When to check valve clearances

[Constant Mesh]

One of my cars is a Honda Accord 4 cylinder. In the maintenance schedule it's recommended that the valve clearances be inspected every 110,000 miles or otherwise adjust only when noisy.

But when I've asked two different Honda service reps they said the valve clearances on these engines are rarely checked. What they do is use the feedback from their engine test equipment to diagnose/identify mis-fire problems etc. which may rarely point to valve operation issues.

They say it's very rare indeed to ever check/adjust valve clearances on these engines.

Of course these engines use rollers which directly touch the cam lobes. Maybe rollers offer much better long term stability as compared to systems where the cam lobe slides against a lifter.

 

[SLK50]

Wear doesn't occur much in lobes, followers, rollers, etc.

It occurs mostly in the valve seat.

Valve train components ( other than the valves themselves )

contribute little to "wear".

 

[DudeMang]

One of my cars is a Honda Accord 4 cylinder. In the maintenance schedule it's recommended that the valve clearances be inspected every 110,000 miles or otherwise adjust only when noisy.

But when I've asked two different Honda service reps they said the valve clearances on these engines are rarely checked. What they do is use the feedback from their engine test equipment to diagnose/identify mis-fire problems etc. which may rarely point to valve operation issues.

They say it's very rare indeed to ever check/adjust valve clearances on these engines.

Of course these engines use rollers which directly touch the cam lobes. Maybe rollers offer much better long term stability as compared to systems where the cam lobe slides against a lifter.

I see that this was posted a while ago, but I came across a youtube video that seems to show exactly the procedure for your car. Looks pretty straight forward and would probably be worth the time to give you some piece of mind.

 

[Patriot]

my high school good friend has had a very successful, trusted shop since 1980.

on my Honda accords , Odyssey, and Toy Camry, he says to bring it in if it makes noise, it it clicks to the rpms

also to run a bottle chevron fuel additive (techron) once a year on my birthday so carbon is not an issue.

'99 Odyssey van has 155k mi...

he did call ME when the timing belt was due at 105k

interferance engine and all (replaced the water pump while in there)

good luck and hope this helps

 

[Constant Mesh]

I opened it up, used the feelers and made a few adjustments. Very easy to turn an adjusting bolt and tighten a jam nut. The bolt adjusting system is probably not appropriate for a higher rpm bike engine. Although the bolt adjusters are used in many of the Yamaha V-twin low rpm engines.

 

[DudeMang]

I opened it up, used the feelers and made a few adjustments. Very easy to turn an adjusting bolt and tighten a jam nut. The bolt adjusting system is probably not appropriate for a higher rpm bike engine. Although the bolt adjusters are used in many of the Yamaha V-twin low rpm engines.

You are right about the adjustment system. All of the bikes I have (had) use(d) shims.

 

[NMRoadRunner]

IT's not an RPM issue, it's a design issue. There's no way to have an adjustment screw and lock nut set up on these engines. The overhead cam rides directly on top of the valve, so when the cam lobe rotates around, it presses down on the valve stem, opening the valve directly, not with a rocker arm.

 

[Constant Mesh]

The new Honda 700 parallel twin engine uses the bolt & jam nut adjuster.

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