Valve stem seal question

[vetplus40]

After leaving a rag in my intake, I pulled the head and removed intake valve that had rag remnants under the valve. I noticed that the stem seal fits in a groove on the stem just below the groove for the split keeper.
What little valve work I have done in the past had the seals mounted on top of the valve guide. I am trying to understand how the seal that I have works positioned so far up the valve stem.

 

[Oshkosh1]

Some heads have smaller seals at the keeper...I never worry too much about them, the guide seals are what will keep the oil from seeping past and into the guide. On the British heads I build I don't even bother replacing them if lost and have never had an issue with anything.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Umbrella seal. They are used on cheap and low end motors. They work fine on stock motors

 

[vetplus40]

Finding replacement parts has been quite an adventure. The exploded drawings show my valves having two seals, but I only have one under the keepers. I can see no seal of any kind where the stem enters the guide. When I contacted Mercury, the parts person said that the drawings were only close facsimiles and not exact depictions. My concern is putting this engine back together only to have a valve stem leak oil. If there is a seal where the stem enters the valve guide, I cannot see one.

 

[Scott Danforth]

If your motor has umbrella seals, that is all it has. You would be better off visiting your local engine rebuilder. He has every type of valve seal on the shelf.

Mercruiser buys their parts from GM.... Cut out the middle man

 

[Alumarine]

The Fel-Pro head gasket set 17200 includes the seals they also list them separately as SS5112.

 

[vetplus40]

I live in an area with two lakes and tons of boats and about 6 boat manufacturers. No Mercury dealer anywhere had the gaskets that I needed, even Mercury in Fondulac said the head gasket was no longer available and referred me to someplace called Seaway in Washington State. The Seaway rep said that he accessed the Mercury warehouse and they had 32 head gaskets on hand and laughed at the confusion. I assumed (big mistake on my part) that as common as this motor is, parts would be readily available. The local Mercruiser dealers told me that these motors are so dependable that they stock very few parts for them.

 

[TurtleTamer]

I believe you are referring to the o-ring type seal that sits in the groove on the stem?

If you don't want those, you can have a machine shop machine the tops of the guides to accept the other style of seal.

 

[vetplus40]

No, I don't want to modify anything. I just wanted to ensure that I put it back in the same place it came from. Once I got the spring off, it had become dislodged and wanted to be sure I got it back together right. That, and I had never seen that type of seal before.