4.8is Valve stem seal replacment

[masawyer]

Originally Posted by electricalserv x5

What year is your x5?

2004/04 production date.

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[masawyer]

Well the job is finished! All went well. I have a couple pictures. One before starting the job and one while starting on bank #2.


I started the job on a Tuesday and finished the following Sunday. I gave myself lots of time to do this job. A few of the days I put in a full 8 hrs working. All in all I would guess it took me about 30hrs to complete. That being said, I was very meticulous about it. Every nut and bolt accounted for, every connection labeled. Took time to fix a leaky power steering fluid rez. and a broken eccentric cam position sensor from whoever did the valve covers last. Cleaned the engine bay and all parts that were reinstalled.
On one particular day I was going to put in more than 8 hrs but almost made a FATAL error. I finished one cylinder and went to the next without setting the cylinder to TDC. Compressed the spring and started to remove the keepers. Luckily the tool slipped andi realized I didn't have compressed air in the cylinder. For anyone who doesn't know this would have resulted in the valve falling down into the cylinder. Meaning pulling the head off to retrieve...
So in hindsight some tips for anyone who is gonna tackle this themselves.
1. Give yourself plenty of time. Take breaks. Walk away when getting tired. Its actually a pretty simple procedure but a mistake like the one I almost made would have ruined the whole job.
2. Pack towels/rags around the engine bay while working. There is some pretty deep spots dropped tools or materials can end up.
3. I would remove all 4 rockers from the cylinder I was working on to keep most of the compressed air in the cylinder while working. I put the rockers in labeled sandwich bags because there is 3 different kinds. THEY HAVE TO GO BACK WHERE CAME FROM! (Thx AGA support for the heads up) Then after all 4 seals were replaced I would go back and install all 4 rockers. This was time consuming and might not have been required for every cylinder but it sure did keep those valves in place while working on them. (Had my air compressor set to 20-25 psi. I found it was enough to hold the valves and not turn the engine over.)
4. Cut the plastic sleeves used to install the seals on the valves only to the length needed. Some of the spots you gotta get to can be a real pain. Mostly on the intake valves trying to get under those eccentric cam levers.
5. Don't skimp out on a good magnet and needle nose pliers. These are going to be your best friends for a week. I had three different types of needle nose. I would end up using all three, sometimes all three on the same valve. Oh yeah have a mirror ready for intake valves on cylinders #4 & #8...
6. I added an extra o-ring to the valve keeper install tool.

When you finally get to the point of putting these guys back on you want them to snap in the right place and stay there. This can be the most frustrating part of the whole thing.
7. When you are complete, put the key in and turn to position 1 let the valve solenoids buzz and find their position. Then turn the key back off then on again to position 1. If they are done buzzing go ahead and start it up. Mine fired right up and ran like a dream.

I noticed it my 4.8 runs better while cold. (I assume the because of the broken sensor) and NO MORE SMOKE!

Thank you Tony's tool rental and all who have posted tips and vids on this back breaking job.


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[crystalworks]

Thank you kind sir. Bookmarked.

Now, go have a beer, or twelve.

[X5only]

Did you rent the AGA tool from Tony's tool rental? I know I would have to do this repair eventually, but currently the seal conditioner I'm using is working so far. Was at the US/Canadian border idling for over 20 minutes and no smoke when we drove off. In the past the car would give off an embarrassing huge plume of white smoke.

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by X5only

Did you rent the AGA tool from Tony's tool rental? I know I would have to do this repair eventually, but currently the seal conditioner I'm using is working so far. Was at the US/Canadian border idling for over 20 minutes and no smoke when we drove off. In the past the car would give off an embarrassing huge plume of white smoke.

What conditioner are you using? Lucas?

[jmitro]

I did this job in the summer, INCLUDING dropped exhaust valve inside a cylinder. I was fortunate enough to retrieve the valve without pulling the head.

In my opinion the AGA kit makes this job even more difficult than pulling the cams. I tried to do it with the cams in place; it was very very difficult to get the seals replaced and the keepers on with the cams in place.

I now have 8000 miles on mine; runs perfect. No smokescreen

[X5only]

Originally Posted by jmitro

I did this job in the summer, INCLUDING dropped exhaust valve inside a cylinder. I was fortunate enough to retrieve the valve without pulling the head.

In my opinion the AGA kit makes this job even more difficult than pulling the cams. I tried to do it with the cams in place; it was very very difficult to get the seals replaced and the keepers on with the cams in place.

I now have 8000 miles on mine; runs perfect. No smokescreen

Interesting- all I ever hear is AGA kit is the way to go. Do you have any sort of DIY for your technique involving pulling the cams?

[X5only]

Originally Posted by crystalworks

What conditioner are you using? Lucas?

ATP AT-205 Re-Seal Stops Leaks, 8 Ounce Bottle
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NVW1LM/...l_5x1n0zh334_p

See this post:
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...erm-fix-2.html

[jmitro]

Originally Posted by X5only

Interesting- all I ever hear is AGA kit is the way to go. Do you have any sort of DIY for your technique involving pulling the cams?

It seems people are very intimidated about pulling the camshafts. it's not difficult - just requires some attention to detail (correct orientation and timing), and loosening the cam bridge nuts very slowly so you don't crack a camshaft. It IS necessary to correctly time the cams, so I rented the camshaft timing kit from bimmertoolrental.com.

I basically set the engine to TDC for cylinder 1, removed the accessory cams (they come out as one unit) and systematically worked from one cylinder to the next. I still used compressed air to keep the cylinders closed, and used the AGA toolkit to compress the valve springs, remove the keepers, replace the seals, and reinstall the keepers.

I used the Bentley manual and a few online videos to help me through it.

[masawyer]

Originally Posted by X5only

Did you rent the AGA tool from Tony's tool rental? I know I would have to do this repair eventually, but currently the seal conditioner I'm using is working so far. Was at the US/Canadian border idling for over 20 minutes and no smoke when we drove off. In the past the car would give off an embarrassing huge plume of white smoke.

Yup I sure did rent from Tony. He has a great service. I would highly recommend.
I also talked no my local indy and he pointed me towards an oil additive called Ceratec. I figured if its burning oil I should probably fix the actual problem rather than mask it with an additive.
What a coincidence, it was at the border when I first noticed the smokescreen as well.

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