i did a leak down test yesterday b/c my car died last week and won't start, so i did a leakdown test and it showed 90% leakage. The air was leaking out of the intake manifold so that means there is something wrong with the intake valves i think. I just rebuilt the head with new cams, stiffer valve springs, titanium retainers, and adjustable cam gears. i didn't get any new valves so can the springs not be able to open or close the stock valves? i pulled the head off last night and i took pictures and i will upload them later when i have time.

 

Sounds like you bent an intake valve pretty good. Did you screw w/ the cam gears any? What cams did you use?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LudeyKrus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sounds like you bent an intake valve pretty good. Did you screw w/ the cam gears any? What cams did you use?</TD></TR></TABLE>

i just pulled the valves and they aren't bent, but they also aren't seating all the way down...there is a miniscule gap. I have the skunk2 stage 2 cams with skunk2 valve springs, retainers, and cam gears. the cam gears were set at 0 deg. TDC and it ran like **** so i checked the timing and the exhaust cam slipped 1 tooth. my mechanic said that i need to get a valve job or get them overlapped.

i was thinking what if i get new valves from skunk2, will they drop right in and close the gap between the valve seat and the valve face? (standard size valves)

 

Well just because it looks like it's sitting straight, doesn't mean the valve isn't bent.

Did you adjust the valves? Like valve lash? If not, make sure they're within spec.

 

Are you positive that you were on TDC of the compression stroke for each cylinder in the test? Just checking because it is a common mistake.

 

it was at TDC for the #1 cylinder...we only did the #1 cylinder b/c there was 90% leakage so my mechanic just told me to pull the head off and check the valves. After i pulled it off, he said that the valve didn't seat right.

he also looked at the valves and they were not bent

 

LOOKING won't determine if they are bent, you need to measure them, with the proper tools.

 

well i dont have the proper tools, but i rolled them on the ground, set them next to a straight edge, and rolled the stem on the edge of the table and everytime it rolled perfectly, it didn't roll unevenly anywhere

 

If you checked the valve against a straight edge and it appeared fine, that should be adequate.

 

Did you put the valves back in the same position you took them out of (did you mix them up), if so youll have to "lap" them back yourself or take it somewhere and get a valve job done

Over time a valve will wear in to a valve seat and cannot be switched without proper machining or lapping.

 

when we put the valve springs and retainers on, we did them one at a time and never took the valve out. So i can't figure out why it would go bad after driving it around for a week before it lost all of its compression.