My mechanic indicated that I have a lifter noise in my 97 civic LX (stock aobut 140k miles). They indicated I should use an oil additive that might help (off the top of my head I can't rememeber the product name).

Is this the right advice? Does anyone have any other advice? I'm taking my car in for an oil change tomorrow to a dealership and they said Honda doesn't recomend additives (not that you can't use em)

Thanks!!!

 

I run lucas oil stabilizer quiets my loud valvetrain...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 92nahatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I run lucas oil stabilizer quiets my loud valvetrain... </TD></TR></TABLE>

maybe it does, but what it does best is foam up your oil so you don't get proper lubrication. Check this place out. Bobistheoilguy.com


Honda DOES NOT recommend any additives in their engines.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EG2Driver &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">maybe it does, but what it does best is foam up your oil so you don't get proper lubrication. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Indeed.

Aberle99, when was the last time a valve adjustment was performed on your engine? What oil do you run?

 

I really don't know what has been done to the car other than what I have done as I got the car in July with 137k miles on it. I have had the muffler replaced and the oil was changed once by a Honda Dealership... so I am not sure what they used.

The car runs pretty darn good for a daily driver, but now I need to change the pads and rotors (doing that myself for the first time) and fix a small oil leak.

 

Well, I think the first thing you should try is a valve adjustment, and I'd also put a timing belt change on the list.

 

valve adjustment is good advice. aside from that if they still make noise, you may need to replace the loss motion assembly.

 

I'll look into that, but honestly I am looking for this car to last me another 6 months and then I am moving out of the country, so while I absolutely love this car.. more so than I thought I would (wish I had discovered the joys of Hondas earlier), I want to put as little money as possible into it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EG2Driver &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

maybe it does, but what it does best is foam up your oil so you don't get proper lubrication. Check this place out. Bobistheoilguy.com


Honda DOES NOT recommend any additives in their engines.</TD></TR></TABLE>
My car runs like shitt when i do not add the additive

 

pretty sure there isn't a lost motion assym. on the y7 which is in the LX.

also you don't have lifters... it's a honda. you have rocker arms and they may need adjustment but additives won't adjust your valves. if you feel confident and spend the few moments learning the procedure you can do the adjustment yourself or have the dealer or import specialist do it.

the guy is trying to sell you stuff. it's part of his job. can't blame him...

 

go to checker and get:
Manual $20
Feeler gauges $10
RTV gasket sealer $4

Then grab a 10mm box wrench, flathead screw driver, a ratchet with a 17mm socket and go to town. It's much easier if you take your spark plugs out when doing valve lash, as the engine turns over more easily. Just make sure the engine is COLD when you do it. Before it's run for the day is best.

Just remember to clean all the oil off the head where the valve cover gasket meets it, and put a dab of RTV at the corners of the cam caps so it doesn't leak. It shouldn't take more than an hour if you take your time.

 

I'll be honest - recommending a guy who isn't familiar with Hondas to adjust his valves might not be the best advice, sorry.

Adjusting valves is something that takes a bit of feeling to get it right. It's not like a simple job where as long as you remove and replace everything in order the job is good to go. If you aren't sure about what TDC means, or if you don't have that feeling with the feeler gauges then measurements/readings won't mean anything, and the job can go bad in an instant.

I'd ask the dealeship to adjust the valves for you.

...and oil additives? No thanks. For the guy whose car runs like crap off the additive - I think it's all in your head. I'd like to see a dyno chart of yor engine on he additive vs. off the additive. I'm betting the results would be identical.

 

Thanks for the advice folks!!!

 

you might find this link useful. I know i did. Since you only need the car to run for 6 months, try and adjusting the valves. Its not hard when you think about it.

http://importnut.net/valveadjust.htm

Additives do absolutely nothing....check your facts, and not those put out by the company who makes the additive in question. Save your money!