2003 Mazda Protege5 Valve stem seals

brenton561

Member
:
mazda protege 5
I need help in figuring out how to get to the valve stems. I have removed the valve cover but I am unsure in whether I need to remove belts and timing belt or just the rockers. any advice would be appreciated, btw I have my rope ready. I am hoping this will fix my issue; blue smoke on cold start up but goes away after warming up. If I drive it right away the smoke worsens while accelerating. I did notice a small amount of oil on the threads of the spark plugs but the tips where dry aswell as the walls of the spark plug hole. Compression test was 180-190-190-195 approximately.
 
If you haven't done anything with this yet I can give you the input from when I did it. Fair warning this sounds a lot like my issue that hasn't been resolved yet in fact you can look at my recent post to get a better description http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123843469-Startup-Oil-Consumption

Here's a guide to doing it:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...-1-8-(non-turbo)-valve-stem-seals-replacement

My additional input:
Don't use the Fel-Pro set, all the valve seals are the same size and I'm thinking that's why it didn't seem to work. Using the rope I would feed a lot in, and then crank the motor to bring the piston up and hold the rope tight to the valve. Just don't do that too hard because I ended up with a knot in the rope inside the cylinder at one point and spent an hour getting the rope back up with some combination of; torch, pliers, coat hanger, and a lubricant of some sort. If you don't bring the piston up there may be too much slack in the rope and you won't be able to get the keepers out, or worse drop the valve. I did remove belts and timing belt since the cams have to come out, but it also makes it easier turning the engine over. IMPORTANT: organize the cams, lifters and springs so they go back exactly where they came from, and follow the torque sequence for the cams. I also recommend cleaning the cam bearing surfaces with a rag that doesn't lint and giving them a little assembly lube. Same for the lifter surfaces.

This was not an easy job, and you need a very specific valve spring compressor to work with this engine. The clamp tool most auto parts places have is too wide to fit in the opening the lifter rests in, and other common tools require the head to be removed. I was once a mechanic and a long time hobbyist before that with help from a friend of mine who's a very accomplished mechanic and it still took probably 12 hours due to various issues and not having an appropriate valve spring compressor.

That being said I would spend the extra time making sure it's your issue before tackling it, I've read a lot of posts on this issue but there's very few resolutions posted including mine that hasn't been resolved yet. In the mean time I found turning the engine over a handful of times in clear flood mode before starting has significantly reduced my startup smoke. If you haven't heard of clear flood, you hold the gas pedal ALL THE WAY DOWN and crank the engine, this keeps the fuel and/or ignition system from engaging(not sure for this car but definitely fuel since there's no huge cloud of blue smoke when I do start it) so the engine won't start.

Good Luck! and please let me know if you did come up with a resolution.
 
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