Hey Guys,

I've got 118k miles and counting (fast!) on my TSX and I'm trying to figure out how to tell exactly when I need to do a valve clearance adjustment. I know the maintenance schedule states "when noisy", but what constitutes "noisy" exactly? Are there any other signs that it might be needed?

FWIW, I average 30-33 MPG on the highway, and I usually average 28-30 MPG a tank (I do a majority of highway driving).

Is there any documentation that goes over performing a valve clearance adjustment? Perhaps it's something I should check anyway?

 

noisy is when you start hearing valve clicking/chatter under the hood. The valve cover is somewhat of a bitch to pull off the car. The engine doesn't really give a whole lot of room to just use a 10mm wrench and screw driver so a 10mm valve adjustment tool would come in handy. If I remember, the valve lash specs are something like .23mm intake and .27mm exhaust +- .02mm. I use a .25mm feeler gauge (one step bigger/smaller is out of spec on my feeler gauge set) all around.

 

The valve lash specs can also be found under the hood.

 

The maintainence schedule for the '04 says valve adjust and spark plugs at 110K miles. If they've never been done it's a good idea to check them. Loose will cause noise, which is not a huge worry, but tight can cause misfires, burned valves etc.

 

The recommended interval for the 05 is for adjustment at 110K miles (earlier if noisy)(it's in the owner's manual). I'd assume it's the same for the 04. I struggled with having this done (mine is an 05 and it was done at 110K) because I didn't seem to notice any undue noise. But.... I've always followed the recommended maintenance schedule and decided to go ahead and have it done. And though I'm capable of doing it myself, to be honest, I didn't want to deal with the hassle. I had my dealer do it (for around $300). High? Maybe, but this dealer has always given me great service and I didn't really care what it cost (within reason of course).

 

I suppose if I continued to take my car to the dealer they would've recommended it at 110k. I started doing my own maintenance after the 90k service. I've been following the severe maintenance schedule and it was one of the inspection items at 110k. I haven't noticed any unusual engine "clatter" so I didn't think much of it at the time.

Maybe I'll take a look at this weekend if I can find some literature on it (maybe I'll finally break down and order the HELMS manual, lol). I'm pretty mechanically inclined, but I've never actually done this before (otherwise why would I be asking about it? lol).

 

I was at 110K this past summer. Got the valves adjusted at the dealer for $197, completed in 3hrs.

 

Any noticeable difference PACman? I would assume that my valves were adjusted at around 92,000km when I had the entire head rebuilt prior to getting a new shortblock beneath it for warranty reasons). But if its worth at least trying, I'd gladly pop my valve cover off and perform it this winter in my garage one day.

 

$197? I'll have to call the dealers around where I live to see what it costs. I wonder if the Honda dealer in town services Acuras. I'll have to call them too. Otherwise, it's 30 or so miles to the nearest Acura dealer.

Though, it might be fun to do it myself.

EDIT: The local Honda dealer will do it for $180.

 

No noticeable difference. It drives and sounds like it did prior to that service.

 

Bringing this thread back to life....

I'm getting ready to adjust the valves on our 2005 TSX and I saw this tool, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK7_tih9sUU.

I emailed the company and they said it will work as long as it is a standard valve. I have some decent mechanic experience but wasn't sure if the Acura valves are standard whatever that means.

Thanks for the help.
Brad

 

I just adjusted my valves 3 weeks ago, and they would be considered standard valves. That is they don't have shims to replace, just a standard screw with a 10mm lock nut. I used a Snap-on tool similar to the one in the video, except no ratcheting ability. I had a lot of valve train noise prior, but I believe most of it was the timing chain, which I replaced at the same time and it runs like new now. BTW it's an '04 with 185,000Km (115K miles).

 

Thanks! I may do the chain as well. There is also a strange metal rattling sound that comes from the engine bay at all times, cold or hot. It doesn't sounds like it is coming direct from the engine if that makes sense but maybe it is... I've tried to find it on many occasions to locate it with zero success. I'm just trying to avoid taking it to the dealer and continuing to do the work myself if possible.

 

did you leave your car into the garage the night before,car must sit still for 15-20hours to do the valves properly

 

The car was in my home garage the night before going to the dealer. Drove the morning of service to the Acura dealer, and left it there for same day service.

