Replacing Valve Seals?

[JakeBloom]

How difficult is it to replace valve seals? My Warrior likes to smoke a bit on startup sometimes, usually when it's cold outside, although the first time it ever did it last summer, it smoked a TON on startup and a couple times after that. But now that it's cold outside, it seems to be a fairly consistent thing this winter for it to blow smoke for a while after cold starting, especially with the choke on (if that makes a difference). Sometimes the smoke will just stop once I turn the choke off (significant?). Anyways, it's tinted blue smoke (unless my eyes are deceiving me) and smells bad, so it's obviously burning oil. After researching, it seems like the culprit of the problem is valve seals that need replacing. So that's why I was curious how difficult it is to replace 'em, my dad doesn't have much knowledge of tearing down engines and I certainly don't (yet), so he's not too sure of how much he can help me. I would assume replacing the valve seals to be a fairly easy job compared to some other engine work, but I still don't know how difficult it would be for someone who doesn't have experience with stuff like this.

Thanks.


Edit: Smoke goes away after warming up. Don't think I mentioned that.

 

['00 WO-YA!]

You'll have to take the head off man. Get yourself one of the tusk valvespring compressors and that will make it easier, just tap the retainer lightly with a hammer to free the locks. It's a very good time for a good topend overhaul.

 

[JakeBloom]

You'll have to take the head off man. Get yourself one of the tusk valvespring compressors and that will make it easier, just tap the retainer lightly with a hammer to free the locks. It's a very good time for a good topend overhaul.

What would I be replacing if I overhauled the top end?

 

[alex456123]

What would I be replacing if I overhauled the top end?

whoops Alex didn't read that right, just realized it when I got on the computer. But yeah you would be replacing anything that needs to be replaced like he said \/

 

[lbjamm]

What would I be replacing if I overhauled the top end?

Whatever needs replaced.

 

[JakeBloom]

Hmm. Is it necessary to do a whole overhaul right now? Or can I squeak by with valve seal replacement? I just don't want to burn oil anymore.

 

[alex456123]

replace everything that NEEDS to be replaced. so whatever ya think is necessary.

 

[JakeBloom]

replace everything that NEEDS to be replaced. so whatever ya think is necessary.

At this point I'm confident with only replacing valve seals, and if something is wrong after that, I can look into it. I just wanna see how difficult it is to replace these things.

 

[alex456123]

yeah its not bad to replace em.

 

[tattoocozzi420]

my 93 warrior does the same thing man but she keeps going going & going dont give up on her

 

[JakeBloom]

my 93 warrior does the same thing man but she keeps going going & going dont give up on her

I haven't given up on mine lol, everything is a-ok after warmup, I just don't want to be burning oil anymore, considering I checked the oil yesterday and it was lowww.

 

['00 WO-YA!]

Sorry it had taken me so long to get back Jake. Basically what I meant was that out would be a great time to add a nice cam, new springs, piston/rings. No you don't have to, you could just replace your seals but if you have it apart it's a very convenient time to so those things and you'd love the extra power, out really brings the bike alive.

 

[JakeBloom]

Sorry it had taken me so long to get back Jake. Basically what I meant was that out would be a great time to add a nice cam, new springs, piston/rings. No you don't have to, you could just replace your seals but if you have it apart it's a very convenient time to so those things and you'd love the extra power, out really brings the bike alive.

Yeah I gotcha. Trust me, if I wasn't saving my money, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But for now, I gotta put quad mods on the back burner kinda, so I have more money to spend on a nice/decent first car. Saving money sucks in a way, but it's a good skill to have. I've always been really good at saving my money and I don't want to quit now! But yeah, I'll definitely be interested in those mods once I have money I can freely spend lol.

 

[mikesatvgraveyard]

valve seals and addl work

Find yourself a local small eng repairshop that does machine work. Remove the head and take them the head and valve seals from your yamaha dealer. My shop charges 36.00 for seating the valves, installing the seals. Basically rebuilding the head. Then all you have to do is get a top end gasket set and reassemble. Good luck

 

[JakeBloom]

Alright so I'm gonna revive my own thread here- I talked to my dad about replacing the valve seals ourselves, and not only did he say we could do that, but he also asked me about what else we could replace while we have the top end disassembled. So I immediately came to you guys for suggestions.

What are some good things to replace/upgrade on the top end of a Warrior that's over 20 years old? I know '00 was talking about installing a new cam and the like, which I might do, but to be honest the quad is plenty fast for me as it is, it's my first quad so it's still pretty damn quick for me. I was thinking some cheaper modifications such as new OEM parts to replace the old ones.

For example- I've seen some people talk about heavy duty valve springs and adjusting the valve clearance to quiet down the valve chatter?
Also, do I need to replace the valves while I'm replacing the seals, or only if they're out of spec?
And should I get some new piston rings?


Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated, you're my go-to guys.


EDIT: What about a Wiseco Piston and Gasket top end rebuild kit? Would that work pretty well for my situation or no? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-Warr...Parts_Accessories&hash=item2ec245ee29&vxp=mtr

 

[1998yamahawarrior]

I have no experience with Namura, but if its never had anything done to it you'll probably have to go atleast .020. But you'll wanna tear it down and have the cylinder measured first to do any piston kit if you want to go the bear minimum that you have to.

 

[lbjamm]

You need to tear it down first, then mic everything, and then replace whatever is out of spec.

 

[JakeBloom]

I have no experience with Namura, but if its never had anything done to it you'll probably have to go atleast .020. But you'll wanna tear it down and have the cylinder measured first to do any piston kit if you want to go the bear minimum that you have to.

Alright so you're saying that I need have my cylinder bored over before getting a new piston because it's probably out of spec as it is?

 

[lbjamm]

The cylinder and the piston need to match, but you don't know how big to go until you mic the cylinder to see how much it will need to clean it up.

 

[1998yamahawarrior]

First you'll need to have it measured when you get it apart. Then you order the piston kit and then you take it all back to the machine shop. They will bore and hone to the proper cylinder to piston clearance.