fly_S2K

It went good. I did everything by the book and everything runs soo much smoother now. I'm planning on rechecking them this weekend to see how its doing, and messing with the specs. I believe its placebo, but my car seems to run much better.

joe_s2k

That's good news. Care to teach us nOObies?

fly_S2K

Sure, it's actually quite easy. Only thing that's time consuming is being accurate. You have to check, adjust, torque, then re-check...16 times. Plus it was my first time, so I was being really careful.

Intrepid175

Hi Fly_S2k,

Out of curiosity, was your car doing anything that made you suspect a valve clearance problem or was it just time to do it? I ask because of your comment on how much smoother it engine runs after the fact.

Just wondering?
Drive Safe,
Steve R.

fly_S2K

I just did it because I felt it was time. The car was running great, but the valve train was fairly noisy. The manual states that a valve adjustment isn't nessecary untill 60K unless there is excessive noise (valve ticking when car is at operating temp.). When I inspected my valve clearance, only 2 were out of spec on the intake side and 3 on the exhaust side. FYI, my car has 128XX miles. After the adj. the only REAL noticable thing was that my idle was smoother, I also felt it ran better but that could just be placebo. Hope that answered your question .

-Johnny

Intrepid175

Yes it does. Thanks!

The manual on my Odyssey says the same thing. Adjust the valves "if" they start making noise, expect the interval they recommend is 30k miles. 60k miles seems a little much IMO. My only problem with the "don't check unless it's making noise" part is that most of the cars I've owned with hard lifters tended to tighten up with mileage. That means they never make noise. You know there's a problem when the valves tighten to the point that they're no longer sealing well and the engine starts to miss due to compression losses. At this point, you've been burning valves and valve seats for a while. NOT a good thing!

I have no doubt that after bringing 5 out of 16 valves back into spec (that's over 25%), the engine is idling smoother. Those loose valves weren't opening as far as they should which is restricting the breathing efficiency of the cylinders involved. Now that all of your cylinders are pumping air equally, I'm sure the engine is a lot happier. That can't hurt power production everywhere else in the rpm band either so I wouldn't totally blame the placebo effect!

Enjoy & Drive Safe,
Steve R.

fly_S2K

Yea, plus it's very simple and quick to do so I plan on doing it often. Just makes me sleep easier know all my valves are in spec and my engine is running smooth .

Intrepid175

One question that just popped to mind. Does Honda recommend adjusting the valves hot or cold? I've seen it both ways.

Drive Safe,
Steve R.

fly_S2K

Always do valve inspection when engine is cold.

SpEeDxXxRaCeR

Johnny care to help me adjust my valves? I've never done it, but I think a tech day for the Hondata Intake gasket and a valve job would be great

-Trung