Valve spring retainers
#1
Honda-Tech Member
Thread Starter
Valve spring retainers
Hi Honda-tech, Well i over revved my d16y8 and it dropped an intake valve, well i got the new guide installed today, was getting ready to install the new valve and i noticed 2 or 3 other valves had a higher than normal spring height, looks like the keepers starting to sink into the retainer, i assume thats what happened the the valve that dropped first and im just wondering if anybody thats fimiliar with this problem can tell me if I ruined my retainer set or can i put new keepers in? Or what else should I do before reassembly?
#2
Honda-Tech Member
Thread Starter
Re: Valve spring retainers
Well it was the retainers, i threw stock ones in there now and hopefully itll be good. I thought titanium retainers was an upgrade but after not even 3,000 miles and seeing 8,500 rpm limiter not very often at all my keepers were sinking into the retainers, some of them were so hard to break loose i needed a cheater bar on the spring compressor
#3
Re: Valve spring retainers
What brand titanium retainers? If you bought them off ebay, very likely a knock off and not the real deal.
If you bought them from Supertech then there is a definite problem there.
I am skeptical you bought a reputable retainer set from a reputable supplier.
If you bought them from Supertech then there is a definite problem there.
I am skeptical you bought a reputable retainer set from a reputable supplier.
#4
Honda-Tech Member
Thread Starter
Re: Valve spring retainers
Well I actually bought the head complete, freshly cleaned, shaved, port n polished and assembled, with the fully built internals, So i have no way of knowing if they were legit parts, they do have the Brian Crower logo and part number on each one tho..
#5
Honda-Tech Member
Re: Valve spring retainers
Thats pretty wild. Ive never seen that before. Id try and verify the retainers are indeed for the correct engine. Ive only seen stock retainers fail and they split in half. Titanium retainers shouldnt "sink" like that and to be honest, I dont really see how its possible unless the metallurgy is wrong. Im thinking theyre the wrong retainers. Try and find out what the installed height is supposed to be for the springs and your exact engine and compare it...Maybe contact the retainer company and see if they have any input..
#6
Honda-Tech Member
Re: Valve spring retainers
a lot of people are unaware that titanium retainers actually wear, at a much much faster rate than steel retainers. they do have a limited service life before needing replacement. steel retainers however, whether stock or aftermarket, seem to last forever
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#8
Honda-Tech Member
Thread Starter
Re: Valve spring retainers
Thats pretty wild. Ive never seen that before. Id try and verify the retainers are indeed for the correct engine. Ive only seen stock retainers fail and they split in half. Titanium retainers shouldnt "sink" like that and to be honest, I dont really see how its possible unless the metallurgy is wrong. Im thinking theyre the wrong retainers. Try and find out what the installed height is supposed to be for the springs and your exact engine and compare it...Maybe contact the retainer company and see if they have any input..
Yeahh i remember hearing about how quickly they can wear out, i still wouldnt expect it to be so soon really. I dailied it for a few months, drove a lot for break in purposes but really 2500 miles probably at most, barely beat on it, didnt even have time to boost it and do what i wanted with the motor. I guess Ti retainers are for trailered racecars lol
#9
Honda-Tech Member
Re: Valve spring retainers
but yes, I do believe titanium retainers are for trailered racecars. I simply don't trust them in street cars for the average person. for the exact reason originally posted here. of course people do it all the time, and it does work fairly often; to me the pros to using them are very very minimal for anything on street tires, and definitely don't outweigh the cons/risk
#10
Honda-Tech Member
Re: Valve spring retainers
Dang, that is really low miles! I have used Portflow Ti retainers in my last build and they probably had 30-40k miles on them before I tore down the head for inspection. Didn't see any wear anywhere so I put them back in and ran them for probably another 10k miles before pulling the engine to go bigger...Ill probably end up replacing them this go around... Just to be safe...
#11
Honda-Tech Member
Re: Valve spring retainers
I found this piece on another forum i read...
"Pop the retainers off of the springs and flip them over to see if any of the springs are chewing away at the retainers on the steps . Also check for burs at the bottom of the taper where the locks seat into the retainer ( signs of trying to pull through ) . Another thing to do is hold the retainer upside down , take a caliper and measure the I.D. at the bottom of the taper , these are made on a CNC machine and should be pretty close to damn nuts on from piece to piece , any variation is another sign of pulling through".
"Pop the retainers off of the springs and flip them over to see if any of the springs are chewing away at the retainers on the steps . Also check for burs at the bottom of the taper where the locks seat into the retainer ( signs of trying to pull through ) . Another thing to do is hold the retainer upside down , take a caliper and measure the I.D. at the bottom of the taper , these are made on a CNC machine and should be pretty close to damn nuts on from piece to piece , any variation is another sign of pulling through".
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