Last night I did a valve adjustment for the first time on my car. I did it for two reasons:

1. It was time - it had not been done for ~30,000 miles (maintenance schedule says 15,000 I think)
2. I heard a "tapping" which I thought might have been the valve rockers.

I thought the tapping was because the adjustments were loosening up over time. However when I made the adjustments, I found I had to loosen most rockers by .001 to hit the middle of the spec range (intake: .007"-.009", exhaust: .009"-.011" IIRC). So much for the tapping being caused for loose rockers. So this leads me to a new thought: maybe the purpose of the valve lash adjustment (at least in my d16a6) is

• because the valve seat actually wears faster than the rocker components
• necessary to prevent burning a valve.

So my question: when doing a valve adjustment, do you usually have to loosen or tighten the valve lash adjustments?

Thanks!

 

valve seats

 

Thanks for the feedback!

 

So did the tapping go away?

 

^ x2, I have a tapping too, doing a valve adjustment next week

 

usually the valves get tighter not looser, your motor is acting normal,

 

Right Usually valves get tighter....when I adjust my valves I adjust them on the looser side of the specs....

 

Strangely, I think it did.

If so, I can't explain why. I adjusted to the middle-tight side of the range. Maybe it is just a more even tapping from all the valves and I'm not able to perceive a single valve tapping "out of tune." Sorry I don't have a better answer.

Here is one recommendation: If you haven't bought feeler gauges yet, you might want to try the bent style. I used the straight kind and it was difficult to access some of the back valves.



Also, the tube housing the wires for the fuel injectors was in the way for the rear (intake) valves. In retrospect, I might unplug the injectors and unbolt the tube next time around.

Make sure you have a flat-head screwdriver and a 10mm open ended wrench available. I realized my tool set only had 12mm and up, but luckily I had a 10mm in my MISC toolbox.

Also, if you have a really long socket extension, you can reach the crank pulley and the extension will fit past the wheel and be in good access if you turn the wheels all the way to the left. If you don't have the extension, no biggie, but you will need to reach into the wheel well every time you turn the engine.

One problem I had was that I was not able to remove my timing belt cover. The bolts were seized, and I was risking breaking the plastic housing. The bolts look innocent, but you might want to soak them up with penetrating oil just in case. Removing the timing belt cover is helpful for getting the engine at TDC. Because I couldn't see the marks on the timing gear, I just watched for the valve to open, and rotated the crankshaft half a turn.

I removed the spark plugs so I could turn over the engine more easily. I found oil in the spark plug holes, so I hope the sealant I applied helps prevent this in the future. I also found that the aluminum "caps" on the spark plugs were loose, so I tightened them. The combination of removing the oil and tightening the caps seems to have made the d16a6 happy! For what it's worth, you might want to apply anti-seize to the spark plug threads if/when you have them out.

I know the lengthy response isn't necessary for most, but if it helps someone, !