Quote:
Originally Posted by SlickGT1
Wait. What is the bungee chord technique?
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Air pressure is used to keep the valves up preventing them from dropping into the cylinder when changing the valve stem seals. Well, many DIY folks don't have an air-compressor or have a sissy one (like myself), mainly because of home situations - space and noise restrictions. Further, valve stem seals job for the DIY'er comes with particular pressure to rush through the job for fear of losing air or power while carrying out the procedure and therefore resulting in dropping of the valve stem into the cylinder - a night-mare that can take aggravating days to retrieve.
So some creative mechanics came up with this bungee cord trick. It's a very old trick actually - your grandpa or your old uncle may know about it
. You feed the bungee cord into the cylinder you're working on (through the spark plug hole), turn the crankshaft by hand to raise the piston up, compressing the bungee cord against the top of the cylinder. This keeps the valves held up so you can remove the keepers for seal replacement. The combustion chamber will be filled with bungee cord, as opposed to air pressure and its attendant risks (leaks, loose of power, faulty compressor, upset neighbors and family, etc.
) In this way bungee cord offers reassurance that the valve won’t drop – the valves are fully supported with no chance to drop down. As a DIY'er, you can take your time to do this project and stopping half way through a task, working on weekends or after your day job
