rpg51

I think it depends on how they were adjusted before your work. But, yes, if your valves were loose and noisy, and then you tightened them a bit, that might make the motor quieter. That was my experience with other cars I've adjusted in my distant past.

Slowcrash_101

I know I sound crazy for saying it, but frankly you should always expect some noise with a rigid valvetrain. If you can't hear a little whisper of valve noise, you're doing it wrong IMO. If these motors had hydraulic lifters or some other damping device between the rocker and valve train, then yes, you'd want it whisper quiet. These engines have rigid valve trains because it improves the response speed of the valves opening and closing. The Honda engineers intended for there to be a tiny amount of slack in the valve train which is why they installed lost motion assemblies in the rockers. Spec, or just a .001" looser is ideal, and I believe it's best to stay on the loose end.

Chibo

I'm going to go with the guess that they were on the loose fringe of the spec before I opened it up. I don't know when the last valve adjustment was even though the PO kept very good records, and frankly, I was very surprised to find the stock retainers in the motor. 158k on the motor, no cracked retainers, owned by ex-autocross guy.
You can still hear them ticking a little but, but not like before the adjust. They were very loud before the adjustment.

I'd never done a car valve adjust before, just a bunch of dirtbikes and 2-4 cylinder motorcycles. Very nice to not have to measure, pull cams / buckets / shims, use a lookup table, replace shims / buckets / cams, and remeasure. I'd think I could get just an adjust done in about an hour next time.

rpg51

I suspect if it was loud before, and now it is quieter, you are hearing the difference between loose valves and properly adjusted valves. My experience also is that the valve noise reduces when the engine is warm. The heat reduces the clearance. The clearance spec accounts for the metal expanding when the engine warms up.

My 02 has never been touched. I am not hearing much of any valve noise, even when it is cold, and that, (combined with Billman's advice to check all s2ks at 10K miles or so), has me worried a little bit. I am at 20K miles. I will check mine soon. My bet is that they are fine. But, we shall see. My prediction is that they are all set on the loose side of the spec and my plan is to set them on the tight side of spec - but within spec. Part of me want to leave all this alone. The engine runs beautifully now, and it has no leaks. I just hope when I am done I can say the same! But, it really does have to be done if for no other reason than to set my mind at ease.

Car Analogy

It seems all too easy to mess up on counting degrees of rotation ans aligning timing marks. My foolproof method is to ignore all that, and simply turn motor so the valve I'm going to adjust has its cam lobe pointed up, away from the follower.

I guess it comes down to if your engine is still noisy, but not as noisy as before (then its simply your valves were extra loose before, but now they're perfect), or if the engine was noisy before but now its quiet kthe adjustment was done wrong and now they are way too tight).

So is your engine still noisy (compared to typical modern hydraulic valve car engine)?

Chibo

Fortunately, it's not a big deal to pull the valve cover and check the clearances. In your case I wouldn't touch them, but I do trust Billman's advice so that makes it difficult
Eh, if you mark the timing marks with a yellow pen or something once you've set TDC it's pretty easy to watch the cams phase 90* each time. Your method would definitely work too.

I would say it is quiet compared to hydraulic lifter cars (other than BMWs), but not as loud as a S54 .

rpg51

I just finished a valve adjustment, inspected retainers, and replaced my spark plugs. Car runs great. My valves were all in spec and so it was just a matter of checking them and I adjusted all the exhaust valves to .010 and all the intakes to .008. The retainers all look fine. The old spark plugs look excellent. So, all seems well with this engine. The car runs like a dream. Now I know where my valve clearances are at, which sets my mind at ease at bit. One less thing to worry about.

I'm glad I did this myself. The more I work on this car the more I understand it, and the more joy it brings!

schhim

Mine sounds soooooo much better now. The valve chatter was really bothering me and frankly it was probably overdue at 70k miles. At least half of my valves were too loose on the intake side. I had my retainers replaced by a shop so I'm wondering if they didn't torque them down right or futzed with the clearance when they were installing the AP2 retainers.

Chuck S

Not sure valve adjustment is a rewarding task but it's simple albeit tedious. Car raised a foot off the ground will save your back. Note the exhaust will tighten in use. 0.011" (loose end of the scale) seems to work very well and I've seen recommendations to use 0.012" (0.001" over spec) in the DBW cars which run leaner than the earlier cars and can burn the valves if too loose.

-- Chuck

MarcusDubya77

Tackling this today, and have read some of the nightmares threads that people have posted. Luckily, I found the 2000-2003 service manual to help along the way. I am swapping over to BC Stage 2. The paper that came with the cams didn't show any changes in tolerances, so I can only assume that they stay the same. Any tips out there? Did anyone leave the feeler in whilst making the adjustments?