Obviously if it shows up right after I worked on it, then I must have done something wrong, but I can't figure out what...

So my TSX has 127,000 miles on it. Being well past the recommended scheduled valve adjustment, I thought I'd better do that. My gas mileage seems to have dropped off, so I thought this might help.

So, after I let the car sit about two hours to cool off (possible screw up #1... is that long enough?), I popped off the valve cover and went to work.

I used a .009 feeler on the intake side, and a .011 feeler on the exhaust side. resistance is subjective, but I would call the drag I was shooting for as 'slight'.

I got #1 to TDC, did cylinder #1, and then progressed to 3, 4 and 2 after both rotating the engine 180 degrees, and visually confirming that the lobe on the cam was pointed up.

Suspiciously, I discovered all 16 valves were too tight. I could not fit the feeler under any cam on all 4 valves on each cylinder, at all. Each one took .5 to .75 worth of a loosening rotation, to get what I could best determine was in spec... each feeler could slide easily in and out, but there was noticeable drag.

Buttoned everything back up, started it up, and sweet jesus the valvetrain is loud now. I know that a Honda's valves should be loud, but this is too loud.

So, questions:
- Is a loud valvetrain a system of valves being too loose?
- If I wait until tomorrow night to get back at it (I am tired, have work early in the morning) , will driving on (possibly) too loose valves damage the engine?
- How much resistance should I REALLY be shooting for when I shove a feeler in there?
- Initially I was worried I didn't wait long enough for the car to get COMPLETELY cooled off, but I have read that the valves loosen when they get hot, and tighten up when they get cold. Is that accurate? Or is it possible that I found them all too tight because the engine was still too warm?
Thanks in advance.

 

Did you check the lash at the valve or at the cam lobe?

 

K series adjustment is completely different from the way you adjust a b series. Did you check between the valve and rocker?

 

I've never touched a B-series. I checked between the cam lobe and the rocker, like my H22, and like the service manual described.

 

that's not how you do it on a roller rocker setup. the service manual agrees with me.

 

 

*****



Man I just read 'insert the feeler gauge....' and glanced at the pic, figured it was the same as my H22.

Soooo


At least I know what I did wrong

Thanks guys

 

there's one other thing too; you should be using the go/no-go method, not just relying on drag of the feeler.
stock spec gives you a range of clearance. you want it set so the smaller spec size feeler fits with some drag, but the largest spec size feeler does not fit (or fits with extreme drag) or the next size larger does not fit at all (0.001" larger than max stock spec).

IE: my engine has 0.003"-0.005" lash spec on intake side. so for mine, the 0.003" feeler should fit but the 0.005" feeler should not fit.

also, 2 hours of cool off time may or may not be enough. when adjusting valve lash, the entire engine needs to be below 100 degreesF. in warmer climates it can take over 5 hours to reduce to below this temp.