I tracked my car for the first time on the 18th and afterwards did a complete "health check" on the car. Had a blast but 150 track miles is hard on the car. First - I checked the valves (correct way since this is just like my old MGB, just with two cams and 4 valves / cylder - between tappet and valve stem). Anyway - when I inspected my valve clearances the exhaust valves were all at .012 or .013 - should have been .010 - .011. The intake was at 011-.012 (should have been .008 - .010). I *think* Honda may do this in anticipation of breaking in the car and no one adjusting the valves for a long time. Since I check about as frequently as an oil change, I adjusted to the middle of the range - exhaust at a "tighter" .011 and intake at .009. The car idles a bit better, probably helps with power at the upper end. Just wondering if anyone else ran a check and found the same thing on their relatively new S2K?

 

You were out by, at most, 0.001 on all counts. I hope you don't consider this to have been way out. I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

 

Nope, not losing any sleep - I adjusted to what I like . I was just surprised as I would have expected valves to be mid-range and consistent. So - I had 3 intake valves there were off .003 - .004 at .012, and I adjusted to .009. Just odd with a new car, as I had one intake valve at .0095 and the valve next to it at a "loose" .012. Exhaust would let me force a .014, a tight .013, and perfect .012. Having constantly adjusted valves for my "B" (daily driver for 3 years) - that range wasn't expected on a new "high-tech" engine. Not a complaint - just an observation.

Just a "heads up" to other new owners, and a question to those that have checked - have they found this or not? I won't break anything by high clearances, and too tight you can burn an exhaust valve. I'm just giving up horsepower and getting a lumpier idle if I left "as is". I just figured that coming from the factory this would be a)consistently adjusted b)mid-range to specs. Love the car but this did surprise me. FYI - for those that do adjust on new cars, this is not a "fix and forget" - check after a few thousand miles as the tolerances will tighten up as the valves seat.

 

Here's a link to a thread in the FAQ section in which we thoroughly discuss the topic of valve clearance and adjustment. And here's a second thread. Your observations are in line with what many of us have learned about the F20C. The valves are adjusted slightly loose from the factory and many of us have performed valve service earlier than the 105k mile service interval recommended by Honda.

BTW, according to my Helm manual recommended clearances are 0.008 - 0.010" for intake valves and 0.010 - 0.012" for exhaust valves. I usually adjust my valves to the lower end of the specification range to maximize lift.

 

Interesting arithmetic: .010 is in spec, and .012 is .003 to .004 out?

 

Joshua - my thanks to you and Alfredo for a really good first track experience. I can't do sebring but will be doing Homestead. Just checked Helms again - it is .010 - .011 for exhaust, maybe the early manuals for F20 had .012? I'll adjust to the low end of tolerances to get max lift before heading out - but learning the line will add more speed than any mods on the car .

Red - I expected "mid-range adjustment" - IMHO. So - .012 - .013 out for intake is .09 is .03 - .04 out - IMHO. If I really felt like nitpicking, I'd be wondering why Honda didn't set a valve adjust at 7500 and set the valves consitently at .08 for intake and .010 for exhaust. Red - this isn't a pi**ing contest, just an observation from someone that checks their car out better than a dealer ever would - kinda like a lot of the folks here. Great car, do what you will with the observation/thread.

 

*clapping*
nice. glad im not the only one. i found pretty much the same thing. mine were all .003 out on the intake side. the exh only out .001, so i adjusted them, cause im always searching for that last little bit of power. later dave

 

Out of 150 plus s2k's, they all read on the loose side, about where yours were.

 

I think they are all pretty loose from the factory. Mine were the same as you described @ 40k miles. Felt a noticeable power gain after adjusting them to .08" intake and .011" exhaust.

 

i hope you mean .008