My 2001 Cl type S has 235,000 miles. Other than normal maintenance, the car has been wonderful. New transmission at 110,000 miles (warranty). Timing belt replaced at factory intervals. CEL recently came on, my mechanic says it could need an expensive valve adjustment. Is this normal for these engines? Would the need for a valve adjustment cause the CEL to come on? VSA also comes on? Thanks in advance for anyone's input.

 

Valve adjustment is part of the 105k service. Check with your local dealer, mine would charge me about 300.
As for the cause of the CEL, the only way to know is to pull the code.

 

agreed. valve adjustments should have been made when timing belt was done.

get the code read at an auto parts store.
then report back with code and description.


sounds like your mechanic is just guessing. the check engine light code is the first thing he should have checked to narrow down what's wrong

 

He could be guessing, mechanic says code is for intermittent cylinder misfire. Possibly a bad coil. Engine has new platinum plugs.

 

at that mileage a valve adjustment is good maintenance and will make the car run optimally. However my guess that's not the reason for the code.

Did the code read a certain cylinder misfire? Did the code come up right after doing the plugs?

 

Nope, it ran fine for a several months after plugs. I didn't drop any of the coils ... I was careful. My mechanics reader says random or intermittent cylinder misfire. The CEL came on after having the rear motor mount replaced and one of the side mounts replaced which should be unrelated to the CEL. Possibly take it to a parts shop and have them pull the codes for a second opinion?

 

I had same issue few months ago. Mine had 107k mi at the time, all I did was clean intake manifold and EGR ports with carb cleaner and the codes went away.

 

valves being out of adjustment can most definitely cause a misfire. I've seen clearances too tight; so tight that there's no clearance at all and the valve just stays open all the time. so, with the experiences that I've had, 80% of misfires on these cars are fixed with spark plugs and valve adjustment. And I don't mean crappy spark plugs that fail after 6 months, I mean good spark plugs from the dealer. I haven't seen any other spark plugs go 105,000 miles other than dealer plugs. Also, EGR ports like to get clogged. clean those out as well.