valve adjustment question
 

Hello all,

I was wondering how pertinent it is to get a "valve adjustment" done. My 08 fit has 128k, and I am having no issues. I already had to replace the coil packs. I will get the service done if you guys feel that it is very necessary as a maintenance issue, but otherwise I'd rather spend $150 on something else. thanks for the advice!

It is important if you start noticing your mpg dropping, power lacking, or the car starts running rough.

Personally I would have it done just to keep the car within oem spec and to know it is running properly.

Wow. 150$ is a good price for doing the valves. It is very pertinent.

at what age/mileage were the coils replaced?

I think checking and if necessary, adjusting valve clearance is an important part of vehicle maintenance.

We adjusted our Fit's at 60K miles and found many of the exhaust valve clearances significantly out of spec. (We were having no issues BTW)


We plan to check them again this summer at ~120K miles.

^^What Carbuff2 said is spot-on.

The "pounding shut" action of the exhaust valves will reduce clearance over time. That leads to the engine not being able to breathe as well because it cannot exhaust all of its gases properly before the next stroke. The "pounding open" action on the intake valves, conversely, opens up the intake valves over time, which doesn't seem as detrimental as reduced clearance exhaust valves. Still have to adjust the intake valves, tho - I'm not recommending doing the exhaust valves only!

of course you should never expect a car to be less maintinance needy than computer service, said sarcastically. if you irnore servicing mechanical devices by the time you find there is a problem its too late to fix economically. if the $150 concerns you learn to do valve gaps yourself. it isn't hard. about once a year somebody shows up with valves rappling like heck and is stunned we have to do a head removal and recondition to the tune of $1000. they are always horrified their car didn't do 200,000 miles with no maintenance. its always "my computer doesn't need it why should the car". when we compare their car to a printer they comprehend.
follow the maintenance scedule; you need to inspect valve gaps even if you don't need to adjust.

of course you should never expect a car to be less maintinance needy than computer service, said sarcastically. if you irnore servicing mechanical devices by the time you find there is a problem its too late to fix economically. if the $150 concerns you learn to do valve gaps yourself. it isn't hard. about once a year somebody shows up with valves rappling like heck and is stunned we have to do a head removal and recondition to the tune of $1000. they are always horrified their car didn't do 200,000 miles with no maintenance. its always "my computer doesn't need it why should the car". when we compare their car to a printer they comprehend.
follow the maintenance schedule; you need to inspect valve gaps even if you don't need to adjust them at least every 20,000 miles.. but for goodness sake don't crack the block, just remove the valve cover.

Thanks for the replies, i am gonna get it done next thursday. I will post what adjustments were needed.

Smart move to look at it.
Just finished mine. Odo reads 187 km and I am the third owner so not likely done before. Only issue I had was being rough when ice cold in the winter. Quick warm up and all was good.. except for the mpg. No codes but when I gapped the valves the intakes were around .022 -.025 , the exh were .010 -.016 so yeh they were way off. Man, did she light up after that.!!
Not yet burned a tank but it looks much better. Hard to tell with winter time.
Is easy to do just take your time and read till ya bleed.

I have 108,400 km of my own doing, do you think it would be wise to crack open the block considering I dont hear noisy valves or have any problems'>?

^^^ Adjusting your valves at that mileage wouldn't hurt. If never been done, I'd bet that many are out-of-spec based on my own experiences.

I'll second that. You will be glad you did.

every 30k. my fits valves have been adjusted 3 times since i bought it... it has 96k miles on it...

how much difference is there after 30k?

Our '90 Accord recommended valve clearance checks at 6k miles. By the time the car got over 50K miles old, they didn't change much, often only one or two were off by .001 at a time. (Luckily that was an 8-valve engine, not 16V like the Fit's)




The second time I did the CR-V, only a few of the valves got adjusted...


Often, measuring valve clearance becomes technique sensitive. If the same person does it time after time, the results will not vary as much as having a different person check them. :o

My 80k Fit is having mpg and acceleration issues. Real slow now. Should I look into valve adjustment? Im just reluctant because it's so costly and I don't know if I can do it myself. Most I've done is spark plugs, oil, tire rotation and rotor changes.

It is of course a very important maintenance requirement. we here check - and adjust - valve clearances every 25 to 30,000 miles. about 10% of the time we find at least one valve that needs adjusting.
bad valve clearances will cause poor mpg and acceleration. if the clearance is too little there is a possibility of burning n exhaust valve; if you think setting clearances is expensive try replacing an exhaust valve.

If you can do brakes and rotors you can adjust valves. Arm yourself with some bent-tip feeler gauges and have at it. :bowdown: It just takes a while to remove enough stuff on the Fit to get to them. :o


Based on the significantly out-of-spec valve clearance on our car at 60K miles, I'd say DO IT.

