ok i just did my second valve adjustment on my 93 lx, the reason (if you didnt know) was bcause below 3k rpms i had no power and reallly bad shaking at idle.


i used the wood piece trick to find TDC, and upon using this i found out that 3 out of 4 cylenders were WAY WAY WAY off TDC when i adjusted them. so after readjusting i put everything back together and fired it up.


it idles so smooth now, no shaking whatsoever. and it runs perfect, i have power below 3k now

BUT....this thing is ticking loud as no other now...i think i may have gotten them a little to loose but i dont wanna go through the trouble of tearing it apart again.

is it safe to run the engine with it ticking like that, with the adjustment a little on the loose side (im guessing the rocker arms are slapping the valve springs causing the noise)

i dont wanna take it apart again to possibly skrew up and have to do it again, its running great now just the tick (not the cartoon tick)

TIA

 

If the valve lash is too great, it's not inconceivable the the tip of the effected valve and it's associated adjuster screw would hammer out, mushrooming both. I've also seen where a valve split keeper popped loose from the impact. I've only seen it once, but it could happen.
Come Saturday, why not give the GF (or wife) a few bucks to go shopping (she'll love u for that), grab a few brews and commune with your ride as you finish up on your valve lash adjustments. It's too nice a car to abuse like that !!

P

 

trouble??? you don't want to go through the trouble?? my friend there are only 4 nuts ,spark plug wires ,pcv valve, and a breather hose to remove ,, if it takes you 5 minutes it is a minute too long ,,,,,Do the job properly, readjust the valves ,,, and make sure all the rocker arms nuts are tight

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93cb7sedan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i dont wanna take it apart again to possibly skrew up and have to do it again, its running great now just the tick (not the cartoon tick)
TIA</TD></TR></TABLE>Come on, it's just 4 acorn nuts and 4 ibuprofen.

 

well P im not married, no girlfriend, and no body who ever wants to work on the car with me.

as far as it being a 5 minute job. you sir are wrong. this is only my second time doing it, i work 5 days a week and cant just do things when i want.

will it be ok to run it like this for 4 days

 

I need to replace the tube rings and valvecover seal sometime soon and was readingon cb7tuner that when I do that I'll need to remove the rocker assbly. and then when im done with the new orings I'll need to readjust the valves...does that sound right? I know I need to do it because I can smell oil when I get out of my car and I have a puddle under it every night but im kinda afraid to do anything "in" the motor, I need this as my DD and I have plans for it soon.

 

Hey, thats truely a Bummer. I was just trying to be encouraging. As to all that other stuff.....
All I can say is don't let it go too long. It will lead to no good.

Enough said

P

 

yeah, i mean im trying to sell the car, so i cant just leave it. fixing it my first day off work.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Conspiracy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I need to replace the tube rings and valvecover seal sometime soon and was readingon cb7tuner that when I do that I'll need to remove the rocker assbly. and then when im done with the new orings I'll need to readjust the valves...does that sound right? I know I need to do it because I can smell oil when I get out of my car and I have a puddle under it every night but im kinda afraid to do anything "in" the motor, I need this as my DD and I have plans for it soon. </TD></TR></TABLE>

i recently did this (which is why i needed to do a valve adjustment)

it was the very first thing i ever did to a car mechanically.

that writeup on CB7 tuner is great, just follow it exactly (there are pictures on pages 2 and 3) when removing the rocker arm assembly, i had to hit it with a rawhide mallet to break it loose. but once done it was easy as hell to do.

back on topic.

at least i have found the easiest way to tell when the cylinders are at TDC, so next time i should be able to get the valve adjustment right on...hopefully.

 

Your safe to drive it . It's not fixing to explode or mushroom the tappets though I'm sure it's driving you crazy. Valve adjustment takes alot of FEEL and patience. A strong back helps also.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Conspiracy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I need to replace the tube rings and valvecover seal sometime soon and was readingon cb7tuner that when I do that I'll need to remove the rocker assbly. and then when im done with the new orings I'll need to readjust the valves...does that sound right? I know I need to do it because I can smell oil when I get out of my car and I have a puddle under it every night but im kinda afraid to do anything "in" the motor, I need this as my DD and I have plans for it soon. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Are you refering to the upper or lower tube seals? If you're referring to the lowers, then yes, you'll need to do all that. But if your referring to the upper tube seals, then no... you just need to remove the valve cover, pop the old seals out of the inside of the valve cover, push the new seals in, replace the valve cover gasket and put the valve cover back on.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93cb7sedan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i used the wood piece trick to find TDC</TD></TR></TABLE>

What exactly is the "wood piece trick"? Never heard of it before.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TouringAccord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
What exactly is the "wood piece trick"? Never heard of it before.</TD></TR></TABLE>He's talking about sticking a dowel in the spark plug hole to find TDC.

 

oh, haha, ok. Never heard of that.

I couldn't think of what your going to do with a piece of wood and all I could picturing for some reason was a piece of 2x4.

 

When you are under the wheel well turning the crank, it's alot easier to just watch the dowel rise than to look for timing marks on the other side of the motor.

 

yes, and when i had cylindars 2 3 and 4 at TDC the valves were SOOOO TIGHT i couldnt stick a .008 in there, thats how much the dowel helped.

i just callled it a piece of wood because i couldnt remember the word dowel

 

Most mistakes are made while locking the nut back down. To hold the adjuster screw steady, it may be helpful to use a square shank screwdriver with a small end-wrench over the shank to give you more advantage and visual perspective while locking the nuts down. And always recheck the clearance after you lock it down.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Honda-Master &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">trouble??? you don't want to go through the trouble?? my friend there are only 4 nuts ,spark plug wires ,pcv valve, and a breather hose to remove ,, if it takes you 5 minutes it is a minute too long ,,,,,Do the job properly, readjust the valves ,,, and make sure all the rocker arms nuts are tight </TD></TR></TABLE>

sir i think you forgot you have to rotate the crank pulley to get TDC for all of the cylinder.

and to cb7, i had to redo the my valve lash adjustment within a week of my first

14lbs for the nuts i think

 

i was afraid to use my trq wrench on them too much because it could twist the skrew, i tightened them down and just barely used the trq wrench to get them within 12- 14 lbs

im getting the hang of it, just a pain to have to take it apart, do it, put it together...damn wrong again, do all over

 

When I was in college I had a 77 Ford Grenada with a 250 I-6 that had the Carter YF carb on it. It was way too big and was supposed to only be on their 300 I-6. It had an incredible idle surge accompanied by the richest smelling exhaust you've ever smelled. I soldered the jet up and redrilled a smaller hole through it. It solved the idle surge but crap was always getting stuck in the jet. I had to take the carb apart daily for months and could do it in the dark or with my eyes closed. Went from a 30 min job to about a 3 minute job. I finally swapped it with a motorcraft carb and problem was solved. The moral is at least your gaining experience and proficiancy that will transfer to every other mechanical job you do.