Replacing valve stem seals ...help

Hi guys

Just wondering if anyone has replaced valve stem seals and how hard was it to do. To make a long story short, my elephant hose plugged up and caused alot of extra pressure in the upper head. There doesn't appear to be any leaks but it is suddenly using 1/2 to 3/4 of a litre in 3000 kms. It didn't use a drop before. I have checked the intercooler and there isn't anymore oil than the usual amount in there so I don't think that its the turbo. It also starts a little hard for the first start of the day with some blue smoke and I think that when it sits for a long period of time that the oil is leaking past the seals into the cylinder, another reason to believe that the turbo is fine. Once running and warm, there is no smoke.
Any "special VW" tools or can regular valve tools be used??

Any help would be appreciated.

I did this job on a 1985 Jetta TD and followed the procedure in my Bently manual for the car. Head on the car. Basically do each cylinder intake/exhaust valve pair at a time with its piston at TDC (or valves will fall into the cylinder ) with the cam removed and lifters removed to allow removal of the valve springs and keepers. That means the timing belt has to come off, but I think it can just be loosened and slipped of the cam sprocket with minimal trouble and re-installed. Requires a valve-on-head valve spring compressor, valve seal removal pliers, and valve seal installation drift. I think these tools cost me about $200 ten years ago. Not sure if the procedure is the same for a VW TDI motor.

I'd make darn sure it was the valve seals first. I did mine because oil consumption was very high (a quart in 750 miles, car had 56,000 miles on it when I bought it) and it helped not one bit. The true problem was a broken compression ring in my case, creating lots of blowby purging oil through the breather.

Also make sure you did not get dirt into the motor running the draft tube (crankcase hose vent mod) I did that for a while in my '85 and got a grit into the motor. I think it was drawn past the seals from the vacuum created in the breather hose placed in the airstream underneath the car. This is expecially a possibility if you bypassed the pressure regulator in the CCV system. I hope this is not your problem and that it caused engine wear. I'd pull the valve cover and see if there is any grit in the head area. Good luck

--Nate

Try PMing JETaah here. I believe Marty has done this on at least one A4. At the least he really knows his way around the heads on these beasts.Good luck!

Thanks for the info guys. I will pm JETaah as well.

I did this on my 1980 Dasher Diesel and it was no help is stopping oil consumption. On a gas engine oil consumption is often due to valve seals because of the large vacuum in the intake manifold caused by the combination of the throttle plate and the engine drawing air. The TDIs have almost no vacuum in the intake manifold (no throttle plate), thus valve stem seals generally are not a problem - even when quite old.
Unfortunately, I cannot explain your present oil consumption.

This is true.

--Nate

Info noted. The only other thing that I could imagine causing the consumption would be the turbo seals when the oil lines got pressurized. Is there any easy/confirming way to determine that it is indeed the turbo seals? I'm not sure if I can get a visual on the leak or not. Obviously it isn't coming out by the quart so it will be hard to isolate.