thebunns

It's possible that they were mistaken. When I ordered the "valve housing cover gasket", they sent me the "valve housing gasket" with tabs but no holes in them. I told them that it was the wrong one & they sent me the same gasket with holes in the tabs. I was able to cut the tabs off & use one of them for the cover gasket. Using my parts catalog, I was able to explain the difference in gaskets & they corrected their records. Vic

I can't find the invoice, but I'm sure I put an Olsen head gasket on my -14 in '08 after I overheated the motor & cracked it. I just got a valve cover gasket from them---they're great people to work with. Vic

I did notice that your pliers are "double jointed". I've ordered a pair. They could be a mile long & wouldn't grasp the valve stem through the spark plug hole. Reread my post where I show my pliers. They've got to be offset to get any kind of grip on the stem. Vic

I just looked in Snap-on, Knipex, Mac & Google in general. I saw a few hundred pairs but none like yours. If you figure out where yours came from, I'd be interested. Vic

Besides being too cold to have much incentive to tear things apart, that head got worked over a few years ago when I overheated & cracked it. It's winter & all I want to do is make it 'til spring. I need a crawler to plow my 1/2 mile, steep driveway so my goal each year is to have the -14 & the -14A running at the first snowfall. Then it's band aid time until spring. The valve in question is working fine right now so I'll see how long it lasts with this year's band aids of valve stem lubricant, fuel additive, etc. I've got to say that I sure learned a lot here from you guys.

I understand what you're getting at, but how do you get at the valve face? Vic

Those are first pair of "sideways" pliers I've seen in over 80 years. Thanks! Vic

You lost me with the tool under the valve idea. Can you get under it by removing the intake and/or the exhaust manifold? If that were the case, I'd think that almost anything that fit in the hole would work. Vic

Here's my answer to the pliers issue---they don't work. The little pair goes around the stem but would have no gripping power. The two larger ones go only part way around the stem but will not grip it. What we need is a pair of the larger pliers with the end bent in parallel to the handles as opposed to perpendicular to them. A previous picture I put on here shows the stem offset to the right of the hole. Does anyone have, or know where I could get such a pair? Vic

I hear you, but if I was to put the pliers on a portion of a valve stem that would go up into the guide, they would already be up against it so there would be no movement possible. I put a good dose of conditioner (and anti-gel) into the fuel tank last fall. Would the 2 cycle oil do more good than adding something to the oil? Vic

I did take note of the pliers. I've ordered some but at this time don't need them. The valve is moving up & down with the lever. When the spray can of "carbon eliminator" gets here I'll spray the stem through the spark plug hole & give the valve a good workout. When I get the pliers, I'll see if they will go into the hole & grasp the valve stem so that we'll know it that's a possibility for the future. Vic

I just responded to your post but don't see it. I thought as you do about the type cleaner to use. I've ordered a can of StarBright carbon eliminator. I'll see if it helps. Vic

Speaking of mistakes (distractions) I made it sound almost impossible to move the valve stem with needle nose pliers but you would only have to attempt to raise the stem, with the help of the spring. When moving it back down, merely move the lever. Vic

Totally possible, although I think it would be difficult to find a pair of pliers that would grip the stem strong enough to move it against the spring without buggering up the plug hole threads. I just got in from working the starting valve on my -14 through the spark plug hole. I noticed that when I moved the lever from start to diesel the valve was moving just a bit. It's easy to spot in that the stem is discolored for about 1/4" next to the head between the two positions . I sprayed a little silicon lubricant on the stem & then ran the lever up & down several times. I sprayed i

Thanks for that explanation. It seems like I tried & failed to get the cap off the top of the valve spring before. It had been described to me how to do it but my setup was different than was described. We'll see how things go! Vic