My '90 GS with 113k burns blue smoke on startups. Sometimes its worse than other time, given the same amount of rest time. I don’t have the money to bring it into a shop, so I was wondering what was involved in replacing valve stem seals and piston rings.
do a compression check. do you burn oil when your on it and shift? if so it the valve seals.
Re: Valve Stem Seals or Piston Rings?
Originally posted by 90blackGS
I was wondering what was involved in replacing valve stem seals
Well, to replace valve stem seals you need to take your rims off and deflate your tires. Then you need to break the bead on the tire and pull out the old valve stem and put a new one in, it’s not wise to reuse an old valve stem. They’re about $1 a piece. Hardest part of the process is breaking the tire bead though, requires either alot of muscle or a special machine. HTH
That’s not what I am talking about. I mean the valve stem seals inside the engine. Anyone have any suggestions or advice for this job?
Your car will burn upon deceleration, and in the morning.
OK, yes it smokes oil in the morning but I can’t tell if it smokes on deceleration. I’m still not sure wheter its the valve stem seals or piston rings. I think I would be able to replace the valve stem seals but not the piston rings. I need to know if its the piston rings because if I fix those and that’s not the problem, there goes my life savings. Any advice on these tasks is appreciated.
Originally posted by 90blackGS
That’s not what I am talking about. I mean the valve stem seals inside the engine. Anyone have any suggestions or advice for this job?
A valve stem is made of rubber, there are no rubber components inside the engine. Maybe you mean valve seats??
blue smoke = piston rings
dammit I need new rings / valve stem seals 
Originally posted by LeftCorner
A valve stem is made of rubber, there are no rubber components inside the engine. Maybe you mean valve seats??
Sorry Leftcorner but you are wrong. there are such things as valve stem seals.
i had to replace my valve stem seals a couple months ago, my car doesn’t burn any oil no more. BTW with your low milege, your rings should be fine!!!
1.8DOHC - how much did it cost you to replace valve stem seals?
The seals were 45 bucks CDN and i did the install myself. It wasn’t hard, just really time consuming!!! the book rate is 3.5 hours,but it took me about 7!
Originally posted by BuddhaSiR
Sorry Leftcorner but you are wrong. there are such things as valve stem seals.
No need to be sorry, I guess I’ve just been mislead this whole time by the Acura Master Tech. who’s been training me for the last 5 months. Oh well.:roll:
Well my car only has 113K but its a '90 so that means about 12 years old. I hope that its just the valve stem seals so that I can do that myself. I heard horror stories of how much piston ring jobs can be. Where is the best place to get valve stems seals? Autozone special order? They say $25 for a set.
if the smoke is blue, it’s your rings… my last motor did that and it went bye bye shortly after noticing the blue smoke.
don’t even waste $ and time on replacing your valve stem seals, your going to have to rebuild or just do a motor swap which I’m thinking about.
you have blue smoke cause you are burning oil. could be rings or valve guide seals…if it does it on start up, most likely valve guide seals.does it go away a little after start up when your car warms up?also usually a valve related problem. If it does it all the time especially under acceleration usually rings… Hope this helps, cars are funny there is hardly ever a sure fire answer until you pull it apart and check it, but 12 years old probobly just old valve guide seals.
Also check your PCV valve. That can also cause oil burning. Route your PCV valve into a open container, ie a plastic bottle. If crap builds up in there, then you’re gettin oil going into your engine on blowby. Then you will have to replace your PCV.