ENG: Valve Adjustment

[starchland]

Courtesy of HondaFan81.

I am reposting this as a new thread because I found it to be useful information in another thread as a post. If a valve adjustment DIY already exists, please delete this one, as I tried but couldnt find anything.

I did this not long ago on my F22a4. Same specs.

intake .010"

exhaust .012"


Do this valve lash adjustment with engine cold (100 deg F or less)Remove spark plug boots, you can remove the spark plugs to make it easier to turn the crank by hand. Remove valve cover, be careful with gasket if you're going to reuse it (or get new). Remove distributor cap to get a visual on the rotor. Jack up front of car (2 jackstands needed) enough to get tires off ground. Remove front-driver wheel. You will notice a hole in the plastic fenderliner that has access to the crank pulley bolt (19mm). Use a 1/2" wratchet and 6" extension or so. Turn the crank in counter-clockwise direction (natural engine motion), until you see the backside of the cam pulley with the ARROW mark pointing up in 12-oclock position...then look to see if your rotor is at # 1 spark plug terminal and check the flywheel hole (pull flywheel peek-hole plug) and see if the WHITE line is in-line with the block pointer in there). If it all don't match up, keep turning the crank until you have the ARROW on back of cam hear at 12-oclock again, then check again. This is TDC on compression stroke of # 1 piston.

Then, go check valve lash on both the intake and exhaust valves on just the # 1 cylinder. Set them accordingly, 2 intake and 2 exhaust valves. Then, turn the crank 180 degrees in counterclockwise direcdtion and the cam pulley will have the ARROW on the backside of it pointing toward the exhaust manifold. This is TDC at # 3 cylinder. Now check/adjust the # 2 cylinder intake & exhaust valves.

Turn crank 180 deg again. Cam pulley ARROW pointing down at 6-oclock now. This is # 4 TDC. Check & adjust.

Turn crank 180 deg again. Cam pulley ARROW pointing toward intake manifold now. This is # 2 TDC. Check & adjust.

You will need a feeler-gauge, flathead screw driver and 10mm combo wrench.

To adjust the valve lash...put the flathead scewdriver onto the set screw, then hold the nut that's around the set screw with the 10mm combo wrench. Then, loosen the nut, while holding screw in place. Loosen the screw until you can slip the feeler gauge (set to either .010" or .012") and when you can slide it back and forth with a slight drag...then HOLD the screw in that exact spot, while you tighten the nut with combo wrench. Re-check your valve lash because as you tighten the nut, you may have set it a lil tighter..if you let the screw move. It's a job where you wish you had 3 hands, but you can manage. I was glad this was a 4 cylinder is all i kept saying to myself. When you set the nut, make sure you tighten it good...real snug, but not like red-faced about to take a crap in ur pants scenario.

Torque the valve cover nuts to 9 lb-ft or 108 in-lbs. Reconnect everything. Make sure you remove all tools (including the wratchet on the crank bolt & put wheel back on and set to ground) and reconnect everything back, etc before you start ur engine. Don't get ahead of urself. Double check if you have to.

Firing order is 1-3-4-2

You want pics?! YOU GOT DA PICS!

Cam at 90* (#1 Cylinder TDC)



Flywheel marks aligned (#1 Cylinder TDC)



Distributor Rotor at Cylinder #1



Loosening the Nut



Checking clearance of intake valve with feeler guage (slight drag)



Tightening Nut



Checking clearance of exhaust valve with feeler gauge (slight drag)





updated with pics from foamypirate

[blackcb7]

after this was done did anybody have the ticking sound louder, i set mine to spec and the ticking was louder,

the spec i used were .10" intake and exhaust .12"

did anybody use something different, btw i have f22a1

[Shehzada]

after this was done did anybody have the ticking sound louder, i set mine to spec and the ticking was louder,

the spec i used were .10" intake and exhaust .12"

did anybody use something different, btw i have f22a1

The specs are .010 inches (Intake) and .012 inches (Exhaust). When working on your car, make sure to read and then re-read again.

[owequitit]

Louder ticking is normal for a little while, especially if your clearances were way too tight. It has to do with the follower's wearing in with their new adjustment. Sounds like a diesel sometimes if they were bad enough.

If you drive the car hard, they are most likely tight.

Just a phenomenon of metal known as "creep". As you know, when you heat metal, it expands, and then when it cools it contracts. Unfortunately, everytime it is heated and cooled it doesn't go exactly back to its original size, so it grows a little bit. Over time with constant use, heating and cooling, the metal expands to the point where it tightens your clearances.

[blackcb7]

alright, so the ticking will be a little loud for a while, alright i got worried, it should go away then, thanks guys.

[sublime]

this is a great write up, but the only thing its lacking is the pictures. i was looking over the dohc valve adjustment DIY and i can kind of relate to whats going on but still kind of difficult. i want to save $160 and do this myself. if someone can get a very detailed DIY of this, that would be great.

*only problem i'm having is i'm getting lost after turning the crank pulley counter clockwise and to see the camshaft pulley arrow pointing up, but i'm lost where it says to check the rotor and the flywheel to see if they are lined up. can someone take a picture of what it would look like if they were all lined up?

there is many more problems i have but are hard to list off the top of my head, but i really want to learn this. any help needed.

[d112crzy]

you dont need to do that. TDC is when the arrow on your cam gear points straight at 90*.

you then rotate the crank 180* counter clockwise. 180* on the crank is 90* on the cams. so, your arrow will now be pointing at 180*(refer to image at bottom to know which degree is where).

There SHOULD be a little mark/line(not paint, but a little indentation on the cam gear). that should be pointing at 90*, while your arrow is at 180*. adjust valves from cylinder 3 now.

rotate again 180* at the crank. this will cause your arrow to be at BDC, or at 270* or -90*(whichever you like best, lol). adjust valves on cylinder 4.

and one more time rotate it 180* and your arrow will be pointing at 0* or 360*. adjust for cyl. 2.

(if you havent caught on, the crank turns twice while the cams turn once)

[sublime]

so when the arrow is pointing up that is the same as 90?

i'm just confused, sorry man.

[d112crzy]

yes, when the arrow is up(being 90* on a 360 circle graph, not on the engine). when the arrow is up, the #1 cylinder is at Top Dead Center(TDC). this is where you want to do your adjustments becuase both valves are closed and there is no pressure on them.

[d112crzy]

on another note, i think I figured out why some people have troubles with their aftermarket cams.

those aftermarket cams have some overlap. SO, that means that at TDC, they are not fully closed. so when people do the valve adjustment, you arent getting the accurate readings. you're gona have to figure out where your valves fully close in order to get accurate measurements.

sorry, that just popped into my head as i was typing the first paragraph.

[sublime]

okay sorry but this is a noob question but there is how many valves per cylinder? And when im ready for cylinder number two how far do i turn the crank pulley?

[d112crzy]

you do it firing order(1-3-4-2) 1 is the closest to your timing gear.

how many valve do our engine have? how many cylinders do we have? 16/4=4. 4 valves per cylinder. 2 for exhaust, 2 for intake.

start with cylinder 1, the cam gear arrow should be straight up. adjust those 4 valves. then go onto cylinder 3, which your cam gear arrow should be at 180*. and so on.

[sublime]

see the thing is i knew there was 4, but you said something about 2 in your first post that confused me, but i appreciate you helping me, i'm not going to pay honda $160 for something that i can do.

[d112crzy]

good. now go and take pictures of everything you do so you can add to this diy.

[maroonaccord2.2]

good. now go and take pictures of everything you do so you can add to this diy.

Pics would be great for sure....