Timing belt turns into a rebuild?

[ohmegamike]

So, I go to change timing belt, tensioners, water pump etc. The Galant has been spewing out blue smoke at startup, and I figured the valve seals are bad. 194k mi on all original engine. I decided to try replacing the seals with the head still on using either the rope trick, or compressed air. I decided to try air. The cams are set for timing belt change, so all valves are closed. I hook up about 25 psi to cyl 1, and it rolls the crank. When I pull the air fitting, it goes Pshhh! Wow! Cylinder one is tight! So, I try the next hole, I hear air leaking, presumably past the rings, but not a lot. Next, I try cyl #3 and there's air pouring thru the oil return hole in the head, the drain/return hole by the cam sensor.

Cylinder 3 is the only one that has this huge leak. Do you suppose it's a stuck ring?

Is it time to pull the engine and do a complete rebuild?

Any suggestions/input ???

Thanks!

Mike

 

[TRBODSM]

I believe that when the cams are lined up there are only certain valves that are fully closed. That's probably why there is air escaping from the cylinder. Let's say that if the cams had the lobes in the same exact position throughout the whole cam and they were lined up then all the valves would be in the same position "closed". But since the lobes are differently placed throughout the cam then some valves would be open and some closed at the same exact position of the cam.

 

[pauleyman]

You could try some seafoam first

 

[ohmegamike]

OK, Good thing I posted this one in Newbies! The valves are not all closed like I was thinking! So, I'm gonna pull the camshafts out, THEN they will all be closed! Then I'll try changing the valve seals. I'm gonna do a rebuild next year, but really sick of the smokey start ups and smell of burning synthetic oil...