ever wonder why the dealerships/shops charge $xxx for a valve adjustment? ever wonder why it took so long? Did you read the c-speedracing article with valve adjustments? it looks easy. (but its not...) maybe everyone is just slow, or better yet, TOO careful with their motors...for some reason.

I wont pretend I know the workings of this motor ...i'll leave that to the pros, such as SGT... but I will try to describe this from a regular joe perspective.

i still consider myself a real fucktard of a noob, but a little while ago, someone had been nice and kind enough to offer me a tutorial of how to perform a valve adjustment. (thank you senor magia hat nuevo )

So I took up the offer. Not only to get it done, but i've always wondered what it entails, and why it takes so relatively long.

Well, no real tricks here. valve adjustment is easier done with similiar tools in the links below, and is accurately described in the link above at cspeed:

feeler gauges

valve adjustment doodad tool thingy

to keep this short and simple, its not brain surgury, nor does the cost involve a lot of part costs. what a good valve adjustment takes is time, and well, lots of it especially if your not a pro at it

the bottom line is getting the clearance between the camshaft and the rocker arms on the exhaust/intake valves as close as you can, within spec....and to do this is a PITA, b/c there isnt a science to it, and its lots of trial and error. All the rocker arms seem to tighen at a a different rate....so if you are thinking theres a "feel" for all your valves, you may be setting yourself up for trouble. This is essentially why it takes very long to get the valves adjusted as "tight" as possible.

It was a lot of time and effort put in on my friends part ...and my part. (i'd say more his part trying to explain/show the process to me) Either way, the 3-4 hours we spent on the whole ordeal.... some of the valves i just could not get into remote proper spec...we sat there trying 4-6 times before it was done right...and then we sat there smiling with relief at one another like 2 ambiguously gay men...thats how annoying it was

So, if you are an enthusiast coming onto h-t looking for the best method to yield the best results for your motor/car performance, no matter what time it takes, doing your own valve adjustment is just worth it, as i can see someone else working on your car at dealerships/shops not getting the closest to the specs as one would like....which probably wont cause issues....but potentially causing a relatively significant power loss (loss you can actually feel). from 9miles on the clock, to 23k~ miles on the vehicle, the valve clearances were way off. you could literally shove a 0.008" gauge into the intake side and still have lots of play.

now, if your the kind of guy who drives a type R because its a "type R" and just want to look "pimpin" to pick "da bitches y0", then dont waste your time. pay the $125~ at the shops/dealerships and be done with it. its definately not worth it if you do not track, nor really never go past 4000 rpms in the vehicle unless in 5th gear.

its something definately worthwhile if you enjoy learning/working about your car, but definately not worth it just to drive it to the grocery store and back only. I am not a track *****...not by far... but I am an avid learner, and well, I am beginning to get my feet wet with HPDE's and such.

Thanks to Magic Hat #9....for the schooling, the pizza, and the beer... and showing me your very nice poor mans hut

I'll probably get flamed for this useless post but i could really care less.

edit: one other nice trick we found was, if you use a 0.007 feeler for the intake and 0.008 for the exhaust...when you tighten it down, you will have a better chance at getting a nice valve adjustment, and not needing to redo it! (basically take the next feeler up to measure)


Modified by Soup **** at 12:51 PM 7/31/2003

 

you actually posted something worthwhile

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Fuzznuts &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you actually posted something worthwhile </TD></TR></TABLE>

the hell are you doing back on this board

 

yeah, the mechanics of a valve adjustment are easy enough to learn, but like all jobs, getting to know the proper "feel" and technique are things that only come with experience.

For that reason, I never let anyone else work on my car unless I'm sure I can't do the job... which is very seldom.

learning to do your own work is something you will carry from car to car for the rest of your life. that and knowing you are keeping your car in tip top shape...

 

good thread, i can totally agree with this. I've done 3 valve adjustments and im still not sure how tight it should be. Feeler gauges just give a moderate idea on how tight they should be. one thing thats really hard to feel for is how tight the feeler gauge is because there's no way to measure how much " drag" you are supposed to feel.

VTEC heads suck too because the adjustment screw is so far down into the head, getting a normal tool down there with enough room to work with is just tough.
Some of you guys i've met at the BBQ's and meets know how my car ticks. Im still wondering if im gettin the right clearance or if something else is the problem.

I like gettin my hands dirty and driving my car cause i like driving it ( im sure most of you who live around me know ) hard and cause i like flexing her powers every now and then.
Good post, something i've been dying to say for a while

 

I double check the gaps by trying to lightly insert the next size up feeler gauge. Intake is .006" so after I torque the jam nut I check with a .006" feeler AND a .007" feeler. If the .007" goes in, try again. If not, then the gap is .006"- .007"

 

^^ good call, valve adjustments are not for the impatient!!

-Bryan-

 

way to go tom, i just learned this recently as well. its a good feeling to do it yourself and get it right. the car feels more responsive and is a lot quieter too.

now if I can just build up the courage pull my tranny and try to fix my clutch problems...

