I spent most of Friday taking apart my engine and adjusting my valves. What a difference!! the car would idle a little rough as I let off the gas and it settled back at about 800-1000 rpms

I pulled of the valve cover...and adjusted the valves... 3 were too tight and the rest were all looser than spec....tightened them up and boy does it run nice.

Easy to do job...takes a little time and patience, but it is sure worth it....I may replace the valves and other stuff at some point if I decide to go with DiGrappas engine..bore it out and see if I can go to 2.2L...need the add'l torque!!!

I would totally suggest this to anyone that has an engine that is running a little rough or noisy.

Feeler gauge ran me $6.00 and about 3-4 hours to do it right if you have the right tools right off the bat.

 

What tools do you need? Would you say you need a service manual? Is it fairly obvious where to measure the clearance and how to adjust them?

 

johev,

Now that you have our attention, what is the general procedure and the optimal clearance?

Thanks!

 

I would recommend the service manual... It gives you a step by step procedure for checking valve clearances.


Intake 0.21-0.25mm (0.008-0.010 in.)
Exhaust 0.25-0.29mm (0.010-0.011 in.)


Dale

 

Wow, that's really interesting that you noticed such a difference. I had King do my valves and while they were marginally out of spec...(maybe 2 or 3)...I never noticed a big difference. But they also told me that they weren't out of spec enough to make a difference that I could feel...but I bet mine weren't as out of spec as yours...

 

you can hear my engine fluttering when parked next to a short wall, the idle was uneven. I had my dealer adjust the valves and the car runs much smoother now. About 3 valves on the exhaust side a little loose

Now that I've heard about you doing it yourself and how simple it was, I think I may do this next time around since my valve adjustment cost $100. Good job

 

How many miles did you have before you needed to adjust them? Was this something that has been happening from new?

 

Thanks for the post johev. I'm planning to adjust the valves on my car within the next few weeks and will report back on the improvements (if any). My idle is a little lumpy too. In my previous car, a 1989 Civic Si Hatchback, a valve adjustment would smooth things out pretty well. I wound up doing them about every 30k miles during its 130k mile life with me.

I've been adjusting my own valves since owning a 1969 VW Type III. It was recommended to adjust the valves on that car every 6k miles ... and it usually needed it .

According to the Helm Service Manual, the first suggested inspection of valve clearance in the S2000 isn't until 105,000 miles! It's the same recommendation for both "Normal" and "Severe" conditions. It will be interesting to see what the board's consensus is on this one.

 

f you want the best out of any car you have to check nearly everything early on to be sure. Then as the miles rollup it makes sense to check things more often than they suggest. Another example might be spark plugs. I suspct that the car would enjoy new plugs before 100,000 miles. Also wheel alignment. Not a reflection on the car if stuff is off a bit, just that you can adjust things to a narrower margin or to favorable ends of the ranges. Also some of the settings might settle down or change a bit after a few thousand miles.

Stan

 

To CoralDoc and others,

I have seen references to the Helm Service Manual on various threads. Is it one of the better manuals and does it contain "cook book" instructions and good diagrams? In your opinion, is there a better manual out there? Where can one obtain the Helm Manual?
Guess I could just search for it on the web but wondered if it might be available at Auto Zone or other national franchise.

Thanks