than trying to use the jaws. Great tip on wrangling those guides though.
onenikkione GREAT QUESTION!!! WE'VE GOT A GREAT QUESTION OVER HEEEEERE! Yes, I'm glad you asked. Use good fuel and maintain your vehicle including changing the spark plugs according to manufacturer guidelines.
Question: Yeah it's me again. LOL. The machine shop did a hack job on our heads for the 07 Forester. Needless to say I'll have to completely tear it all down and clean out metal shavings. This guy may have 50 years of experience, but he did a slop job and dumped a load of aluminum shavings in the heads. Nothing installed yet, never run... So I'll disassemble and clean things up. Now the question: This dingdong never noticed the glaring obvious. 3 of the 4 exhaust valve guides are dropped about 1/2". The same 3 valves are not fully sealing and I can see day light when they are supposed to be closed. Do you think I'm better off just using an air hammer and gently 'kicking' the guides back into place? And then either installing new valves or cleaning the carbon off the current valves and reusing them. Can't afford a machine shop a 2nd time. Heads are straight at least, but I'm a long ways off... I will post this on the facebook page as well. Thanks!
Another idea for cleaning the valves from Jafromobile was to put the valve in the chuck of a drill. Just a time saver really as you can spin and hold the valve more easily when you are using the wire wheel.
using a valve as an intermediate to hammer the guide in place is wrong. the valve has not got the sharp 90 degree angle on the back to function as a guide protector while hammering. the guide will split.
Not placing any blame on anyone but myself, but I have used this method twice and it has ended in disaster both times. The first time was just a simple dropped valve and attempting to move it back in place. I used this exact method, and the air hammer jumped off the valve and damaged the head surface. I eventually got tired of the darn thing not moving and stuck the air hammer directly on the guide itself, and guess what, it shattered! I know it was my fault, it was stupid. Second, I tried to use this method to install a brand new valve guide, which worked like 90% of the way, at the final 10% the guide I was trying to install broke.
that is because using a valve as an intermediate to hammer the guide in place is wrong. the valve has not got the sharp 90 degree angle on the back to function as a guide protector while hammering. of cause the guide will split.
@@jewsrbad I’m talking valve guides. That’s most likely a huge no no. Stake it if anything. I’ve seen block repairs done. But tack welding in valve guide??
And yet twinkle toes makes no mention of lapping the valves prior to installation ? 1 because you just plain should do it because its apart any way and 2 ?? you just ran a wire wheel over the surface of the valve repeatedly ? lap them in or your going to have issues. cleaning on a wire wheel is standard procedure for decades same goes for lapping in the valve. even if it was new it needs to be lapped.
Any hacker solution to try without removing head, thru exhaust port? I know, it's a hack question, I have done worse, trust me, but this is a 16 year old vehicle that doesn't owe me a penny. just want to drive it a little longer. The intermittent misfire makes it difficult, would be impossible to drive if it wasn't a standard shift.
Either fix it properly or get it in the hands of someone who can. Are you seriously relying on luck that the guide won't drop again? Gaskets and time both cost money......Doing it over again doubles the cost and quadruples the aggravation factor.
