Valve adjustment DIY pic documentation?

[goldNSX]

I've (and am) finished the adj today. It took less time than I expected. The most difficult part was taking the rear cylinder head cover out of her. Getting to the rear valves was not tricky.
Everything calmed down in the engine bay after a first start of the engine. I'll go for a test-drive tomorrow for leakage test. Was quite a lot of fun to do, no curses of whatever needed.

 

[martin]

goldNSX

How much time did you use? I see that on Danoland he estimates about 4hr, 4hr 25 min.

I will have a shop do my adjusting for me. There are no Rikli shop near me so I have to find a regular good Honda mechanic to do the job for me. I would like to educate him as much as I can before I let him touch my NSX.

How much time do you think that a expirienced Honda mechanic would use to do this when he has never worked on a NSX before? I will provide him with all the writeups and DIY weeks before he even sees my NSX.

Regards

 

[goldNSX]

goldNSX

How much time did you use? I see that on Danoland he estimates about 4hr, 4hr 25 min.

Regards

It took me about 6 hours, working on two days. But this was my first time doing it. Doing it a second time would be around 4hr. Adjusting the valves may take 3/4 hours, the rest is just for the other bloddy parts. Just let the mechanic enough time to do it.

Just some input:

use new gaskets (complete set), quite expensive
use silicon adhesive in the edges to prevent future oil-leaks
Caution while taking the covers away, esp. to the timing-belt, don't touch it unnecessary, it's easy to scratch it with the sharp edges
Prevent the fender from scratching
Tools for valve adjustment necessary PR...
To be on the save side: lower value blade must go through easily, higher value blade should be very stiff
Ignition coils go out so that's a good chance to measure them with an ohm-meter
Be careful with the gaskets while resembling the covers on the head. I didn't use Hondabond but it's not a bad idea to use it

It's not any different adjusting the valves from any other Honda, only that the NSX is a 90 degree V-engine and some stuff is around the head covers. If done right you only have to adjust them every 40 or 50k km.

Good luck.

 

[martin]

use new gaskets (complete set), quite expensive

It's not any different adjusting the valves from any other Honda, only that the NSX is a 90 degree V-engine and some stuff is around the head covers. If done right you only have to adjust them every 40 or 50k km.

Good luck.

Hi

Thanks

I can't say that the parts I need to do this is expencive. I get everything from SOS for about $160 + spark plugs.(+ norwegian tax and freight).

Can you inspect the timing belt when you do this? That is good. Will check the coils too.

What is Hondabond? I got that on the reciept, but I do not know what that is.

40-50K km? I am at about 70kKm since the last valve adjustment. Got to get it done. Did you have to adjust them much? How far out of spec was it?

Regards

 

[goldNSX]

Hi

Thanks

I can't say that the parts I need to do this is expencive. I get everything from SOS for about $160 + spark plugs.(+ norwegian tax and freight).

Can you inspect the timing belt when you do this? That is good. Will check the coils too.

What is Hondabond? I got that on the reciept, but I do not know what that is.

40-50K km? I am at about 70kKm since the last valve adjustment. Got to get it done. Did you have to adjust them much? How far out of spec was it?

Regards

I was bleeded by the other parts I've bought like air filter, fuel filter...EUR 350 in all.

I think you can inspect the timing-belt, have a look at the pic above.

I believe that HondaBond is used for fixing the gasket on the valve covers to not get loose while installation -> leak.

Mine had 40k km and the valve-ticking was driving me crazy. 70k is quite much. 2 or 3 valves out of 24 were too tight but not out of specs (exactly 0.006 in the 0.006-0.007 range), 2 were perfect and the rest were too lash, max was 0.0095 instead of 0.007-0.008. So no big deal.
I had oil leaking anyway so I did this too.

 

[JohnJW]

Just for future use. As told when I went to Honda technician school by my instructor. "how do you know how much drag when inserting a feeler gauge in to measure adjustment" me-" I dont know, ya kinda get a feel for it, some drag is good........right" instructor- " go get the micrometer and set it to the same value for your adjustment and slide your feeler gauge in there, thats how much drag you should have."

