$150 for valve clearance check?
07-29-2010, 01:00 PM
#11
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Originally Posted by jesusS2K,Jul 29 2010, 02:59 PM
sorry to stell the thread but I've heard about valve adjustment and I'm not sure exactly what it entails or when a car needs it. I have an 07 S2000 with only 10,000 miles on it and bone stock. Would I need to do this? I dont reguarly hit redline usually shift below 6 or 7 grand but sure I've hit the limiter maybe a handful of times. Car doesn't feel weird or anything but is valve adjustment a maitinance thing and if so how frequent should it be done?
Edit: Just a quick search and found that Honda says it should be done every 100k miles. Most people usually still do it every 30k miles. So when your hit 30k, look into to doing it just to make sure its all in spec.
07-29-2010, 01:20 PM
#12
Originally Posted by nartnailuj,Jul 29 2010, 12:40 PM
I went to a semi-local shop that specializes in s2000, nsx, and all that good stuff. They quoted me at least 3 hours (1 hour for cooling) and 150 an hour!!!
I much rather hit up my dealership or just do it myself
I much rather hit up my dealership or just do it myself
07-29-2010, 02:17 PM
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Originally Posted by JFUSION,Jul 29 2010, 12:49 PM
I don't have anything against Honda techs, and that isn't too bad of a price IMO, however I prefer to do valve adjustments myself.
Too often with a dealer job you are getting a valve clearance inspection, they just check all of the clearances and make sure they are within spec. The spec range of clearance is fairly broad, so they may only end up adjusting a few valves that are found to be out of the spec range.
When I do mine I make the effort to have the valves on each bank equally adjusted. A dealer job may end up adjusting a couple valves on average just to bring them back into spec, whereas I might adjust 9-12 valves trying to make them relatively equal. This helps to ensure that the low speed cam lobes on the VTEC system operate as engineered with the staggered lift profile of the primary and secondary lobes. It should also keep the engine running as smooth as possible.
If you hire a mechanic to do yours ask if they can spend some extra time to make the clearances equal across each bank, even if you have to spend a bit more money I think it is well worth it, rather than just doing a clearance inspection.
Too often with a dealer job you are getting a valve clearance inspection, they just check all of the clearances and make sure they are within spec. The spec range of clearance is fairly broad, so they may only end up adjusting a few valves that are found to be out of the spec range.
When I do mine I make the effort to have the valves on each bank equally adjusted. A dealer job may end up adjusting a couple valves on average just to bring them back into spec, whereas I might adjust 9-12 valves trying to make them relatively equal. This helps to ensure that the low speed cam lobes on the VTEC system operate as engineered with the staggered lift profile of the primary and secondary lobes. It should also keep the engine running as smooth as possible.
If you hire a mechanic to do yours ask if they can spend some extra time to make the clearances equal across each bank, even if you have to spend a bit more money I think it is well worth it, rather than just doing a clearance inspection.
07-29-2010, 07:37 PM
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Originally Posted by nartnailuj,Jul 29 2010, 12:40 PM
I went to a semi-local shop that specializes in s2000, nsx, and all that good stuff. They quoted me at least 3 hours (1 hour for cooling) and 150 an hour!!!
I much rather hit up my dealership or just do it myself
I much rather hit up my dealership or just do it myself
the manual says to use 3 feeler gauge sizes per valve:
1) use middle one to set the clearance
2) use torque wrench to tighten lock nut (i've never seen a mechanic actually use one but the service manual tells you to)
3) recheck clearance w/ the larger and smaller gauges (smaller one must fit, larger must not fit). many mechanics seem to skip this step to save time.
to save even more time, some (if not most) mechanics will do what JFUSION mentioned...
07-29-2010, 07:43 PM
#17
07-29-2010, 08:11 PM
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Originally Posted by hypforlife32,Jul 29 2010, 07:43 PM
