In searching there seems to be discussion of whether or not the valve springs can be compressed without removing the head and I was wondering if anyone had been able to find a spring compressor that was capable of doing this. None of the typical compressor will work because there is not enough room around the springs. Nissan makes reference to a tool capable of this (J26336-A) but I assume this must be purchased from a dealer. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

when I was working on a 200sx head a couple months ago that had the springs down in a hole with no room beside to get one of my compressors in it I made my own compression tool since I didnt want to pay what the parts store wanted for one (you can get them from other than Nissan). I took one of my large C clamps and took a round metal (like our factory) battery clamp and cut it so I had a little window to take out and put in the keepers. I tacked it onto my C clamp and it worked great. The only problem is you have to have the head off to do this so that really doesnt answer your question.

 

I am pretty sure you're not going to be able to get those springs off with the head on the car.

 

Call a good (that may take a while) dealer and ask the parts manager to price that tool and whether the tool dealer has it in stock. some tools are expensive but Ive seen some that are actually alot cheaper than expected. (trust me Ive worked at plenty of dealerships and use to be a parts manager for mazda and the kowa seiki tools were quite reasonable for the most part.) They may take a while to get though, they usually take their time to ship and ship ground.

Oh and with compressed air and the piston held at tdc (so you dont lose a valve, just in case) you should be good to go.

 

The valve springs can come off without pulling the heads, but you have to use the old school method and place a deep well socket over the retainer and keep hitting it with a hammer until the keepers pop out.

You valve spring compressor, torque wrench techies tickle me sometimes

But as you can probably see, doing this method will leave you in a jar of pickle if you need to re-install the valve springs. Just curious, why are you in the need of removing a valve springs without pulling the heads?

As they say, if there's a will there's a way. If I had to remove a valve spring without pulling the head, I would first accept the fact what I'm about to do may not work. Second I would put that piston on BTC, fill the cylinder with a nylon rope through the spark plug hole while leaving a piece of rope hanging out the spark plug hole, bring the piston as far up to TDC in order to keep pressure on the valves so they don't drop down. Now I would have to devise a way to remove and install the valve springs because the hammer and deep well socket only works when removing the springs.

Good luck

 

remove the cam above it and remove the rockers.
I have this valve spring compressor, and had no problem getting them out on the bench..
http://www.monstronix.com/kdt3087-p-51645.html

since it's all done from the top of the head, you can easily do it on the car as well.

 

Thats just like the factory tool..And cheap!! Im buyin one right now!!!

 

I decided to go ahead and remove the head and clean everything up. So I guess I'll be able to use the c clamp compressors for the valve springs now. Head doesn't seem to be warped so hopefully I'll be able to get it back on without any leaks as soon as I get some new head bolts. By the way, valve seals are leaking I believe. I had good compression but the engine would burn oil. Also, intake manifold was leaking coolant so I figured that I would just fix everything while I was there.

 

have fun tearing down that engine. putting it back together is a royal PITA.