valve covers gaskets (with spark plug tube seals, and bolt seals), lower intake to uppper manifold gasket, then if you are a type-s (not sure about the tl-p) you also need the upper manifold's access plate gasket (not sure what to call it), that sits right on top of the manifold and shows through the beuaty shield when it is on

 

i didnt replace any gaskets when doing my valve adjustments on my tl-s, cl-s6 and my spare motor. drives fine and have no leaks. just dont bend the metal gaskets and u will be good to reuse them

 

just in case you guys need the acura instructions on doing a valve clearance adjustment here it is!

1 Remove the cylinder head covers.

2 Remove the front upper cover .

3 Set the No. 1 piston at top dead center (TDC). Align the pointer (A) on the back cover with the No. 1 piston TDC mark (B) on the front camshaft pulley.



4 Select the correct thickness feeler gauge for the valves you're going to check.


Intake:
0.20-0.24 mm (0.008-0.009 in.)

Exhaust:
0.28-0.32 mm (0.011-0.013 in.)



5 Insert the feeler gauge (A) between the adjusting screw (B) and the end of the valve stem and slide it back and forth; you should feel a slight amount of drag.



6 If you feel too much or too little drag, loosen the locknut (A), and turn the adjusting screw (B) until the drag on the feeler gauge is correct.

7 Tighten the locknut and recheck the clearance.

Repeat the adjustment if necessary.



8 Rotate the crankshaft clockwise. Align the pointer (A) on the back cover with the No. 4 piston TDC mark (B) on the front camshaft pulley.

9 Check and, if necessary, adjust the valve clearance on No. 4 cylinder.



10 Rotate the crankshaft clockwise. Align the pointer (A) on the back cover with the No. 2 piston TDC mark (B) on the front camshaft pulley.

11 Check and, if necessary, adjust the valve clearance on No. 2 cylinder.



12 Rotate the crankshaft clockwise. Align the pointer (A) on the back cover with the No. 5 piston TDC mark (B) on the front camshaft pulley.

13 Check and, if necessary, adjust the valve clearance on No. 5 cylinder.



14 Rotate the crankshaft clockwise. Align the pointer (A) on the back cover with the No. 3 piston TDC mark (B) on the front camshaft pulley.

15 Check and, if necessary, adjust the valve clearance on No. 3 cylinder.



16 Rotate the crankshaft clockwise. Align the pointer (A) on the back cover with the No. 6 piston TDC mark (B) on the front camshaft pulley.

17 Check and, if necessary, adjust the valve clearance on No. 6 cylinder.

 

you don't have to remove to remove the timing belt cover, just have to look through that little access hole that is built into the front cover

 

i know. the top notches in the cam are for doing the adjustment without the cover. the bottom notches on the cam are for doing the valve adjustment though the access hole.

 

was just stating that it is possible without removing the cover for all the NOOBIES

 

i kno. id recommend newbies take off the cover just to make sure their dead on with lining everything up.

 

i find it easier to remove the cover. i put the cover back on with two bolts holding it. was planning on keeping it off when i throw on some adjustable pulley's

 

where, where, where, where, where, where, where, where, where???

 

Thanks everyone for great info and diagrams. Yes, I just notice there's a line at the bottom of peephole which is purpose for align with bottom notches on the cam, right. Umm still can't decide on getting gasket or not...

 

u dont need gaskets, just be careful when u taking out ur old ones.

 

i would say better safe then sorry , and having to redo them later on
and i would do the valve cover gaskets at a bare mininuim, cause the rubber/seal does harden over time and doesn't comform as well to the surfaces
the other ones i would still replace too. but they have an ALOT better chance of being reused successfully, cause they are a metal gasket


also you are correct about that line in the bottom of the peephole with lining up the notches

 

i can't wait to try this once i get my tool set! i'm at 96k right now on my 1999 TL-P so I hope my valves aren't off by a lot.

 

whats the point of adjusting this? does it improve mileage?

 

It's a mandatory adjustment. If they get too loose you lose power and they get noisy. Over time it can pound the seats out and cause excessive valvetrain wear. If they get too tight (exhaust) you will burn an exhaust valve and lose power and mpg. Labor to fix a burned valve starts at $800 and could go much higher.

 

After being annoyed by my valves for a long time, I will hopefully be doing the adjustment soon (probably in 3 weeks).

For the people with the Type S - Did you remove your IRMC? The manual notes to remove that. It's been a while since I have been back there to see where its attached. Anyone do with with the Strut bar in or can you work around it?

 

remove it because its on the valve cover

 

u need to remove it. and remove the strut bar bc that only gets in ur way

 

don't know if this was answered yet, but what are the consequences of adjusting them using the wrong lines? the timing belt cover lines and the cog lines look pretty close together. and yes, i did remove my IMRC.

 

Thanks for the write up. With 115K on mine, exhaust valves on #1,3,5 were about 0.002" close and a couple of intakes were over. Glad I did the adjustment.

 

When i did this i didnt take off my cover because i figured i could jus pop down the rubber look threw the whole and line it up wit the line thats marked on the plastic over ....question is does that line up properly or should i line it up wit the marks on the head????

