Can you change oil valve stem seals without taking off the head of a 1998 vauxhall astra 1.4 16v?

it is smoking a blue smoke i have changed the head gasket the inlet gasket new plugs changed oil and oil filter new timing belt the piston and rings are sound its not using water the oil is not creamy but it is using a bit of oil and it isnt lossing any power the head or block is not cracked so i think it must be the stem seals and i cant not face taking the head of again but i might have to anyone any other ideas what might be causing the smoke oh i had it on the computer as well and nothing came upCan you change oil valve stem seals without taking off the head of a 1998 vauxhall astra 1.4 16v?
Yes it can be done with the head in situ. To check that it is the valve stem oil seals do the following. Drive the car fairly quickly, take your foot off the accelerator for a few seconds, then while looking in the rear view mirror put the acc. hard to the floor, if you see BLUE smoke coming from your exhaust it is the valve stem oil seals. You will need 2 special tools, 1 to screw in where the spark plug goes, to hold the valve up %26amp; 1 to compress the spring. I have done this procedure many times mainly on Fords. Good LuckCan you change oil valve stem seals without taking off the head of a 1998 vauxhall astra 1.4 16v?
No don't think so unless they've invented a tool for compressing the valve springs whilst holding the valve up at the same time
blue smoke at start up is an sign of valve guide and seals.sorry but thats it smoke on acceration is rings good luck.
There is a few on here that say yes and they are correct,TDC or string,both effective if you have the special tools to hold the cam etc.HOW ever,being out of the trade a while,my concern is that so many Astra/Cavallier were subject to this kind of thing with the breather system blocked.The culprit usually was the gauze filter inside the cam cover,held down by two 10mm bolts.These can be spread and cleaned but renewall is cheap.Check and clean the other pipes,and if one single small bore pipe goes to the intake or carb,this hole often blocks also Pistons create as much pressure going down the bore as up so it is important to release this pressure Good Luck
It is possible to change the valve seals with the head in place, you need to remove the spark plugs. Feed a length of natural fibre string into the cylinder. Turn the crank by hand until the piston pushes hard against the string.


Then its possible to remove the collets from the valves to remove the springs and valve steam seals.


Ja.
Yes you can i have done it many times first bring piston on the valves you mean to work on to tdc , then use a press down valve compressor remove cotters and valve springs and change seals , do each one the same way, but always make sure piston is a tdc or the valves will drop down untill it hits the piston
there was a tool for the ford cvh engines to do what you want but not for the the vauxhall...off with the head..bet you wish you did last time you removed the head eh?..
A useful way to confirm if it's the stem seals and not a piston/ring/gasket....





Firstly, if there is always black/blue smoke from the exhaust then it's likely to be something more serious. If it's intermittant though...





find a nice quiet road and preferably a friend to look out the back of your car. drive the car in say second gear, up to relatively high rpm, let off the gas and let the engine slow you down - this builds up a high vacuum in the engine and will pull oil past cracked or perished seals into the combustion chamber, then really put you foot down, if there's a big cloud of BLUE smoke behind you it's the seals.





HTH
hey mate you can take off the cam without disturbing the housing if you acquire a special tool. its a (vauxhall/opel No: 603 850 or equivalent) its available to depress the cam followers then the cam can be withdrawn. i used it to change seals in my 95 corsa 1.4 sri cant see why it wouldnt work.