Apparently Slipstream hasn't had his valves adjusted with TLC either. If you carefully, lovingly, meticulously adjust each and every valve to the exact same clearance, you WILL notice a difference. The idle is so smooth, you can't even feel it running from inside the car.

 

Who did your adjustment?

No he did not...

I don't know the before and after. He said they were out of spec, but not by far. I watched him and all he did was slide the feeler thingy in and out like 10 times on each valve.

Honestly, i don't think i did wasted my money. I got to watch and saw how it was performed rather then just reading it off a book. Now i can put what i saw and merge it with my skills and perform it again later; also use the book as reference.



He had this really weird lookin tool.... its like a wrench and a screwdriver in one! I was like damn i didn't have this tool lol.

 

My bad, thanks fer the correction. The 4 cycles occur every two crank rotations, not every four. I was thinking one crank rotation was one cycle instead of one cycle being 1/2 of a rotation. Sometimes it is hard to picture in my mind how everything works. I had just woke up when I made my first post.

 

Actually, my car's valves were adjusted with expert TLC by the best S2000 mechanic in the state, Larry Clinkenbeard. He's the only person besides myself that I'll let touch my car.
I am more than capable of doing it myself (I've adjusted the valves on all of my Hondas), but I like to pick up techniques from different mechanics and wanted to watch him adjust the valves on my S2000. He uses the same care and attention I do, but at twice to three times the speed. He is extremely picky!
My car has always run very smoothly, so the difference was not at all noticeable. My valves were adjusted at ~12,000 miles.
He stated that every S2000 that he's adjusted the valves on were out of spec - and typically come that way from the factory. He stated that mine was actually not that bad.

 

This tool is a Honda special tool and generally tells me he's not a hack. It makes adjusting valves a lot easier. It's not needed, but it makes it easier to do the job right the first time.

 

You apparently think that everyone should check the torque of the crank pulley bolt right from the factory because they don't torque them properly. Otherwise, I cannot think of any reason to need to re-check it after turning it *clockwise* to adjust the valves. You'd have to break it loose first so you could re-tighten it to spec. Failure to torque the crank bolt after turning it clockwise certainly isn't reason for me to question someone's competence. That is, unless there's a common problem with the factory failing to tighten them.

 

The best Honda mechanic in the state, and proud to say a good friend of mine.

 

How can one really tell if the valves are out of adjustment! On my GS-r it was common practice to have them adjusted every 15 to 20k! Is it the same with the S, because I can only hear them when its a really hot day after a long trip or running the car hard.

 

I ain't touchin mine till I turn at least 40-50k miles.

 

One way is if the valve train is "noisy". However, that is a subjective judgement. Based on the advice and experiences of people in this forum, I checked the valves in my MY 2000 car at 20,000 miles. Two intake valves were slightly out of spec and the rest of the valves were set to varying settings within the specifications range (0.008 - 0.010" intake and 0.010 - 0.012" exhaust). I set them to minimum specifications and the result was a smoother idle and acceleration. I rechecked the valves at 50,000 miles and none was out of specification. Two intake vlaves had increased 0.002" and 3 had increased 0.001". None of the exhaust valves had changed.

What you choose to do is up to you, but I was pleased with the improved smoothness of the engine, and the knowledge that the valves were adjusted better than the factory settings.