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.

 

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. It just takes a while to remove enough stuff on the Fit to get to them.


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.