 

i line up the small line on the cam gear (all the way on the top of the gear) and the line on the head

 

I noticed phee's pictures actually line up the inner pulley mark with the mark on the engine.

It should be the outer mark on the pulley teeth lining up with the mark on the engine.

 

^yup. thats teh correct way of lining it up

 

ok i am in the middle of doing the valve adjustment, most intake valves were pretty loose, most being closer to .010 inch, adjusted them to spec now. but every signal exhaust valve was tight. tight enough that the .010 inch gauge had drag. is this normal? engine has 88500 miles and not very hard driving. even bought a few new different feeler gauges to make sure and i get the same result. just want to make sure things are ok before i close everything up, any input greatly appreciated.

 

Intake valves tend to loosen and exhaust valves tend to tighten. It's normal.

 

thanks phee just making sure, and also thanks for the diy... it was very very helpful.

 

Hmm... I'm debating whether I should attempt this or not. I'm at 170k, and have yet to do it. I don't hear any clicking, though I think only loose ones click. Unfortunately, the tight valves are the potentially damaging ones, and they don't click. Also, MPG is fine.

I'll try it out after I put in my spacers, so I'll have at least a little more experience.

 

When each cylinder is at TDC, there seems to be slight play in the rockers. Are you supposed to hold this rocker up and then adjust the clearance, or don't even touch the rocker and just try to slide in the feeler and adjust it?

I did this yesterday without lifting the rocker manually, and I feel like my ticking is louder.

 

Ticking should go away with a proper valve adjustment. You may want to consider letting a mechanic do it.

 

Yes, I realize the ticking should go away, which is why I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong.

 

The ticking is caused by a valve being too loose. Loose valves will not generally cause damage. As your valves are now ticking louder, it would seem that you may have loosened them further. The rockers may come in to play, but from what I have read, they do not need to be lifted. You should probably wait for someone more experienced to chime in, as I'm just speculating.

 

you are measuring the amount of clearance/slack between the parts
so dont lift anything!

use a go-no go feeler guage
It has a tapered slide in, then hits a larger stop at the stated amount
If it slides right past that upper limit, the valve is loose
If it wont slide in easily and come to a stop- its too tight
when it slides in and comes to a stop- its right!

well worth the few dollars to have the right tool for this job
Experienced techs can use a single size feeler guage and know what 4 lbs drag is,,
but for the rest of us-

set it- tighten nut, recheck
do all of the valves- then recheck each one,,
might be a tick off as you learned how to tighten the nut without moving the adjuster

 

a mechanics stethascope can pick out loose valves thru the valve cover
but not tight ones
If you are doing the 105 or anywhere around that- its time for valve adjust and new spark plugs

 

Just keep in mind, too tight especially on the exhaust valves is worse than too loose. Too tight will result in a burned exhaust valve. That's one of the problems is exhaust valves usually tighten up as things wear and they don't make any noise until it's too late. That's why I would go on a scheduled valve adjustment plan regardless of noise.

 

I suspect that I loosened the exhaust valves too much. Most of the intake valves seemed to be good, but many of the exhaust valves seemed tight. Although, my problem is that the rockers have play and can be lifted up by hand, which can mean significant differences in measurement. This is the only speculation I can make as to why the valves are ticking more now.

This guy on the CL forum had the same question as I did, and someone answered that you are indeed supposed to lift the rocker before measuring.

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...t=valve+adjust

 

well from the way i did my adjustment (assuming its right) it doesnt matter if you lift the rocker to insert the feeler gauge, as long as the rocker cant be lifted or moved up and down when the feeler gauge is in; and light drag is present, it should be ok. how loud is the ticking?

 

Louder than before. Can hear it inside the car. I won't have time to do it until next week, so I gotta drive the car lightly until then. I hope nothing will get damaged since I pretty much loosened everything.

The way you did it would be the same thing as lifting the rocker because that means the play in the rocker is eliminated completely. I guess I gotta go back and redo it. Someone told me that I wasn't supposed to lift the rocker before adjusting (i.e. let the rocker rest on the gauge), but apparently that's not right.

 

I'd listen to 01tl4tl. I'm pretty sure he's a licensed mechanic.

 

yeah, i just figured if there is play between the rocker arm with the feeler gauge inserted, then the gap is not the thickness of the feeler gauge. i basically did this job of the premises of getting the gap between the rocker arm and valve to be as close to the thickness of the feeler gauge as possible. that gap is when its TDC and holding the rocker arm up, soo. also i had larger and smaller sized feeler gauges i used to compare the adjustment i made. if the next size up fit under, then its too loose, and if the next size down fit with drag then its too tight. i adjusted it so the middle and correct sized feeler gauge fit with the best drag, and the other sizes would either not fit or be too loose. it took a very long time to adjust the valves, checking them like 50 times each lol.

good luck with the readjustment, hope everything works out for you.

i cant hear any ticking inside, its been running smoother, more powerful, and better fuel economy so far. all i can hear is a slight valve train chatter which was no louder than before. hard to tell whats making tics with that stupid purge solenoid valve, but if your valves are making more noise than that then, they are most likely loose.