Boofster

I've been doing VJ's (teehee) around town and still haven't been able to tell if a car needs it or not just by listening. Maybe if it's really bad, it would make some kind of noise but so far, every car has been tight.

I gave up on checking how tight. Seems this should be done every 30k. Still curious if a brand new car is at spec in the first place.

liquid_helix136

I was going to make a new thread, but I feel like this could be useful for anyone who is curious about a valve adjustment. I am wondering if my car could use one, Ive got ~125k on the odometer and for at least the last 70k miles or so I know it hasn't had one, probably never in it's life.

The reason for my worry is I had a Mustang behind me that was making weird noises at a light, got me paranoid about my car and when I got back home I was really listening to the engine, I kind of know what the sound of noisy valves is like, but its all from just watching videos, no actual experience.

Heres the video I took about 30 minutes ago after I was driving around for about 20 mins, fully warmed up.

http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e5...t=IMG_0350.mp4

Anyone want to chime in?

thomsbrain

Most people agree the recommended interval is way too long to wait. Just had mine done at 41,000 miles and I should have done it earlier.

S2oooNvegas

yup, every 30k is a good number. Depends on how you drive it. I find that the cars that are run at the track, end up with the forward 2 cyls looser than the back 2.
I did mine at 2k.. brand new s2k. And they were all over the place.
So yeah it never hurts to do them. 125k... its too late. stuffs prob a mess in there. lol.
Hard to say till you open it up and check.

slalom44

It's impossible to tell from a video clip, especially since recorded sounds aren't perfect. There's a slight hint of a slight tapping of one valve, but there's no way of telling if that's due to needing a valve adjustment. It could also be an injector.

You're better off taking your head cover off and measuring the clearances.

AZ-S2000

Someone said if the engine starts sounding like bicycle chain it needs it. I found a NSX/S2000 only shop that is going to do a VA for $ 85.00 which is dirt cheap. Just need to get a valve-cover gasket as well and InlinePro TCT as well.

faxter18

I just got mine done. I bought the car with 65k on it. Not bad for an 01. I had some that were too loose and others that were too tight. I'm glad I did it b/c my ride does seem smoother.

liquid_helix136

Do we need to buy any new gaskets to do a VA? That sh!t can be expensive..

NFRAP2

It just depends on the condition of your current valve cover/spark plug tube gaskets. I adjusted the valves on my 05 s2k w/ 41k miles recently and the original gaskets were still in very good condition so I reused them without a problem. My s2k is not my daily driver, so if I found that the gaskets needed replacing I would have just ordered them and put everything back together when they arrived. If your s2k is your only car and you don't want to be stuck in a situation where you can't drive it for a few days while you wait on parts, just go ahead and order a new valve cover gasket before starting the job.

Boofster

The valve cover gasket kit is ~$20 so might as well. If yours has dried out, it may tear during the job.