I have a feeling my feeler gauges are not accurate. I've got a 91 Integra RS with 185,000 miles on it. When i adjusted the valves a while back, i had to adjust them to .003" (I) and .004" (E) otherwise the motor sounded like a diesel (valvetrain noise).

I just installed a 93 LS head/manifold/cams on my car yesterday, set the lash to the same amount (.003" and .004") - havent gotten everything 100% yet (waiting on a throttle body gasket and pcv tube) but i did fire up the motor. Doesnt make any expensive noises and seems to run well, but does make some valvetrain noise.

Could this be a case of cam lobe wear?

Thanks,

RJ

 

I have to ask...are you sure it's not injectors? (use a screwdriver against your ear).

 

you're running the specs pretty tight on the lash adjustment. I would suspect that the valvtrain noise is a result of that. At the same time it could just be your injectors, if you changed them over from the old head. Is it a ticking noise or something more agressive?

 

It was certainly the valvetrain noise - i.e. there was no noise before i set the lash, after i set them to .006" and .007" there was alot of noise.. tighten up to .003/.004", and no more noise.

For the new head i re-used all of the original components, like injectors and stuff. When the .006" feeler gauge was moving with 'slight drag' there just looked like there was too much clearance between the lobe and the rocker - the lobe was completely off the rocker.

Maybe i need a decent set of feelers (not the autozone crap)

 

that could be... I've got three sets of feelers here, just for insurance. How do the rockers and lobes look? Do you notice any flat spots? I've had a set of cams that flattened out on cyl. 3 before and they were pretty noisy. I just r&r the cam and rocker and all was fine... Also might want to note any wear on the underside of the rockers, did the valves pit the bottom excessively? These are just things that I go through to troble shoot the issue.. with me not knowing any of the previous issues.

 

They all look good, no flat spotting. Its on *all* cylinders not just one or two (then i'd be worried). when i set them to .006/.007 with slight drag, you could look down in between the rocker and the cam lobe and see a noticeable gap - looks more than .006.

RJ - ordering new feelerz

 

Well i re-adjusted them. I dont know what i did last time.... i really dont. I feel like a retard.

But they're in spec now, and they're quiet. Now i just need to get a throttle body gasket and pcv t00b and its back to 'normal'

 

non-VTEC cold clearances are supposed to be .003" IN and .006" EX. Those are the low values.

 

.006/.007 per the Helms