Question On Cylinder Head Exhaust Valve

Stangboi4444

Member
Jul 13, 2016
32
0
6
My 289 spun a bearing a month or so ago and I am rebuilding the engine. I pulled off the heads and the intake valves were, as I understand, the normal black carbon color while the exhaust valves were a tannish brown. Is this bad? I am young and this is my first engine rebuild. Any help or advice would be great. Thank you.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3508.JPG
    IMG_3508.JPG
    596.2 KB · Views: 311
  • Sponsors (?)


No it is not "bad" The exhaust valves run at a different temp than the intake. One because they are smaller and get hot quicker and also because they are repeatedly surrounded by hot exhaust. When they open to expel the just ignited fuel it passes over most of the valve (bottom, top and stem) where the intake valve sucks cool air in and is surrounded by that cool air (bottom, top and Stem)
 
without seeing he valves out of the head, and checking for damage, i cant advise you to either keep or replace the valves. the tan coloration on the exhaust valves is due to the carbon being thoroughly burned up. its normal.
 
In my opinion, since you have it all apart then you should do a total engine rebuild and have the heads gone thru by a machine shop. They can advise you what you should do with the heads. They can test the springs and see if they are weak and need replaced and maybe only regrind the valves. They will need new valve seals for sure. They will also check for cracks in the heads.