If you decide to pay a shop, get an independent Honda specialist to do the job, you will save $$ over a dealer.

setting valve clearances is one of the maintenance items that needs some hands-on training to get the 'feel' of the feeler gage slipping back and forth to know when the clearance is correct. setting them loose at .009 and tight at ,011 sounds easy but it needs some practice to get it right. other than that setting valves is as easy as replacing brake pads. most of our customers learned from us to do it themselves. brake pads,too.
good luck.
and yes a good independent shop will be better than dealers.

^^^ Very true.




I recommend the "GO - NO GO" method for the beginner:

If the spec is between .009 and .011, have TWO feelers at the ready. If adjusted properly, a .008 should always slip through easily (GO). A .012 should not be able to be inserted AT ALL. (NO GO)

In this example, if you wanted a more consistent result, you would use feelers that are closer in value. (So, a .009 GO and a .011 NO GO would give you a .010 clearance for all valves.


:popc:

Valve adjustments aren't very difficult to do as long as you follow the instructions. I can't imagine paying a dealer as much as they charge to perform the service. If anyone is near Austin and needs it done, I'll cut you a deal.


I've done it about three times on the Fit and a few times on my Civic.

this is the technique we have used to train at least a hundred honda owners since 1976. trying to adjust with just one feeler gage requires more than a one time, or even 3 times, of experience.
when you want to check clearances make sure you have advanced the rotation so that each cylinder is at dead top center in order, for example 1,3,4, and 2,by half rotating the crankshaft each time (180 degrees), taking 2 full rotations to set the valves, doing both intake and exhaust on each cylinder. this little effort is the place we found most difficult for beginners.
oh and make the engine is not hot, nor real cold either - 50-70 degrees F is best.
that's part of the high cost at dealerships even if they have fans to cool the engine down (you drove it there, right). still two hours is at least minimum or $200 or so.
and if you miss the rotation keep going in the proper direction to the next cylinder and back again. for the anal, its not good to back the rotation to get it on TDC. if the valves aretightyou're on wrong TDC. the valves are fully closed on TDC at firing of spark plugs,
good luck.hey shade tree mechanic is a far better title than manual driver, which just says you are a slow and old driver. (I'm near 80 and until 10 years ago never owned an auto, but now automatics are so much quicker than manuals they are relegated to the ancient car collection.
don't believe it? see how many racers drive manuals, and nascar isn't long to continue using them.

THREAD DRIFT ALERT!!!!!!!!! :)




Come to Watkins Glen NY on July 1st, 2015, I'm instructing at an HPDE event there.
(HDPE = High Performance Drivers Education)


I may be old (well, maybe not as old as you) but I'm not slow. LOL :rotfl:

And I can teach most drivers to be faster and smoother (which not only helps at the track, but can have benefits on the street, as well).

I agree though, in a few years there will be no reason to have a driver-shifted manual. The dual-clutch auto 'boxes have come a long way (but many have a ways to go, yet).

Now, :offtopic:

I actually raced there on the long course; and even now I'm an HPDE instructor. I lap faster than my students but you should too.
the point is not how fast you can lap watkins but whether manuals are faster than automatics. the answer is that automatics shift quicker than manuals and thus have better lap times. I've tried a VW with manual and same one with the dual clutch automatic at VIR, my home track, and the automatic was consistently a second per lap faster. if manuals were faster do you think sebastion or montoya would be driving automatics? manuals belong now in the vintage car fields. as the big bang theory would say, no offense intended, just fact. I suspect in like cars with and without automatic, the automatic will lap faster.

valve adjustment question
 

Pretty important. Keeps your engine in health and running at peak performance. Just as important if not more than an oil change. Mis-adjusted valves can lead to excess wear, which will decrease mileage efficiency, performance, and general longevity of your engine. It's a pretty nominal repair cost, I'd say get it done with your next tune up. It's a common Honda engine maintenance thing, and it's good to have done.

I'm at 137K on my '08 Sport 5MT and just had an independent mechanic do my first valve adjustment for me. For anyone curious about cost, in addition to the valve adj, had him do a coolant flush & manual tranny flush. Quoted at $250, and he even flushed the brakes and installed new brake fluid without even being asked. Nice guy. Did it all in 3 hr. flat.

I should have had the valve adj done long ago. I could instantly tell the engine was freer-revving and happier. Anyone on the fence, don't wait.

valve adjustment question
 

That's awfully late, you didn't have the notorious tapping? Some folks make it a long time but I'm pretty sure every 30-60k is the range it's supposed to be done in. :ohnoes:

What repairs have you had to do so far?

Nope, no tapping, no weird noises, just hesitant, esp on cold starts, and I still average around 37-38mpg. I believe the official recommendation is 100K on the valve adj, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Still on the original coilpacks. I cleaned the coilpacks when I did the plugs about 20K ago and they looked fine. I'll replace those at the first sign of trouble. Other than wear items, really no other maintenance to speak of.

valve adjustment question
 

Nope you're on the right track, 100k is the general time that a serious checkup of the valve train is needed, but the official recommended check interval for almost all honda 4cyl engines is every 30k miles.

That's pretty good maintenance record, I hope I get that long out of mine.

That's great fuel economy also btw. I'm averaging 34 with a lead foot.