61 4dr. 144cu. engine valve stem seals

[61 Waycrosscomet]

car started smoking bad for about a minute on startup.....probable cause is the valve stem seals based on what i've read.
Question, will the valve stem seals for the 170cu. engine fit the 144 engine?
AND, where can I get these ? searches come up with all sorts of different looking valve stem seals. Some for the 170cu engine. Nothing
I could find for the 144cu. Thanks for any tips. john.m

[Joe Travers]

What color smoke? Black, blue or white?

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mah- ... /make/ford

Joe

[61 Waycrosscomet]

it's kind of whitish, maybe a little blueish. certainly not black.

[Joe Travers]

Let it sit overnight and have someone start it and do the sniff test following day.
If a cloud lingers and smells like oil, I would pull the valve cover and check the seals, see if they are brittle and cracked.
White cloud that vanishes quickly w/ no odor is water steaming out of the exhaust system. Common for cars that aren't driven regularly.

Pull the breather cap off, rev the engine and see if it smokes while you're at it.

Joe

[poboyjo65]

Thanks for any tips. john.m

couple installation tips if you dont want to remove the head; each cylinder you work on needs both valves closed ,,,all the way. you can push a small rope,like a nylon cord,like a jumprope in thru the plug hole to fill up the cylinder completely with rope to hold the valves up while you take off the springs & install seals.

or you can use compressed air to hold up the valves. I used to have an old sparkplug with the ceramic beat out of it,just the hollowed out threaded part of the plug left & a male air hose fitting welded on it to apply air pressure to each cylinder to hold the valves up. Last time I couldn't find it so I used a leakdown tester kit which had a similar fitting to screw in the sparkplug hole & connect air hose to.

[61 Waycrosscomet]

The car is not street worthy yet, but I do run it at least a couple times a week. This started happening a few weeks ago.
The cloud doesn't dissipate quickly as I see it drift over to my neighbors house, then their neighbors, so, i don't think it is steam.

I plan to buy one of those engine valve holders that uses compressed air. Any idea what to set my compressor at?

As I've never done this sort of thing (obvious?), I've watched some you tube videos of people replacing stem seals on ford inline 6 cylinder motors.

Do I need to adjust anything after I replace those seals?

btw, coolant looks good, don't see any oil droplets in fluid or under cap.

[Joe Travers]

Do I need to adjust anything after I replace those seals?

You'll have to lash the valves.
Read the manual and follow it closely. Valve lash spec and procedure is in Chapter 1.

Joe

[poboyjo65]

I leave my compressor at 125 most of the time,kicks back on at 90. so anywhere up around 90 or more.

another thing that is helpful if you dont have one is a remote starter switch /button like these to attach to solenoid ;
https://www.amazon.com/remote-starter-s ... ter+switch
you can get them at any parts house or online.

with Key off ,,,,,pull all the plugs out.then you can use the button to bump the engine over to get the valves positioned where you want them. you will need to get them both closed before hooking up the air. you can do this by holding one finger over the plug hole, bump the remote starter button until you get to the compression stroke, it will blow your finger up & when it does stop,,,, & both valves are closed, if engine didnt spin far past the air spewing out. but if it goes too far & a valve goes down just bump it around til it spews air out again .

the remote button with do all the work just bump it little at a time. you could turn the engine over my hand pretty easy with all the plugs out but that remote button dont cost much & comes in handy on these old cars.

[poboyjo65]

When you do these valve seals by using air to hold the valves up you will be kinda doing a leak down test at same time but without the gauge,still another perk of doing it with air. But if you have a bent valve or a bunch of carbon build up on a valve you're going to find it! if you hear air rushing out the tailpipe or carb you'll know air is getting past that valve. you'll hear a little bit of leaking most likely,even with a good engine but if a valve is bad you'll know it. you'll feel it in your bones

[61 Waycrosscomet]

took off valve cover today, found little bits of hard plastic or something. hopefully image will show here.can't tell what valve it came from.

[Joe Travers]

Pull the spark plugs and compare them. The one most fouled should be the one.
The question is, how do the others compare?

Joe

[61 Waycrosscomet]

Well, If I am going to replace one bad one, might as well replace all of them. They are over 60 years old.
Any ideas for a good valve spring compressor?

[Joe Travers]

There are plenty of cheap C-clamp style compressors on the market. Your springs are soft.

I wouldn't bank on the seals being that old. I've seen them fall apart in old engines that have been rebuilt.

Joe

[61 Waycrosscomet]

One last question (hopefully), If I carefully remove the rocker arm assembly, then replace the seals, and put back the rock arm assembly as is, would
I still need to adjust (lash?) the valves? The engine runs pretty good for its age, I just don't like the idea of adjusting something that doesn't
need to be. (if that makes sense).
thanks again for answering my questions.

[Joe Travers]

You need to check them, yes. Chances are it may not change or change very little if the camshaft doesn't get bumped but good time to learn how to do it. Valve adjustment is a scheduled maintenance item w/ a solid tappet camshaft. Maintenance schedule is every 12K miles.

If you aren't comfortable doing it, take it to a shop. We can help you get through it, if you need help doing it yourself.

Joe