I am curious if getting the valves adjusted is a common Honda maint. item amongst all the models? I am asking this, becasue I am unsure if I should take my S to a private mech. to perform this task or trust the honda dealership. If all the models get this done, and it is a common item...then I am confident that the honda dealership will know what they are doing. If not, I am afraid that a 1st year mech. will be working on my car and not know what he is doing.

Thanks for any info

 

It's pretty common...but the private mechanic will probably be cheaper than the dealer.

 

crazydude, i can email you the service manual if you want to tinker...

 

im pretty sure any honda trained dealer mechanic can do this task confidently. its a fairly simple and common task.

 

Cool thanks guys

 

ha the dealer I went to, only 1 guy knew how to adjust the valves on an S, and he screwed them up. They were all over the place and it started ticking like crazy. I met a guy on a local S2k forum who also worked at another Honda dealer. He re-adjusted them and the tick is alot less now but still there. But the car does run 10x better now. Advice... Dont let honda do it!!!

 

Valve adjustment? Does the S not have hydraulic followers?

I won't let anybody mess with the valve clearences unless I hear loads of valve clutter...

 

The big thing is make sure whoever is doing it, does it when the engine is cold. There is a spec in the service manual I believe.

Not too long ago, I saw this thread where he took his car to a honda dealership and turn around time was an hour or 2 - obviously not long enough to let it cool down and do the procedure.


With that being said....expect to drop it off in the morning and get it at the end of the day, or drop it off at the end of the day and get it in the morning.

 

Yes, there is a maximum temp spec on doing a valve adjustment. Yes, the job is VERY easy, however, I would still never trust the dealer to do the service outside of warranty.

 

That was my thread. I dropped it off, they called me back 2 hours later saying it was done. Then alot of chatter. I took it back they kept it over night and claimed they rechecked them in the morning. Took it to my buddy the next day (honda tech. also) All my valves were way out of wack. Honda told me it only takes about 45 min for the car to cool off with a fan on it. BS.... Now it has perminant valve tick.