removing posi-loc valve seals

[pishta]

WTF, do they weld these on? 83 Mazda posi-loc style seals (not the umbrella) sort of a gold color. I put a pair of pliers on them, nothing doing. Tried to turn them...nope. Got a screwdriver under the lip and tried to pry it off, the metal started to deform. WTH is keeping these on? I saw a torch used to heat them and they just come off but they melt the plastic inside and ruin them. Im trying to save them for a transplant onto a mounted head. Mail order will take 4 days for new ones. I got some serious smoke coming back to idle from revving it and I gotta believe its the valve seals as the cylinders were just honed and I'm pulling a steady 20-21" on a vacuum gauge at idle, just a vibration between 20-21 inch.

 

[Hellrats]

I have never been able to reuse those type of seals. If you are lucky enough to get them off intact they are usually deformed and won't seal anyway.

 

[pishta]

10-4. looks to be the case on these..one and done. I just want to get them off! My truck is smoking bad after a few minutes of idle and coming off a shift. Classic valve seals, but these seems to be cemented on.

 

[DNasty777]

If they’re anything like the ones I just did on my magnum heads, I used a heat gun and some duckbill pliers. Just heated them up a little and started twisting and pulling, they came off eventually with a few choice words.

 

[PRH]

On much of the import stuff there is a rib on the ID of the seal that locks into a groove on the OD of the guide.

When the rubber in the seal gets old and hard, they can def be a challenge to remove.

The propane torch trick works pretty well.

 

[pishta]

I used the jaws of the valve spring compressor (filed them to the OD shape of the guide) and hooked the lip and pulled them off, 800 lbs pressure according to 60 inch/lbs on a 3/8 jackscrew...? They were metal caps with no interior rubber, only a lip seal on top. That 800 must figure the pitch of the screw as this was a jackscrew, very low tpi and course threads.

 

[pishta]

a 3 jaw collet with a slide lock and slide hammer would be the easiest, like a giant parts grabber but more rigid finters. Hook the seal base, slide the lock down and whack it off.