I learned this method from a Honda engineer that is now an instructor. I also learned a couple of other methods that are completely wrong by a few veteran Honda/Acura tech's. such as putting the feeler gauge in there, then screwing down the screw until it just hits....WRONG dont ever do it that way, its the speedy way of adjusting them they say, but I disagree as you could have a false reading.

anyhow just my .02 cents....good luck

 

[DutchBlackNsx]

The LMA's dont realy need replacing.
I disassembled a sticky one, and it all comes down to dirt and old oil buildup.
I cleaned it up, put it back together, and it is not sticky anymore. There are signs of wear, but no bad wear.
I should have done it when i had me heads off, but they are 45 Euro's a piece here, so i skipped it at that moment. At the time i was not aware they made so much noise.
Otoh, the ones SOS has available look so much less complex then the ones used in the NSX.

P.s. taking one apart is destructive, i suppose a good ultrasonic cleaner can do the job as well.

 

[DDozier]

The LMA's dont realy need replacing.
I disassembled a sticky one, and it all comes down to dirt and old oil buildup.
I cleaned it up, put it back together, and it is not sticky anymore. There are signs of wear, but no bad wear.
I should have done it when i had me heads off, but they are 45 Euro's a piece here, so i skipped it at that moment. At the time i was not aware they made so much noise.
Otoh, the ones SOS has available look so much less complex then the ones used in the NSX.

P.s. taking one apart is destructive, i suppose a good ultrasonic cleaner can do the job as well.

The ones SOS sells are designed like the newer style OEM units, I guess Honda found the simpler design to have fewer issues so they made the change. I am assuming you have the piston type were the spring is not exposed. At the price for the SOS units I am not sure I would risk the clean and reuse over replacement, it is quite a lot of work to get to those suckers.

Dave

 

[menfou]

Hello,

My engine make a strange noise at idle.
I adjusted my valves today, and I have the same sound.

Before:
I had 0.006"-0.007" for Intake
I had 0.01"-0.009" for some Exhaust

After
I had 0.006" for Intake
I had 0.007" for Exhaust

I don't understand my problem, I will change my injector in the week.

 

[goldNSX]

My engine make a strange noise at idle.

You have pm.

 

[etang789]

Intake is .006-.007, exhaust .007-.008. I keep them tight too, to within a mil (.001). Definitely get the right feelers--they're quite cheap. Don't do all that work and buy all those tools and seals only to leave the valves out of spec! It does take practice.

Can you run a 0.001" tighter than factory suggested spec?

such as
Intake is 0.005", exhaust 0.006"

It is very commonly done on other Honda engines, 0.001" or 0.002" tighter than factory suggest spec range. From my experience it would be slightly more torque, smoother vtec engagement, and quieter engine. Has anyone done it to their NSX engine?

 

[d.n]

I would do it on a B16 (honestly I never noticed any change), but I wouldn't do it on my NSX. It's not a trivial amount of work to check and re-do frequently. Particularly the rear bank. I'm going to assume that you know tight valves can burn and that valves tighten up over time due to wear

 

[goldNSX]

Can you run a 0.001" tighter than factory suggested spec?

such as
Intake is 0.005", exhaust 0.006"

It's not worth taking the risk. If you want to go at the extremes take Honda's lower recommended values but not lower.

In my engine, the valves don't tighten up significantly. Maybe on the inside but only by a small amount. What actually happens is that the exhaust valves get more lash and get noisy.

 

[ralph cerbone]

Can you run a 0.001" tighter than factory suggested spec?

such as
Intake is 0.005", exhaust 0.006"

It is very commonly done on other Honda engines, 0.001" or 0.002" tighter than factory suggest spec range. From my experience it would be slightly more torque, smoother vtec engagement, and quieter engine. Has anyone done it to their NSX engine?

Set them to factory spec , even a little loose don't worry about it(better than tight ). As far as tighter than factory spec for more performance , this is total mental masturbation .

 

[link]

I'm attempting the valve adjustment, stuck on TDC cyl 4 on the intake side I can not get the socket on the lock nut properly to loosen it. The lobe is in sort of in the way giving me a bad angle. Is this normal? Cyl 5 and 6 are no problem. Help

 

[hofffam]

I did my valves last year and don't remember diffiiculty with #4. #4 intake should be in plain sight. Do you have difficulty with both of the locknuts?

 

[link]

I did my valves last year and don't remember diffiiculty with #4. #4 intake should be in plain sight. Do you have difficulty with both of the locknuts?

Disregard, I've got this now thanks!