So I pulled the valve cover off of my Dohc Zc engine because I just bought the car and it was leaking bad enough to cause a mess so I thought I would take the valve cover off to clean/paint and put a new gasket on.

Ofcourse I wanted to touch all the the tiny engine parts inside, as its been awhile since I seen inside a honda engine, and this is my first dohc motor.

I noticed a few of my "valves" (I know Im not using the correct term dunno what to call them) have alot of play in them. Just by wiggling them, but some of them do not move at all, most had this ammount of play though

http://youtu.be/vX_a5n0ViIs

Is this normal? I bought the car a week ago and havent heard it run since because I took the rad/battery out for replacement and am working on the body right now so I dont even remember if the car had loud valves or not when I test drove it. But it definetely ran smooth.

While I have the valve cover off, should I adjust the valve lash (obviously never done that either, but I have the tools) or should I just leave it be?

 

those are the lifters....yes some movement is normal depending where the cam lobe is facing. you might want to do a valve adjustment since you have the valve cover off. some of that movement may go away after a proper adjustment.

get a service manual and follow instructions on how to properly adjust those....or ask someone who has done it before to help you.

 

those are not lifters... Honda engines do not use lifters. Those are rocker arms.

It looks about right to be honest. May as well do a valve adjustment while you have the VC off. Only takes about 20 mins.

 

20 mins lol, to do 16 valves is gonna take me all day the first time, which is no big deal. Im just the type of person that needs reassurance Im doing the right thing haha