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Planning to replace the valve stem seals on my N14 (R55 Clubman S) without removing cylinder head.
Seen some pretty expensive specialized tools to do this job (valve spring removal).
Stumbled on this tool this morning and wondering if any of you have experience using it for this job. Its universal and claims to work on many Audis, BMWs, VW, and Mini.
Not sure either of those will work. I used this one. Worked great. You are stuck taking the cams out since the rockers are UNDER the cams. Also, do NOT mix the cam caps. I believe they are line bored. Also make sure you get the right stem seals. Some suppliers don't know the difference between the W11 and N14 engines. You will also need the timing tool set if you don't have one already. Timing chain, guides, and main seal might as well be done since you are tearing into it anyway.
Sure. Here is a link to an ebay ad for a similar set. You can tell how it is assembled in the picture. The bar goes between the two brackets (which lightly screw into the head/valve cover screw holes) at whatever level you need to provide the correct leverage to compress the springs. Be absolutely sure you cover EVERY open hole and put a white-ish sheet over the engine bay when you are doing this as the keepers have a tendency to fly away. And a telescoping magnet is another essential tool. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Auto-Engine...YAAOSwHp5bWDIs
Oh and use the "stuff a rope into the cylinder" method to keep the valves up. The compressed air method may work but only if you have a continuous air supply. It took me a couple of days to do the whole job so keeping the compressor on the whole time wasn't an option for me.
Sure. Here is a link to an ebay ad for a similar set. You can tell how it is assembled in the picture. The bar goes between the two brackets (which lightly screw into the head/valve cover screw holes) at whatever level you need to provide the correct leverage to compress the springs. Be absolutely sure you cover EVERY open hole and put a white-ish sheet over the engine bay when you are doing this as the keepers have a tendency to fly away. And a telescoping magnet is another essential tool. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Auto-Engine...YAAOSwHp5bWDIs
Thanks! Wow the price is right. I’d be skeptical except that you said it worked in your mini. You did a N14 turbo engine? Is there a way to determine visually if getting the right seals?
Yup. N14. There are cheaper sets on ebay but I liked the picture of that one because it showed the tool assembled.
Here is a picture showing the two different seals. The smaller is the old seal from my N14, larger for the W11. Unfortunately I found out the difference when I went to install the wrong ones, hence why it took a few days.
To double check, the one on the right with blue top is incorrect.
Thanks for your help! I’m just doing stem seals since my timing chain isn’t very old. How long do you think this job will take?
besides compressor tool I need the timing lockout tool set and a bleed down adapter to use compressed air on valves, any other special tools?
To double check, the one on the right with blue top is incorrect. Thanks for your help! I’m just doing stem seals since my timing chain isn’t very old. How long do you think this job will take? besides compressor tool I need the timing lockout tool set and a bleed down adapter to use compressed air on valves, any other special tools?
Correct, the big blue topped ones are incorrect. Time is dependent on operator skill and patience. But mostly luck. If you have the tools, don't get the wrong parts and don't lose any of the right parts you should be able to do it in a day/weekend. In addition to the aforementioned sheets and hole plugging towels/rags/magnetic tool, some other tools you will need are a set of E Torx sockets (VANOS and cam sprocket bolts), torque wrench (everything), (4) chop sticks of equal length (finding correct crank position for timing), 18 mm socket (rotating the crank to get the crank lined up). And a 26 mm wrench (IIRC) to rotate the cams to their correct position prior to the cam tool. I would have included a small diameter nylon rope about 10' long but you seem to want to try the compressed air method. Make sure you get a really deep spark plug adapter for your compressed air line as the Mini's head doesn't have any room around the spark plugs to try to fish anything out that might get stuck in the head. And also make sure you have new bolts for the VANOS and cam sprocket as the old ones will probably snap if you try to use them again since they are torque to yield.
Last edited by mildensteve; Sep 6, 2020 at 07:16 AM.
Reason: spelling
I thought I would chime in on the topic since I just yesterday finished up this job on my N14. I did use the Schwaben valve spring compressor from ECS tuning shown in post #1, but it needed to be modified extensively to work on the Mini.
What I did was build a frame that bolted to the valve cover mounting bolts. For the cross piece, I used a piece of aluminum T-slot rail which allowed me to slide the pivot bracket in front of each valve with minimal setup time. After seeing what mildensteve successfully used, his setup is much simpler and cheaper and I probably would have gone that way had I known it would work. One significant benefit of the setup I used is that I made a clamp that held the valve spring in the compressed position hands-free which allows two free hands to remove/install the valve spring keepers. I don't know if the ebay kit has that feature.
Here's a pic of the frame I built.
Videos of the compressor in action are attached.
My old seals were in terrible condition.
The one on the left is the OE seal with 126k miles on it. The orange one on the right is the new Fel-Pro seal.
I agree with all of mildensteve's advice. The only suggestion I would add is maybe start with cylinders 2 and 3 first, then move on to 1 and 4. Reason being there is VERY little working room on the outermost valves on cyls 1 and 4. Cyls 2 and 3 allow a little more working space to get the hang of things.
Thanks, very creative. Parts and tools on the way, hopefully smoke free by this time next week
i noticed both of you using rope to hold up valves rather than compressed air. Am I missing something? Is using compressed air a bad idea?
Not a bad idea. Some prefer it. It just takes more tools and rope is cheap. And I don't like relying on compressed air to keep the valves up. Ask yourself... what happens if the electricity goes out?
Just to confirm. as my timing chain is pretty new I’m not changing it, I just out a new valve cover and seals on so the only parts I need are the exhaust sprocket bolt, intake sprocket bolt, and of course valve stem seals?
I did mine a few hundred miles after I did the timing chain so you don't have to replace them if recently done. Maybe oil and filter change?
Mine looked very similar. It is amazing they didn't burn more oil than they did. New seals worked very well. I could leave a stoplight without leaving a cloud.
One tool I forgot to mention which is very handy. A plastic soda straw. Cut the end of it at a slight angle. Slip it over the valve stem itself and slide the seal over the straw then stem. It will make your life easier.
When’re ovine the camshafts did you have access to a special tool like this?
Did you need to replace these sealing rings?
I did not. Nor did I replace the VANOS sealing rings since they looked fine. Looking back at my (very few, like two) pictures when I had the cams out I now can't remember if I did this one with the timing chain out or not because I can't see the chain anywhere. I was working/learning on three R56 at the same time so may have gotten the sequence confused. Regardless, didn't have the special tool. The cam locking tool from the timing kit holds the cam position while removing the VANOS and sprocket. Slowly unload the rotational "tension" using the 26 mm (IIRC) wrench so you can remove the cam locking tools. Then remove the cam caps.
Oh, and just thought of something... since you are using the air pressure method be sure you have the flywheel locked otherwise you will spin the crank
Trying to understand what that special tool does. Takes spring pressure off cam while removing caps? To avoid uneven pressure on them maybe leading to damage? Did you loosen the caps a little at a time? Or just take each one off in line?
Trying to understand what that special tool does. Takes spring pressure off cam while removing caps? To avoid uneven pressure on them maybe leading to damage? Did you loosen the caps a little at a time? Or just take each one off in line?
No idea what the special tool does, maybe someone with better knowledge can chime in. Yes, loosen a little at a time AFTER releasing the rotational tension. At least that is how I did it.
Looking closer at the picture of the special tool I think you are right about it holding the cam down while removing the caps. They don't mention stepped loosening of the cap bolts or release of the rotational pressure.
