Yeah, my questions are getting tight ..... and so are my chances to fuck up the car

So I'm thinking to do this valve thing and I've been reading and searching quite a lot lately. My question is how do you determine that the valves need adjustments in the first place? Or "noisy" to quote the book. The car sounds fine and quite but there is this metallic sound that I hear mosly when the engine is cold. It's sounds like if you were to hold your of keys and shake'em. Alright, I know it's funny and kinda pathetic cause most of you know exactly what I 'm talking about but ... hey ..just in case.

 

there is no way to tell exactly, but its smart to check them. a lot of the times when I do mine some of them are right on spec still, which others will be way off. Its those way off ones making all the noise.

Its a simple job to do the valve adjustment. Vtec heads are a little harder, and honda sells a tool that makes it a lot easier

 

As long as you follow the instructions and take your time you should be okay. The first time I ever did it, i didn't have the engine exactly at TDC. When I cranked it afterwards the valves where noisy compared to before. So I ended up redoing it, but I learned how to do it that second time.

 

Just pay the $70.00 to have it done. I have done it many times but in my opinion it's not worth the hassel when the dealer can do it right on spec for little money.

 

Do it yourself. I use a Craftsman offset box wrench. You don't NEED one but I realy like it for this. The length of it really helps with leverage and the offset is nice because it lets you work over everything easily and save knuckles. To find TDC, just turn the crank (the normal direction) until the cam pulley is aligned and you will feel play on the rockers for that cylinder. Turn the crank 180 and do the next in firing order. It's pretty simple and you'll feel good when you're done. Make sure your engine is COLD (four hours or more without starting). If you pay $70, you don't know they did it cold and you would be without the car for that much longer IF they do let it cool properly.

When I had my air cooled VW. Valves were every 1,000 miles with the oil change and the static timing adjustment. That was like every 15 days for me!