replacing valve seals need some insight

[marek4792]

so on my cm870 i have removed my turbo and exhaust manifold after noticing a mysterious puddle of oil on a frame rail heat shield below the turbo took a peek inside and noticed the roof of the exhaust ports in the head has fresh oil on the top of them. My question though that being it is a remanufactured head would i be wasting time&money on putting in new seals just to have it happen again in short order?

[Hammerhead]

(11-23-2016 )marek4792 Wrote:  so on my cm870 i have removed my turbo and exhaust manifold after noticing a mysterious puddle of oil on a frame rail heat shield below the turbo took a peek inside and noticed the roof of the exhaust ports in the head has fresh oil on the top of them. My question though that being it is a remanufactured head would i be wasting time&money on putting in new seals just to have it happen again in short order?

The new style v/g seals will probably outlast the head.
Depends on how many miles/hours on your reman head and how long you plan or figure it will run.
My rule of thumb would be more than a year, do it. Less than, it's probably a waste of time unles you have not removed and don't intend to remove the mandate and don't want to destroy your DOC & DPF, then I'd do it ASAP.

[marek4792]

No dpf on a cm870 lol but yeah it has around 150k on an inframe and probably didn't help the engine had a silent derate until I took care of that problem about 50k ago I'm also replacing the turbo as well.

[Hammerhead]

(11-24-2016 )marek4792 Wrote:  No dpf on a cm870 lol but yeah it has around 150k on an inframe and probably didn't help the engine had a silent derate until I took care of that problem about 50k ago I'm also replacing the turbo as well.

I'd do them

[Rawze]

Is it a cummins certified re-man? or did a local shop re-man the head?

Also, if it is cummins certified re-man, it will have the part number with RX in it, and date the head was manufactured. I would verify this info too.

It is not normal for valve guides to fail so soon.

[marek4792]

It is a cummins reman, do you think a combination of issues could have prematurely wore them out like bad injectors and actuators thin oil 10w30 (i run 15w40 with 1 gal 80w90) and on a silent derate which I got fixed?

[Rawze]

(11-25-2016 )marek4792 Wrote:  It is a cummins reman, do you think a combination of issues could have prematurely wore them out like bad injectors and actuators thin oil 10w30 (i run 15w40 with 1 gal 80w90) and on a silent derate which I got fixed?

not likely. Not in that timespan.

[marek4792]

That's what I figured I mean short of replacing the head do you think I could get away with installing new seals assuming the seals could be possibly not seated properly during the remaning process?

[Hammerhead]

If your head was remanned using the bad v/g seals then the upgraded v/g seals "should" outlast the head. I say should because this is an updated design that hasn't actually been in use long enough to guarantee that they are the answer, but they appear to be. (I hope so too, because I plan to install them shortly!)

If you have the tool, then we are really discussing a ~$110 kit to do the job, plus your time. If you don't have the tool, then it's up to you if you wanna purchase it or farm the job out. I don't have a Mr Hagg, Rawze, or Gearhead next door so I bought the tool.

v/g seals rarely wear out before valve guides or heads do. If they leak before the hard parts wear out, it's usually a design or installation failure.