🔍 Key Concepts

• Relationship between valve guides/seals and oil/exhaust leakage into the rocker box • How exhaust gas and burnt oil would mark the underside of a valve cover • Differences between mechanical wear of springs/locks vs. leakage paths that let soot and oil escape

💭 Think About

• Which component problem would allow hot exhaust gases and oil mist to travel up into the rocker space and hit the valve cover, leaving black, sooty patches? • Would worn locks, collars, or a broken inner spring actually create a leak path for combustion products, or mainly affect valve motion and timing? • Which of the listed faults is most directly tied to guidance of the valve stem and sealing around it in the cylinder head?

✅ Before You Answer

• Be sure you associate black localized patches with soot/burnt oil deposits, not just mechanical damage. • Confirm which part in the illustration provides the seal between the exhaust valve stem area and the rocker box. • Verify which option specifically mentions guiding/sealing of the exhaust valve stem, since that’s where leakage would occur.