85_305

The car is pretty much silent.. all you hear is the faint exhaust (aftermarket), the intake quietly (short ram), and the chatter of what seems to be all the valves. It isn't BAD sounding like the motors been neglected, but I hate hearing all those bastards when I rev the motor.

I've read on here it could be the valve lash? Supposed to be adjusted every 30k miles?

There is plenty of oil.. any other ideas or input?

Matt

DJackson1357

Have you actually checked the valve lash? Start there.

The D15 that came in my DX had horrible valve train noise. The lash was waaaaaay out of spec, enough to know that something else was wrong in there. I set the lash to spec, and while it quieted things down, it didn't silence everything. Set the lash first, then look for problems.

Mrmatt3465

Yes do a valve lash. Remember you MUST do it when your car is 100% cold though. I suggest having someone experienced do it though. Its not something I would like to mess up x].

The_Honda_Guy

Valve clatter from valve lash clearance too high. It is considered normal maintainence every 15,000 miles to have the valve lash checked/adjusted by Honda.

z6hatchboy

yeah, clearance is too high, i think the intake is like .008" and the exhaust is like .012". It really not too hard, find a DIY here for it somewhere and double check what its supposed to be

85_305

No I have not checked the lash.. I think I may though. What kind of adverse effects arise from valve lash out of adjustment? Anything along the lines of gas mileage?

How much would Honda charge to adjust lash? I can do it, but I dont have the tools right now, and I'd rather pay somebody to do it. I have a buddy that would probably do it also though.

Thanks guys, your the best! :honda:

jdmhondacivicfiend

You can do it yourself. You realy dont need any special tools besides the feeler guage.

The_Honda_Guy

Yea, besides a feeler gauge and torque wrench the rest of the tools should be laying around your garage/home.

85_305

I've got feeler gauges. I guess I could use those? It's just a normal run of the mill feeler gauge with a ton of different feelers?

I just use the feeler gauge, measure the distance.. if it's too much, tighten the rockers? Otherwise losen them?

The_Honda_Guy

Basically yea, that's what it boils down to. Make sure to torque the nuts down properly though. Don't want to have to worry about them backing off on you or stripping them out.

85_305

alright cool man. I'll have to do this in the next few weeks.

So would this impact performance or economy any do you think?

The_Honda_Guy

Definitely would impact them both. If the valve lash is too tight or too lose it will open the valves too early or too late. Essentially it's like having the timing off slightly if the lash is out of adjustment.

85_305

good stuff good stuff.

Thanks for not letting me down Honda-Tech :D I think I'm actually gonna look into doing the work this weekend.

The_Honda_Guy

If you take your time doing it and do it properly it shouldn't take you more than 2 hours to do, especially if you've never done it before. It's pretty easy to do, especially on the SOHC motors. First time I did it it took me about 1.5 hours to do.

Make sure you do follow the directions and put a few dabs of Hondabond on the corners of the raised section of the head on the left and right sides. If you don't, you can expect a possible oil leak from that area. Some people miss this step and have to take the valve cover back off. I recommend replacing the valve cover gasket, spark plug oil tube seals, valve cover grommets, and then an oil change. The oil change is just kind extra insurance in case you get any dirt or dust into the engine with the valve cover off. Also, make sure you torque the valve cover bolts in sequence or you can cause an oil leak that way also.

If you want extra help, the Hayne's manual covers this all in detail and will have your torque specs too.

85_305

ok cool. I still have to read up on it, but I know how to torque down rockers if that's all thats involved.

Thanks for all the input man. Your very knowledgeable.

Mashimaro

iTrader: (1)

Also make sure you do the valve-lash when your motor is dead-cold. best to do it in the morning after letting it sit all nite.

If it's not your valve-lash making the noise, it could also be your LMA's (Lost Motion Assemblies)...if it's that, they they can't be adjusted...only replaced.

Former User

Are you sure the chatter is not from a loose exhaust heat shield or exhaust system?

Jimster480

does anyone have a link to a good tutorial on how to do this? I wanted to do it but I couldnt find any good tutorials when i searched.

The_Honda_Guy

The Hayne's manual has probably the best directions for doing this, especially since they include the pictures, clearances, and torque specs. It's what I used when I did mine and it was exactly step-by-step.

Jimster480

so should I just search here for that?

The_Honda_Guy

No, I'm just saying that the Hayne's manual, which costs 15 dollars, is worth its weight in gold. Ever single car I've ever owned I had that manual for and its saved my *** numerous times. Not only does it have your wiring diagrams, but it also has your torque specs and pictures.

85_305

Pretty positive. The whole car is quiet except for the valves. It sounds like all of them, not just one si ngle valve clacking away.