White exhaust valve in cylinder

Hello' I pulled the head on my 93 1.9l escort wagon to drill out a broken thermostat housing bolt,then broke a head bolt etc.. Well when I looked at the head the exhaust valve on #1 was white all the others where ok.What would you attribute this to?Since its all apart I want everything done so I don't tear it a part again in a few months. Any body have any ideas??

The number 1 exhaust valve hasn't been fully seating and has overheated. While you have the head off get the valves ground. The only time the exhaust valve can cool is when it is seated in the cylinder head. What does the rest of the cylinder look like?

I think davescort97 nailed it. Have the machine shop check that the lifter for that valve is working normally - i.e. it bleeds down, & isnt stuck. And the head bolt might have been ready to snap anyway. They are really highly stressed. It still gives me the creeps to install and torque down those bolts.


Check the color of your spark plugs in a couple of thousand miles. If the #1 plug looks whiter (hotter) than the others, you could have an injector that isnt clean. I think reconditioned ones are easy to get.