I noticed some guys talk about valve adjustments. I have 95K on my odometer and I just had the 90K checkup done, but they didn't do a valve adjustment.
Do I need to get one done? Pro's / Con's...

 

valve adjustment is always good if done right. i always tell my customers that they should get it done every 15-20k miles. it could prevent alot of valvetrain problems in the future due to running high rpm's and miss shifts.

 

Car will run without doing a Valve adjustment but best to get one done as preventative maintenace and to have you car running at it's full potential. It's pretty easy to do yourself. Just get a set of feeler gauges and a valve adjustment tool from Snap on for about 50 bucks and look at this page for instructions: http://www.c-speedracing.com/howto/v...alveadjust.php If you get it done at acura it will probably cost about 90-120$.

 

Unless you do this job very often, I recommend the 4-piece valve tappet adjustor set from Harbor Freight tools. It's exactly the same as the Snap-On tool, but comes with 4 different size adjustors for different valve locknuts, and it should be about $25 or less for the whole set. That's what I have and it works great.

 

you can just use the tool in the pic and a long flat head screwdriver right?

 

Yes you can use this tool but they made this tool. It's just a box wrench that they bent after heating it with a torch. So don't go into Sears looking for this tool.

 

I have tried using a wrench like that and it was EXTREMELY difficult to use. I could not get any leverage at all, and is probably what caused me to screw up my valve adjustment the first time I attempted the job. Just get the set from Harbor Freight or borrow one from a friend if you know somebody who has one. That way you'll know you're doing the job correctly.

 

This is my first time doing a valve adjustment so I am probably going to take your word for it and get the tool. Where can I get it and how much is it? My friend that I am installing my cams with has done plenty of valve adjustment on his motercycles and dirt bikes. So I don't kno if he will have a problem or not with using the bent wrench. But ill prob just go out and buy the tool. Anyone else have any experience using the bent 10mm wrench?

 

Ive used that tool with no problems. It wasnt too bad. I've used the snap on too as well, it was easier.

 

well unfortunately I just looked on the Harbor Freight website and I can't seem to find the set of valve tappet adjustors they used to sell. Your only choice for a valve tappet adjustor may indeed be Snap-On.

*edit* I just remembered that you can also buy a brake wrench set, which typically comes with a long 10mm 90-deg. offset box wrench. That's what one of my friends uses when he does valve adjustments on B-series VTEC engines. It's the one in the lower left corner of this picture, the set is only $10 from Harbor Freight.




[Modified by PatrickGSR94, 7:50 PM 1/10/2003]

 

I sell the wrenches they use at c-speed. Check my sig, for the price I sell them for, its worth it

As for the leverage, like c-speed shows, use another wrench to grip, worked great for me. And all the others that use them.

 

well if you decide to go with that method, I recommend you have someone help you. Believe me, it can get very difficult to work the feeler guage in one hand and adjust the screw with the other hand, then you have to put down the feeler guage, take the screwdriver off the screw, put the bent wrench on there and then put the screwdriver back on there (and hope you didn't move the screw), then try to get another wrench linked on there for leverage and tighten up the locknut (again hoping you didn't move the screw).

OT: holy smokes 4K posts!

 

Ya, you need a second set of hands, makes it MUCH easier. Still cheaper

 

tip: you can plug a 3/8" drive ratchet on the upper end of the wrench for more leverage. works like wonders

 

my gsr engine had about 116,500 miles on it when we did my valve adjustment.. it had never been done by the previous owners of the gsr.. so we go to do the adjustment and all the valves are loose by at least .002.. which is a lot when your talkin about valves..

Anyway.. we did the adjustment and i can feel a nice difference in the torque.. i suggest doing it soon.. and like the other guy said.. like every 15 - 20k miles after that.

 

imagine my car when I botched my first valve adjustment. When I went back a few days later to try to quiet down the insane noises it was making, I found one exhaust valve to have a clearance of at least .030"!


[Modified by PatrickGSR94, 10:43 PM 1/10/2003]

 

30 eh? thats nothing, when I opened mine to do it, most were either around 24 or 30, hahaha, stupid previous owner.

 

whaaaat my car sounded like a diesel with just one valve that far out, i couldn't imagine what yours was like

 

and i thought it was normal, lol!

 

I have a 97 LS. I am planning on adjusting my valves. My only discrepancy is the entire TDC operation. Let me get this straight, the firing order is 1-3-4-2? Meaning, I should adjust each set of valves in that particular firing order? Cylinder #1 is at TDC when the cam gear "up" indicators are @90 degrees, #3 "up" indicators @180 degrees, #4 "up" indicators@270, #2 @360?

 

your specs are totally wrong by a single 90 degree rotation. cylinder 1 is at tdc @0, 3@90, 4@180, 2@270. BTW, each rotation is counter-clockwise

 

Okay, I got the counter-clockwise part. However,on that c-speed site aren't they adjusting cylinder#1 with the "up" indicators at 90 degrees? You indicated adjusting cylinder #1 at 0 degrees.

 

Buy this tool:

http://buy.snapon.com/catalog/pro_de...re&dir=catalog


It will make valve adjusting A LOT easier for those of you with gsr's (vtec engines).

It's expensive, considering harbor freight use to sell the whole set similar to that for $20 but it will make doing the valve adjusting much easier. You still come out on top if you caculate that most Acura dealer charge between $80-$120 for a valve adjustment. Don't try and go to sears, Kragen, Pepboy, etc., looking for that snap-on tool because they don't carry it. My quest to find that sanp-on tool at my local auto-parts stores and Sears turn out fruitless.


[Modified by mickey513, 8:38 AM 3/3/2003]

 

what i meant was the arrows point straight up for tdc on the 1st cylinder and i called that 0 degrees. sorry for the confusion if there was any.