 

I dont know if this was mention above; but <U>remember to remove the wrench from
the crank pully</U> !! If have a bad memory (like me) put a shirt over the wheel to help you
remember.

Ryan-Who learned the hard way

 

takes me no more than an hour to do my valve adjustments on my gsr.. I also used the c-speedracing.com instructions and found them very helpful.. i also have the snap on tool and feeler guages.. the trick is to stay within the size of the feeler guage and in order to make it tight as possible stay within. So for example .006 fits in great no problem, .007 fits in smoothly, however .008 will not at all.. then you know youve done it right.. Another thing most people dont know is that it isnt mandatory to take out your spark plugs, nor is it mandatory to find TDC by turning the crank.. Its a hell of alot easier to adjust from the cam sprockets themselves..just make sure your belt is nice n tight.. but not too tight, i went through 1 tensioner already.. hehe

 

Yea, you can bearly fit a car in that shed of Aaron's... get a real garage d00d!!!!

Soupy - I guess you've given up on me doing your valve adjustmant?

 

What the hell Tom??

I think this thread should be deleted for its usefulness.

Anyhoo, Clayton did my Valve adjustment at the expo. I helped, watched, learned, turned the engine, did a few myself. I'll admit it - it was intimidating the first time even with instructions - I'm glad clayton helped and showed me the way.

Anyhoo, if you take your time it isn't that bad. But you have to be thorough, and sometimes doing something for the first time, you tend to do it to fast or not be attentive to details.

 

0O0OOOHH AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!!!!!!!!!!! make sure the engine is cold!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kamil &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yea, you can bearly fit a car in that shed of Aaron's... get a real garage d00d!!!!

Soupy - I guess you've given up on me doing your valve adjustmant? </TD></TR></TABLE>

with a name like kamil, of course i had to decline!

(sorry dude~! i forgot you had offered also! )

 

Here's my lessons learned after doing 3 valve adjustments in a span of 2 weeks on my car out of paranoia...

- When sliding the feeler gauge between the rocker arm and the cam lobe, do not do it in a left to right motion (distributor to cam gears). It should be done in an up and down motion (firewall to front of car).

- When putting back the valve cover, make sure that the valve cover gasket does not get dislodged. If this happens, there's a potential for the gasket to get be positioned in a way that the valve cover can tear into it causing a leak.

If it's you're 1st time, make sure you have some BenGay because 4 hours of leaning over will jack up your back for a couple days.

 

Good job Tom. You'll get quicker the more you do it. I'm down to about 1.5 hrs beginning to end, but I still haven't figured out how to do it without scraping up my knuckles.

Here's a tip to make life easier: instead of bending over to turn the crank with a socket on the crank pulley (which isn't fun), use a long wrench on the power steering pulley to turn the crank.

 

only issue im having with it is the tighening of the adjustment nut, as if it loosens itself up because its not tight enough. i always have to pop the valve cover a few days later to check if the clearance on the valves are still the same.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 216.226.142.95:27016 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">only issue im having with it is the tighening of the adjustment nut, as if it loosens itself up because its not tight enough. i always have to pop the valve cover a few days later to check if the clearance on the valves are still the same. </TD></TR></TABLE>

You're not torquing them back to spec.

I've *never* had this problem.

 

Oh another tip I learned from MPH...to find TDC, put a long screwdriver in the sparkplug hole (assuming you took out the sparkplugs) and watch it go up and down as you turn the crank pulley.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Soup **** &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I wont pretend I know the workings of this motor ....

i still consider myself a real fucktard of a noob,


...and then we sat there smiling with relief at one another like 2 ambiguously gay men...

</TD></TR></TABLE>

That was all I read

&lt;edit&gt;Sorry, couldn't pass up the opportunity to poke some fun at Soup ****

 

wow, help a guy with his motor and your sexuality comes into question, haha!

we found that everytime we torqued soup's motor, the adjustment screw would tighten and become out of spec. therefore, we adjusted the motor 0.001in too loose and upon torquing, the screw would be set perfectly. i bet soup's whole motor was 0.003-0.004in too loose on all the valves.

the best way to preserve your back is to completely jack up the car (both ends) as high as possible - it helps!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by magic hat #9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the adjustment screw would tighten and become out of spec. therefore, we adjusted the motor 0.001in too loose and upon torquing, the screw would be set perfectly. </TD></TR></TABLE>

were you using the valve adj. tool or a homemade bent box end wrench?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CPR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Oh another tip I learned from MPH...to find TDC, put a long screwdriver in the sparkplug hole (assuming you took out the sparkplugs) and watch it go up and down as you turn the crank pulley.</TD></TR></TABLE>

argh... what is wrong with using the marks on the crank and/or camgear?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 216.226.142.95:27016 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i always have to pop the valve cover a few days later to check if the clearance on the valves are still the same. </TD></TR></TABLE>

oh god this thread is scary...

 

Good post man!

how soon (mileage wise) would you say you need to do a valve adj.?? or does it just depend on driving habits etc?