Hey there,

Last week, I had the old valve stem seals on my '94 K1100 RS removed at a shop (I could not get them off myself with the universal Chinese valve seal removal pliers I bought).

Today, I installed the new seals by carefully hammering them on with a socket that fit nicely over the seals. I did not have the stems installed while doing this. I hammered softly and stopped when it bottomed out; the sound and hammer feedback changed, telling me the metal part of the seal reached the metal part of the stem guide.

Now, what worries me is that the circular springs around the top of the seals are quite exposed for all but one of the seals. In fact two of them came off by accident and I had to put them back on. Below are pictures of the seals in question. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the old seals to see whether this is normal or whether the springs should not be directly visible from above.

Can you possible hammer the seals on too far, causing the stem guide to push out part of the seal rubber, and hence the spring?

The one on the left is the only one with the spring not being visible:




Here the springs are all exposed:




Any experiences to share in the forum?

Thanks!
Jonas

Valve stem seal installation is done with the valves installed and the seals oiled. The valve stems act to align the seals during installation when the seals are pressed or tapped into position. You'll need to replace all the damaged seals and should inspect the valve guides for damage, too.

Thanks for that information. I will replace them again then, with the stems installed. This time I will try to press the seals in using the valve spring compressor, rather than tapping them in.

Do I have to be careful with the pressing or is there going to be a clear stopping point?

Any recommendation on tools to get the seals out again? I'd rather do it myself if possible.

jns wrote:I could not get them off myself with the universal Chinese valve seal removal pliers I bought).

Please post some photos of this would-be labor-saving device and anything else that came with it.

Here it is. The pliers are just narrow enough to get around the seals but slip when trying to pull them out. Pulling like this is also rather difficult. A slide hammer type tool would work much better for sure. Couldn't find one yet though.

jns wrote:The pliers are just narrow enough to get around the seals but slip when trying to pull them out. Pulling like this is also rather difficult. A slide hammer type tool would work much better for sure. 

Don't even think about using a slide hammer in this application. The tool in your photo has been used by countless individuals to successfully remove valve stem seals. You need to examine your technique. You might have been gripping the valve guide, too. When the seal is successfully gripped, sometimes you need to rotate it back and forth a little before attempting to extract it. The seals in an engine that has been idle for years will be stubborn but persistence will overcome resistance. Keep in mind that during installation, the seal should be protected when pressed over the collet grooves in the stem. A BMW kit has removable plastic tubes to place over those but a wrap of light adhesive tape will do the job.

Maybe your grip needs improvement. Consider hiring out as a hand milker at a dairy farm. If it has a decent sized herd, your grip and forearm strength is bound to improve.  

Watch this for a pleasant interlude.

Haha, thanks for all of that, especially the hint regarding the collet grooves potentially damaging the seals. Yes, I am sure it was my technique and impatience. Lots of cows here in Switzerland, hence I literally bent the pliers out of shape when squeezing the handle hard.

jns wrote:I literally bent the pliers out of shape when squeezing the handle hard.

Wow! If it won't work for seals, you can use it for pasta. Which manual, video, inscribed tablet, etc. are you using for guidance, or are you solely depending on good vibrations? 

Clymer's. They use a $$$ BMW tool for the seal installation that likely comes with a guide for alignment as they insert the stem after the seal is fitted. They also believe oiling and rotating the stem is enough to protect the seal from the grooves. Btw, got the seals out just fine now, rotation and patience (and these not having been in for 25+ years) did the trick .

jns wrote:Clymer's. They use a $$$ BMW tool for the seal installation . . .

I suspect that a person with your grip strength, insight and experience will, in the future, stop then query here before proceeding when encountering a step that cannot be done like, for example, Step 1b in the photo you posted. 

The tool you have is probably the economy model of BMW's, perhaps relying more on ingenuity than engineering.