Hey guys,

I have a friend who owns an 04 Element awd automatic. He has recently told me it has been stalling on him sometimes after starting it up in the morning. He has replaced the wires,and spark plugs I believe. He found a post on the Element forum that spoke of a member having the same troubles,and the dealer allegedly adjusted the valves for him. He asked me if I knew anything about adjusting valves,which I have little knowledge about. I used to own a Dodge Cummins diesel truck with the old 12 valve mechanical diesel that required valve adjustments,but I am guessing this v-tech Honda engine is way different.

Does a valve adjustment sound like a likely culprit on this Element? He said that hea read that this issue is pretty common for the CR-v,but not so much with the E.He also said the engines in the CR-V,and Element are virtually the same,but I have no idea. I am a Mazda rotary guy which have no valves. My friend is out of warrenty,and has little money to be giving to the dealer,so I thought I would try to help him out. Is a valve adjustment easy enough? Will I need any specialty tools? I am pretty decent with a wrench,but I know my limitations. I have completely rebuilt my RX-7's over the years,but they are far different than a Honda. Any help on this would be appreciated.

Chris
79 RX-7 GS
74 REPU

 

try posting or searching on http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums
Not sure the technical info you might find, but the people are very helpful (although the forums are slow) . Only thing I can think of would be like dirty fuel filter or something that might be starving the motor of fuel. Good luck.

 

Elements dont have plug wires...they have individual coils on each plug. Some more info on the vehicle and any CEL's would help. Honda states to only do a valve adjust on these K24 engines "when noisy" but I have found that they run tight not loose in these engines which would never be "noisy". If he has a fair amount of miles and has never had a valve adjust, I would suggest it either way!

 

Thanks for the replies so far.

Could you tell me if the valve adjust is an easy job? He has 60k+ miles without a valve adjustment. I guess I mis-spoke about the wires. He told me today he just did plugs. I guess I should have realized that when he said he did a tune-up it wouldn't require plug wires,as most modern cars don't use them anymore.

My friend is a member of the element owners club,and that is where he got the info that he may need a valve adjustment. The only problem is the poster who spoke about his trouble,and the subsequent fix(valve adjust) by the dealer never gave a run down of the procedure because the dealer fixed it.

I don't believe he has any CEL illuminated in the car,but I will ask.Thanks again.

Chris
79 RX-7 GS
74 REPU

 

It isnt too bad...just do it to Honda spec...can be tricky for a beginner.