How do you replace valve seals on Saturn 1.9 dohc?

Answer 1

The 1.9 DOHC is tricky for two reasons. First, its an overhead cam so you must remove the cams. Second, it has a ratcheting timing chain tensor so once you remove the cam the tensor will pull up the slack on the timing chain and you can't reinstall the cam. So there are two ways of addressing this..

1) You can remove the timing chain cover to do this job. At this point you might as well also replace the timing chain, tensor, guides, etc. You're 1/2 way to a rebuild here.

2) If you have a bit of metal working experience you can build a bracket that will allow you to remove the cams and still hold their sockets up so the tensor doesn't take up the slack. This is the easiest way to do it. Saturn also has a tool that does just this but it retails for $2500. The Saturn tool has the advantage in that it can hold the cam sockets so well that you can actually set the engine at 3 o'clock position and put 100 psi in each cylinder and the Saturn tool will hold the engine in place. This way you can do all the valves without having to reinstall/uninstall the tool each time as you remove tension on the each valve.