Valve stem plastic broke.

So i was going to replace the valve cover gasket because it was leaking but then i noticed some shards of black stuff inside. I thought it was metal but turns out its plastic since the magnet wouldnt grab them. I noticed that inside the valve springs were broken pieces of plastic. What are the plastic things inside the springs? Are they seals? And is my engine damaged now since almost all of them are breaking?

are you sure its plastic and not a hard rubber? the valve seals are rubber, and they get hard with age and contact with oil. and they can break apart.

There was also a hard plastic type seal...that's what the original seals on my 144 were.

Valve stem seal, I found the same in mine...

They are really cheap, but you will need to pull the head.

I think you can do a valve stem seal without pulling the head. :

JackFish":32wqwjqj said:

I think you can do a valve stem seal without pulling the head. :

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Not without loosing the valve down the hole...

RichCreations":2lyc32cu said:

JackFish":2lyc32cu said:

I think you can do a valve stem seal without pulling the head. :

Click to expand...

Not without loosing the valve down the hole...

Click to expand...

Yes you can change out the valve stem seals without pulling the head! I have done it many times on many engines without taking the head or heads off and without ever loosing a valve down the hole. There are several ways to keep that from happening. As for the seals X2 original seals were made of rubber, the hard plastic type didn't show up until the later 1970's or early 80's. As old as these engines are now the valve stem seals could have been replaced anywhere from 6 to 12 times. Good luck

Actually,there is a very easy way to change the seals without removing the head.First remove the plugs.Then,feed some nylon rope down the plug hole.Then GENTLY turn the engine over with a breaker bar until it snugs up with the rope up against the cylinder head.That will hold the valves in place so that you can remove the keepers and springs to replace the seals.
This is a VERY old method for doing this job.It has been around since the advent of OHV type engines.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

Hi, we used to change valve seals all the time with the head on the engine. I made an air hold out of a compression tester hose and put compressed air into the cylinder to hold the valves up. This air hold will also alert you to a bad valve or blowby into the crankcase. I have heard of stuffing rope into the spark plug hole but never did it that way. I still have my KD 2078 valve spring compressor to get the springs off and on. Now my buddy has a leakdown tester which can show you how how efficient each cylinder is by gauging how quickly the compressed air leaks out of the cylinder. The leakdown tester will also keep the valves in place.

Yeah, I've got one of those commercial spark plug hole adapters for a compressor.

I'd blow some air down the oil feed and drain holes while you have the rocker assy off to be sure a chunk isn't in the passage(s) while you're at it. And do a good hot oil change soon after the repair.

Hi, If you use your compression tester hose you probably have to remove the shcrader valve!

Where can i buy the valve stem seals are their any specific or better seals i can get?

Umbrella seals can be gotten on the cheap from RockAuto. Viton seals may require some machine work. I am going with viton but my head is off and i. the shop already. For random parts, I always start with the Rock then go from there...