I have a 2000 4cyl Accord. I am about to have the timing belt package done for the 105K at a dealer, and I was wondering, is it worth having the valve clearance checked for an extra $125? I have had no problems with the engine yet, and have not heard any unusual noise.

 

If your not down for doing it yourself, then yes, it's well worth the money. Sometimes the valves tighten up instead of loosening, so you wouldn't hear any peculiar noise until you burned up an exhaust valve. It's cheap insurance to make sure everything is in spec.

 

Is there a tut on how to do that? I've never attempted it before.

 

Accord FAQ sticky

 

Do the valves at this mileage get out of spec very often?

I am not down to do it myself since I would have to buy a bunch of tools and don't really have the space to do the timing belt job. Since the valves will already be exposed for the timing belt change, I guess the clearance check might as well just be done by the tech.

 

At 105K miles I would certainly recommend a valve clearance check/adjustment (maintenance schedule says every 27K miles but many dealers ignore this).
Labour cost is relatively high because for each of the 16 valves it takes a couple of check/adjust steps to get the correct clearance.
If your valve clearance is out of spec you will feel the difference after the adjustment: throttle response will be better.