nartnailuj

So I had a friend that would adjust my valves for $70. 5 days before I get my valves adjusted, I get a check engine light! I was getting a misfire code. I narrowed it down to a number of causes for that misfire. I decided to bring it to my uncle in law's shop. Now he just called me and told me that the valve guides were bad so the valves need adjusting. Final cost: a little over $1000!! He said, $400 to send it to the machine shop, $400 for his labor, $200 for full head gasket, and then the need for new oil, filter, coolant, thermostat, ect. I'm so upset that if I just adjusted my valves a little sooner, I would still have $930.

nartnailuj

sorry had to vent

Mike21

It happens. That's why you don't put off basic maintenance.

JohnsS2000

never heard of the valve guides just going bad, not unless you had bent valve(s) from an over rev. I have 56k on mine and have not adjusted the valves, per the owners manual valves should be done at 105K, ill be doing it when i replace my spring retainers soon tho

steven975

Valve adjustment should be done when needed, really.

I don't think failing to do that made your guides go bad. Also, I'm not sure if that's really the cause of your misfire, either.

Harrower

I also have a cel and it says that i have a misfire in cylinders 1 or 2, but what im confused about is why does it drive fine? Not meaning to threadjack btw

JLUDE

You can have a random misfire that throws a check engine light. It might only happen every once in a while under 75%+ throttle and you don't even notice it but it's enough to throw the check engine light.

JohnsS2000

A Misfire code will likely mean the engine was , at some point , over revved. I have had 2 freinds with misfire codes and both had a slightly bent valve that took awhile to cause a CEL and I must say that i over revved mine 18 months ago and JUST recently got a CEL with a misfire code. I am planning on having mine taken apart to have the valves done and also will be upgrading the retainers and cotters. My over rev was a result of a downshif that I let the clutch out slightly to soon and the motor revved to about 9800RPM and because I did not mis shift for my over rev it took longer to surface. Since my car has been driving and running perfectly fine I never noticed anything until the CEL. I have been running my car to 9000 RPM regularly for the last 18 months without issue. Since i have been driving my car for 18 months after the overrev I am sure that if i have 1 bent valve that the guide for that valve will be worn and need replaced too.

JohnsS2000

when I say i did not mis shift i mean accidently going from 3rd to 2nd instead of 4th due t otrying to shift fast, running it hard

idea-catalyst

You didn't say whether your $1000 fixed the problem.