Found Rubber debri under valve covers!!

[1971ford]

So i just got my 360 to put in the '69 for 5 months. Until i put the 390 in.
I took the valve covers off and found a ton of little shards.
The material is a hard rubber or plastic, and is semi-flexible. I can flex it a a bit then it breaks in two.
The pieces all have a circular shape to them, and the circles seem they would be about an inch in diameter. THere must be a ton of these circles...
Also the material was found all along the inside of the valve cover, and a lot of it is shoved into the holes on the sides of the heads (oil holes?? If so, 2 of the 3 holes were blocked from this debri). Also this was found equally in under both valve covers.

See if you can identify what the debri is from, how bad it is and how i should go about getting the rest out of the holes.
I can't think of a single rubber/plastic thing anywhere inside an engine, let alone a ton of little circular rubber things. and being that this stuff was in the valve cover i am not toooo worried. The engine runs great, and this is the only bad thing i have found so far.

[fordman]

those are the valve seals. that motor will produce smoke when it runs if those arent replaced.

[TNIceWolf]

Yep....valve stem seals. Almost guaranteed that you have at least partially blocked oil drains into the valley of the block.

[BobbyFord]

Those pieces will eventually find their way into the oil pump where the end result will be a two-piece, twisted oil pump driveshaft.

[OldRedFord]

I also agree with them being valve stem seals.

[Redcap]

+1 on the valve seals.

[1971ford]

soooo what the heck do i do
I'm not even sure what a valve seal is. Are they under the springs? How do i replace them, would Napa have these? How should i clean the block of the debri without dissembling the whole thing?

[knightfire83]

1 vote for the valve stem seals. Time consuming, but inexspensive to replace.

16 of them originally looked like this:

[1971ford]

Thanks those don't look expensive. How do i replace them? pull the rocker assembly, and the springs, is that it? How do i get those things on?
I need to know how to do this
And how to get the old ones out of my block without disassembling the whole thing.

[DuckRyder]

Maybe it is just the pictures, but that spring doesn't look right to me...

Changing the umbrella seals is much like changing valve springs for a cam. They just slide over the top of the valve after removing the spring.

[FordTruck]

I've been putting off changing valve seals in my 70 for quite some time but I think theres a tool that you thread into the spark plug hole and it uses compressed air to hold the valve open while you change the seals.

[eggman918]

Maybe it is just the pictures, but that spring doesn't look right to me...

Changing the umbrella seals is much like changing valve springs for a cam. They just slide over the top of the valve after removing the spring.

I think that He want's to replace them without disassembling , but i way be wrong

[knightfire83]

They are under the valve springs.

To replace them you will have to use compressed air to pressurize the cylinder and remove the springs with something like this

Or remove the heads and use a regular spring compressor to get to the seals.

To clean the broken up seals I would remove the intake, valley pan, and oil pan then pressure wash everything. Use small brushes to clean out the oil return holes in the heads and in the intake valley.

Replacing the oil pump intake screen would be a good idea also.

[fuzzier1]

Hey 1971ford, talk to Robroy, he might have some ideas. I agree, valve seals. If they came apart that bad there maybe more problems with that engine than you know.

Fuzz

[70_F100]

I agree, valve seals. If they came apart that bad there maybe more problems with that engine than you know.

Fuzz

This is not an unusual issue.

The seals get old, they get hard, they crumble.

I've seen it literally hundreds of times. The rubber compounds used years ago did not have the same properties as what they are using today. Those compounds got brittle because of the constant heat and cool cycles of the engine. Eventually, they start to break apart, and it results in exactly the problem here.

I would just replace the seals, clean what you can off the heads, and blow compressed air through the drainback holes in the head. You could also wash down the heads with brake cleaner, if you want (probably a good idea). Then, pull the pan and clean out any debris there. While you've got the pan off, go ahead and replace the oil pump and clean the pickup screen well. Put it all back together, change the filter and fill it with oil. Drive it a couple hundred miles and change the oil again.