BoostFreek

Hello Everyone

I am planning on swapping out my valve springs after reading all the stories. I have an 02 Z and am doing this as preventative maintenance.

This is my first time tackling a job like this and am looking for a Guide or How To. I came up empty while searching and figured I'd try posting.

I work better when I can follow something along to the T so that I don't miss anything or screw it up.

If anyone can link me a Guide or How To I would really appreciate it. Anything that will step by step walk me through the process.

Thanks in advance for the assistance.

Nick

MY03C5Z

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...nt-w-pics.html

Found this in a search under c5 tech. Its got a link to two good how to guides.

Sigforty

What stories did you read? How many miles are on the existing springs? Do you have any performance upgrades? What springs do you plan on using as replacements?

BoostFreek

Thanks MY03C5Z for the link.

Sigforty, I read about valve spring failures from 02-03 due to bad spring suppliers. I dont want to worry about it so I figured I would just replace mine. car and springs have 37k miles on them. I only have a vararam intake at the moment and will be installing headers in the near future. I am still debating on which springs to go with. I looked at some of the PAC's as well as the OEM replacement. I like the idea of a dual spring but have heard they can cause premature wear on stock cam. or something to that effect.

Any recommendations?

MY03C5Z

I have the varam too, only hp mod Ive done so far. Replaced my springs with new stock LS2< springs at 38k. I dont plan on doing much more than LT's and a tune in the near future.

Paul 75 L82

You might look at LS1HowTo.com

devnull

Hey bud try this one --> http://www.ls1.com/forums/f7/how-rep...prings-132116/

Good site, lots of great info.

Paul 75 L82

Here's the page from the service manual on how to torque the rocker arms.

ZeeOSix

Lots of stories here (this thread is a sticky in this forum).

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-z...-failures.html

laurent_zo6

YouTube has videos explaining this procedure: Type in C5 valve springs.

ZeeOSix

About the video above.

1) Use a better spring compressing tool. The one he was using with the two jaws can nick the surface of the spring and could cause a stress riser. Use one that compresses both valves on a cylinder at the same time.

2) Don't be banging on the top of the valve stem with a frickin' metal hammer. No need to do that anyway.

MY03C5Z

Agreed on the spring tool in that video, I tried one of those before and it was a pita and dangerous IMO. I used a dual spring tool like this one when I changed mine out:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/pr...FWuhOgodImoApg

Way simpler and safer method plus it compresses both springs at the same time, we'll worth the money.

93civEJ1

the proform makes it look simple. I am guessing you just sit the new spring down and then tighten it back down to put the keepers back in place.

MY03C5Z

Yes, that's pretty much it. Hardest part is getting the keepers out and then back in again without losing them. They don't always want to come out and go back in that easily. I used a pen magnet and put rags down all around the area I was working on and it caught a few keepers that slipped. Only had one fall down around the engine and it luckily made its way clearly to the floor

rbartick

Did you guys with the bad springs perform a compression test before removing them? If so, did you see signs of a bad spring in your compression test results?

MY03C5Z

Most people replace old original springs as preventative maintanence. There are a lot of cases of original 02-03 springs letting go and ruining engines. I dont think its a case of a compression issue, these are cases of springs just letting go unexpectedly. I didnt do a compression test to check mine before replacing them. They are not expensive and I did it more as insurance and peace of mind.

E-Emmons

Broke an original valve spring ( yellow springs, 74k miles ) in an 02 z06 a few weekends ago. Let go in the drive way just after a cold start and created a misfire. I thought it was electrical at first but when i finally took the head cover off, sure enough it was an intake valve spring on the drivers side. Was lucky i didnt drop the valve.

Springs will become maintenance for me at this point probably every 10k as I do track a few events each year.

I changed them myself using an air compressor and the Proform puller. It made the job very easy. I had never done it and took my time, about 6 hours between tearing it down and starting it back up. The hardest part is getting the Air hose fitting in the spark plug hole. Just take your time and have a beer when you start cursing.

MY03C5Z

I used the same tool and the air compressor method. Sounds like you got lucky. Took me a good 8 hrs to do mine, never worked on an ls before so really took my time with it. Ill probably replace mine again in a few years just to be safe.

93civEJ1

I used "Tims" tool from LS1tech. 30$ and works just fine.

BTrey

Another data point to add to the list - 2002 with 60k miles, valve spring broke just puttering along at 35mph. I'm halfway through the replacement of all 16 springs. The job is on hold while I order a couple of parts. The first is a keeper. I used the dual compession tool mentioned earlier in the thread and had no problems except that when I compressed the broken spring it made a loud pop after it got about halfway down - I think the broken pieces shifted under the pressure - and both keepers went flying. I found one but haven't been able to find the other. I had no trouble with any of the other keepers. I took a socket - 21mm I think - that had the same diameter as the top of the spring and put it on an extension. I set this on the top of the spring, with the end of the valve centered in the hole in the socket, and gave the end of the extension a couple of taps with a hammer. That way I wasn't banging on the valve itself but still loosened the keepers. I then compressed the springs and removed the keepers with a magnet pick-up tool.

The second part I need is a rocker arm bolt. They have a 8mm head and most metric sets of 3/8 drive sockets seem to start at 9mm. I used a 1/4 drive socket with an adapter. Not a bright idea. Those bolts are under a lot of torque. I changed all of the springs on the right side (except the pair missing a keeper) and moved to the left side. On the 3rd rocker arm, the socket split. Sears is just down the road, so I rode down and found a 3/8 drive 8mm socket. Went to losen the bolt and the socket just spun. When the socket split, it spread just enough to turn on the head and round off the corners. I was able to get it out using one of those funky sockets that works like a reverse easy-out but the head is wrecked. So far, I haven't been able to find one online, so it may be a trip to the dealer to order it. (If anyone has a part number or a pointer to a site that sells them, I'd appreciate the tip.)

I do have a couple of questions concerning retorquing the rocker arms. The graphic posted above has you lining up the pistons using the crankshaft sproket. Is it really necessary to pull the cover to get to the sproket or is there a way to eyeball it? Second, I've only hand-tightened the rocker arm bolts but there's a little bit of rotational play - the end of the rocker arm isn't lined up precisely over the tip of the valve. Will the rocker arms automatically center themselves when you start tightening them down or is there a method you need to follow to make sure they're properly centered? Thanks in advance for any help.