 

no use and the dealer or service manager should know better i would at a guess say they never even looked at the valves. thw car has to left overnite in garage

 

Honda's guidelines for adjusting the valves on any of their DOHC engines state that the temperature of the engine needs to be below 100 degrees F (I have no idea how you determine this). But...... I'd say it's a pretty good bet that as long as the engine feels fairly cool, you're good to go. And..... I'm pretty sure that letting a car sit for 3 or 4 hours or overnight will accomplish the same thing. Be it an engine or a glass of water, it will cool off (or warm up) to whatever the ambient temperature is and stay there, and it won't take overnight to do this. The "needs to sit overnight" thing sounds like urban myth/old wives's tale to me (and a dealer or service manager should know better).

 

I'm about to do a valve adjustment, but I have a question. When you put the motor to TDC, you have the punch holes pointing up and the lines on the cam gears pointing at each other so you know they're aligned perfectly. Now when you turn the crank to adjust cylinder 3, what do you look at to make sure it's perfectly aligned? Do you just eye ball it from there or are there other marks you can line it up to? Do you have to be exactly on point?

 

The orientation of the punch marks matters on all 4 cylinders. But I would also recommend putting a very long screwdriver down into each cylinder you are adjusting the valves for (tape the tip to prevent scratching the top of the piston). This allows you to be a bit more accurate as I found that aligning the punch marks was iffy, at best. I did the valve adjustment on a cold engine using just the punch marks, and it didn't come out right (there was ticking on two or more valves afterwards). I re-did the adjustment a few days later using the screwdriver-in-cylinder method and it came out perfectly.
I'd tell you the orientation of the punch marks, but I don't have my Helm's manual handy right now - its at work.

 

Thanks Curls, I'll try that.

 

has anyone any pics of this been done

 

http://www.vtec.net/articles/view-ar...icle_id=143824
http://forums..com/showthread.php?t=738520
http://www.scribd.com/doc/25521097/Valve-Lash-04-08-TSX

Ok, I have aftermarket pulley's and I'm not sure if the marks on the pulley are off or my cam gear is off. When the cam gears are at TDC the arrow pointing at the mark on the crank pulley is off.

If the cam gear is off, wouldn't there be a check engine light coming on?

 

Well I put in an 06 intake cam and did the valve adjustment. I followed Curls method, but I used a thick long wooden chop stick instead.

I first set everything at TDC, put the chopstick in the #1 cylinder and marked the chopstick from the top of the spark plug cylinder. From there I just used that as a guide for the rest of the cylinder. Worked out great.

One problem I have after the install is that I have a slight whine/whirring sound now. It increases as I rev the motor. You can hear it during idle also. Sounds like it's coming from the head, but I can't really pin point exactly where. It drives and idles just fine, no cel's or anything.

 

Everyone at my shop takes off the valve cover, lays shop fan on motor and cools the engine while we do the rest of the service. By the time we get it down it's usually cool to the touch for adj.

 

Yup. Valve adjustments are suppose to be done with the engine "cold"

 

I have an '06 with 168,000 miles...changed plugs at 100k and started experiencing noise from the engine about a year ago...coincided with poor gas mileage compared to what I used to get.

I've found a Honda tech who says he can adjust my valves for $200; he also says they'll likely be more noisy than before, but it will improve engine efficiency.

Is he right? Will my engine be even more noisy?

Thanks to all for your comments. I'd like to keep the car to give to my son who will start driving in 2 years...other than minor maintenance, this is the most reliable car I've ever owned, it's still in great mechanical (other than the valve noise) and cosmetic shape, and I've always used Castrol Syntec or EDGE (and never went under 10% oil life remaining).

It's a great car - best I've ever owned. I think it's probably worth investing in...if only because I know its history and have babied it since buying it used from an Autonations dealer in West Palm in 2009. Neighbor has a newer ILX and says it'd be a great first car for a new driver.

Show of hands...opinions...good car?

 

I've had/have two. An 05 (bought new) that was bulletproof that I sold after 8 years with 178K miles on it (still ran great with not much more that maintenance and /wear and tear for service) and an 07 with 240K miles on it that I still drive (bought that one new too). I would definitely recommend keeping yours and you should take good care of it. I'm around your age and have owned a ton of cars over the years, and I wouldn't disagree with you. Probably the "best" cars I've ever had. The valve noise thing sounds sketchy to me: I'd check around. Maybe check a few Honda/Acura dealers for a price quote. The only reason they'd be noisy (my guess anyway) is that they're loose.