Hey guys, I recently did my 105K major service. However, now I'm worried about needing a valve adjustment. The only thing I can find on the manual was adjust valve "if noisy". To be honest that's a very vague description in my opinion. I don't have a trained mechanic's ear to know. To me the car sounds and idles fine. But if I can keep up the maintenance, possibly make the car run better while saving mpgs.. I'd def like to look into it.

I've heard from an experienced Honda technician that on the J35 engines they typically tend to get tight right around 110K-120K miles and if I haven't changed my plugs yet to do it with the valve adjust to save on labor (I've already done my plugs with my timing belt/water pump service). My local "Honda/Acura Specialist" shop is charging $1050!!! I was floored. That also includes replacing the valve gaskets, seals, o-rings etc. When I called the Honda dealership I truly thought it would cost more since, you know, "stealership", but to my surprise, they are only charging $600. According to them the valve gasket will also be changed. TBH, even $600 sounds a bit expensive but I was shocked at the $1050 price tag from the first shop. However, I do trust those guys. They have a great reputation around my area with Honda and Acura.. and they are one of the few shops that service NSX's. I always see 1 or 2 at their shop getting serviced. I just think something as simple as a valve adjustment shouldn't be that expensive so it's safe to say I won't be going there. I just hope I can trust the Honda dealership with my car lol. I know it's should be a simple job but I hear sometimes people eff this job up! SMH.

Lastly, I'm now just reading something about replacing the PCV valve also? I've never heard of this. I don't see anything in manual about this. Should this be something that should be replaced while getting a valve adjustment? What is a PCV valve and how many of them are there on our cars?

With that said, when should I be doing a valve adjustment and/or PCV replaced? Has anyone on here that has done theirs yet and if so, when did you guys do it and how much was it?

 

We have a 2016 RDX Advance and recently we had the following done all at the same time:
Front Brakes
Timing belt / Water Pump / Belt Tensioner
Serpentine Belt
Fluids -
Coolant (done with TB and WP)
Transmission Fluid
Read Differential Fluid
Brake Fluid (done with brakes)
Oil and Filter
Spark Plugs
Valve Adjustment

This was all done by a Honda dealer mechanic at his home. He does work on the side at his home and has a full lift and an overall impressive set up. It was his recommendation to have the valve adjustment done while everything else was being done to save on labor and also mentioned that the J35 engine tends to get noisy at ~115K. He didn't mention anything about the PCV valve.

 

Ok.. yeah sounds like your mechanic definitely lines up with the person I spoke to who was a very experienced tech as far adjusting the valves around that ~115K mark.

Guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and do it soon. Sounds like it's just one of those things our engine needs regardless. Part of the major maintenance I guess.

Still curious about the whole PCV valve business though. Hopefully someone can chime in.

 

I have experience with Honda and Acura 4cylinder engine valve adjustment and the comment about J35 engines tend to get tight at 110K-120K is what I would pay attention to. My experience is the intake valve clearance is usually in spec or if out of spec the gap has increased and could cause some noise and the exhaust valves are in spec or if out spec the gap have decreased and should be adjusted to prevent burnt exhaust valves. Noisy valves may be annoying but it's the tight clearance valves to pay special attention to because if the clearance is reduced to 0 or less the valves are held off the valve seat and can burn. Honda uses high quality valves and valve seats so I don't know of many cases of valve clearance being reduced to 0 or less but if things aren't adjusted correctly at the factory or if someone else does a poor job of adjusting the valves then there could be problems. My experience is the valve clearance doesn't change much even after 150k miles and I've only had to adjust a couple of valves and only by 0.002 inch at most but it's good to check the clearance to know the clearances were correctly set at the factory and no other person has screwed things up. For the J35 I would expect it to more labor intensive because of the two banks and $600 is not out-of-line if the job is done well. Here in CA where I'm at the hourly labor rate is now well over $200 an hour at dealerships so it adds up fast.

 

Awesome thanks for the knowledge for sure! You have any experience with PCV valves portion? Is this something that needs to be looked at/changed while I'm getting the valve adjusted? Maybe I should do some more research but was hoping to get people that also own the RDX to see what their thoughts were.

 

I have a '13 RDX with 230K miles and just changed my PCV valve yesterday. I do it about every 35-50K miles as preventive maintenance, even though it isn't a routine maintenance item. Some people say a stuck PCV valve causes oil consumption and/or leaks b/c of high crankcase pressure. I don't know.
I believe there's a performance difference afterwards, whether real or just in my head.
An OEM Honda-brand replacement valve is cheap, about $20 on Amazon, and it's easy to do if you're a diy'er.
Here's a youTube video of a representative Honda PCV valve swap-out, same engine and location as my '13 RDX:
If you do it yourself, be careful not to drop the screw or its metal collar (2 pieces) into the engine compartment, or to break the old, sometimes brittle plastic valve while slowly twisting and working it out.
The valve is supposed to "rattle" when you shake it, so you can compare the new and old one to see whether yours was bad.
Good luck.

 

There is a ton of subjectivity here so I'll try to be concise. My family and I currently have 4 different J series vehicles.

If this is your first 105k service (assuming that the car is around 105k miles), then a valve adjustment is much less dire than if the car is at 210k, in my opinion. I have an 06 TL with 265k on the clock, valves have not been adjusted in ~155k miles and I'm still getting nearly 30mpg on the highway, smooth as ever with no issues. Our '16 RDX did not require a valve adjustment when I did the 105k service around 110k miles. Everything was within spec, and. In my experience, as long as you're using premium fuel, keeping up with oil changes, and driving the car regularly (and not driving like a grandma on her way to church - giving it the beans in a high rpm range once in awhile), you're likely fine at this point. It's no coincidence that a neglected J series will have more issues and can require a valve adjustment sooner rather than later. So take into account your previous service history, if you know how the car has been taken care of in the past.

If you DO opt to get them adjusted, be sure that you are getting your valve cover gaskets, spark plug gaskets, and bolt hole gaskets all replaced too. These are all of the gaskets in the valve cover. If for some reason your intake manifold gasket and your throttle body gasket are compromised, this is the time to replace those as well since they both come off for this job. I would not expect either of these to need replacement at this time though, if you are indeed around 105k. miles.

Lastly, the PCV valve is about the easiest thing you can DIY in your driveway in 10 minutes with a flathead screwdriver and a 10mm socket.

 

The PCV valve is Positive Crank case Ventilation valve. Recirculates the blow by from the crank case into the induction system to be burned by the engine. Old timers like me
remember when there were road draft tubes that when your car was up at speed, the road draft tube would create a vacuum on the crank case and vent the gases in the crank case
into the atmosphere. I change mine every 50k miles. When removing the valve be careful , the part that is in the engine block can become stuck and then break in half and
leave a mess. You would need to resort to a drill bit the right size and gently try to get a grip on whats left of the valve and break it free..all done by hand, not with a drill
attached to the bit

 

Anyone know what the lash clearance is for our car?

 

Had an Odyssey with J35 and adjusted valves around 240k miles only because valve cover gaskets were leaking. Figured I'd do it while I had the covers off. They were barely out of adjustment.