Mahoney

Hello all,

Noticed my car didn't sound as maybe I expected on idle today. Research leads me to believe this noise could mean I require a valve adjustment.
I have attached a YouTube link of the sound below, could anyone confirm that is the case? Or is this fairly normal and just some loud injectors?

Finally, if it is valves, what happens if I don't get them adjusted straight away? I am meant to be going to the Nurburgring in two weeks, will it be game over?


https://youtube.com/shorts/K9Mbu5jQJZ0?si=Ee0FZGuTBcOwqQ10

noodels

Sounds sweet to me

bad_driver

The car sounds good and not in anything that needs an urgent valve adjustment. The reason I say that is because I can "hear" the valves, which you normally cannot when they are too tight (your main concern).

What would happen if you didn't get your valves adjusted straight away is that, over time, if they were set too tight (yours are not), they would start damaging the exhaust valves. If you let it damage the exhaust valves long enough, then you'll need some repair work done on your valvetrain.

I wouldn't worry about it for now, but it'd be good to get done after your track day session for some piece of mind.

'06+ that are tracked I would probably ger valve adjusted every 15,000 miles or so until the exhaust valves stop getting tight every valve adjustment.

Save the Manual Wagons!

How many miles on the car? What year car?

If I remember correctly, the owner's manual doesn't require a valve adjustment until 105,000 miles, but 2006+ cars should be adjusted MUCH sooner than that. Every 15,000 as noted above, until they stop tightening.

Car Analogy

Quiet valves are a worry. Loud valves are not.