valve seal leakage or guides worn?

[Guest]

I pulled the head off my bike partly because I was finding that when I pulled the plugs, some of them had a bit of oil on them, looked shiny. I never noticed any blue smoke, and people driving behind me have said they never saw any blue smoke.
I pulled the head and all of the intake valves had oil on them on the intake port side. Oil seems to have been leaking past the seals when the bike was sitting. The vave guides do not seem overly worn, but it is hard to get a good measurement with my dial guage. I am wondering if the oil leaking is due to the seals that I used. Has anyone used these?
Fresh seals were installed recently that I bought on ebay:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SUZUKI-GS1100-GS1150-GS-1100-1150-VALVE-SEALS-VITON-/230449248394?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35a7d8788a

[chef1366]

I'd blame the guides if it was more than one with new seals.

[Nessism]

Even with worn guides, oil won't pass if the seals are fresh. Are you sure the engine was burning oil, and if it was how do you know it was the valves?

[gearhead13]

Even with worn guides, oil won't pass if the seals are fresh. Are you sure the engine was burning oil, and if it was how do you know it was the valves?

It must have been burning oil on startup, like I said all of the intake valves had oil on them when I took the valves out. And one or two of the plugs were oily whenever I pulled them out.
I am wondering about the quality of the seals I used, and maybe better seals would keep the oil out.
I have a set of APE guides on the way, but It would be much cheaper and easier to just put in the new seals I bought from Z1.
I have been waiting 2 weeks or something for the guides and they seem to be stuck in customs now. I have had stuff stuck in customs for months and months.

[hampshirehog]

I used a set of Ebay valve seals on my S thinking they must be ok - nobody would bother to tool up to make useless ones I figured. WRONG. I had to change them after a few months and not very many thousands of miles. The rubber had been toasted.

OEM for me from now on. If the originals lasted 30 years I'll have plenty of time to replace the next set (as I'll be long retired).

[silverhorse47]

It is hard to imagine how both the plugs and intake valves have oil on them, unless it is blowing past the rings on the intake side.
If oil was leaking down onto the valves through the valve stems while the bike was sitting, there would be a cloud of smoke on start up. If oil was blowing up the valve stems and past the valve stem seal on compression stroke, then all the plugs would be greasy with oil all the time.
My understanding is that the valve stem seals keep oil from leaking from the head, down onto the top of the piston after the engine has stopped, and that they play very little role in oil management (unless they are totally f*cked,). They stand up quite high in the head, and there are a lot of holes in the head draining oil into the sump, which would presumably keep oil from having time to sit around at a high level seeping into the valve seals, down the valve guides and onto the top of the valves?
Is it the cylinder side of the valve, or the head side of the valve, that is shiny?
If there is shiny oil slick on your plugs and the bottom side of your intake valves, do a compression test and a vacuum leak down, and see what the score is.

S.

[gearhead13]

It is hard to imagine how both the plugs and intake valves have oil on them, unless it is blowing past the rings on the intake side.
If oil was leaking down onto the valves through the valve stems while the bike was sitting, there would be a cloud of smoke on start up. If oil was blowing up the valve stems and past the valve stem seal on compression stroke, then all the plugs would be greasy with oil all the time.
My understanding is that the valve stem seals keep oil from leaking from the head, down onto the top of the piston after the engine has stopped, and that they play very little role in oil management (unless they are totally f*cked,). They stand up quite high in the head, and there are a lot of holes in the head draining oil into the sump, which would presumably keep oil from having time to sit around at a high level seeping into the valve seals, down the valve guides and onto the top of the valves?
Is it the cylinder side of the valve, or the head side of the valve, that is shiny?
If there is shiny oil slick on your plugs and the bottom side of your intake valves, do a compression test and a vacuum leak down, and see what the score is.

S.

Compression has always been 150+, oil on the intake port side of the valves.
I put it back together without the new guides but with new seals from Z1, havent had a wet plug since it went back together, never any cloud of blue smoke.
High volume pump gears and top end oiler puts a lot more oil up there during running.

[silverhorse47]

nice.

Compression has always been 150+, oil on the intake port side of the valves.
I put it back together without the new guides but with new seals from Z1, havent had a wet plug since it went back together, never any cloud of blue smoke.
High volume pump gears and top end oiler puts a lot more oil up there during running.

now that sounds like a fine adaption. everything works better with lube, even the cheapest of seals.