I have been running valvoline durablend for a year now, and I have a valve stem seal leak that causes the car to smoke every now and then. I was wondering if I should switch to Valvoline Maxlife to try to eliminate this leak, or prevent new ones. Whats your input on this?

maybe replace valve seals?

that would be ideal. it'* not too hard, and it'* worth the time spent.

but, if that doesn't do it for ya, on my old cutlass, maxlife greatly reduced the oil i went through before I got the valve seals taken care of. so yeah, it'll take care of the problem for the most part.

It will be a while before I can afford to get everything required to replace the valve seals. So I am really hoping maxlife will do the trick. As little as it leaks, Maxlife may take care of the problem, or at least I hope so.

how much are they? on my cutlass (admittedly, it was an 82 3., it was less than 20 bucks + cost of valve cover gaskets. oh, and I didn't have a spring compressor, but those can be found on loan a tool programs at murrays, autozone, and if napa does it, prolly there too...

took some time, someone with a little knowledge, and:

a compression gage (if you take out the core, it becomes an amazing little tool you hook up to an
air compressor.

put the end of the compression gage in the spark plug hole (minus the core, so air can freely go in, and out for that matter), and use the disconnect on the hose (which normally connects to the actual gage) to connect to the air hose from your compressor, and viola!
your valves will stay right in their place, and won't drop down. you're then free to compress the spring, pull out the keepers, remove the springs, and replace your valve seals.
'professionals' recommend that you get the cylinder to the bottom of it'* stroke before you do it, but it'* a lot more fun just to hook up the air and see what happens... it'll crank your motor over a few times if the piston is up high enough...

Thats not too bad, as long as I could avoid having to take the head off.