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Timing Chain & Valves?

13K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  merlinj79 
#1 ·
My car is due for a valve inspection, are the valves likely to be in spec or more likely to require adjustment? Are they adjustable or does it use shims (still waiting for my shop manual to arrive).

Also...there's no replacement interval for the timing chain but is that something that I'll want to do at some point? Do they get sloppy and/or make noise? Is that a reasonable DIY? Car has about 108K.
 
#4 ·
Timing chain should not need to be replaced unless it stretches. I'm pretty sure you need to at least lift the engine up a little bit to do it. More than the casual DIY job. Just keep the oil levels good and you should not have to change it.

Modified engines you probably might want to change it and use a stronger retainer at some point.

The Serpentine rubber belt is the one to replace. 10 minute job :tu2:
 
#5 ·
Timing chain should not need to be replaced unless it stretches. I'm pretty sure you need to at least lift the engine up a little bit to do it. More than the casual DIY job. Just keep the oil levels good and you should not have to change it.

Modified engines you probably might want to change it and use a stronger retainer at some point.

The Serpentine rubber belt is the one to replace. 10 minute job :tu2:
Thats backwards, once the tensioner runs out of stroke you risk smacking valves into pistons. Preemptive maintenance is a better way to handle things as important as your engine.
 
#6 ·
So it's an interference engine? How would I tell if the chain stretches? Manually checking the tensioner? Or will it get out of time a bit and throw a code?

Neither the PO or I drive it very hard, happy to get on it on the ramp or to pass but I'm not driving around deep in the revs all the time. Motor had regular dino oil changes up to 108K, and I'm going to run M1 from here on out.

Assuming I might get 300K out of the motor, maybe change the chain at 150K?
 
#7 ·
Timing chains rarely need to be replaced unless you drive like a NASCAR racer and have lots of mods. And if you ever do have to replace it get ready to shell out double of what a timing belt cost to change.

Valves usually don't need to be adjusted unless the idle is rough upon start up and just isnt running as smooth as it should my car is at 130,000 and still runs smooth without a value adjustment. Don't adjust the valves if you don't need to.
 
#9 ·
Food for thought.
I'm putting the top end of my motor back together. My motor only has 135K on it, but I installed a new timing chain and tensioner at the same time. I compared my old chain to my new one and it was only stretched about an additional 3-4mm. My original chain guides still looked new so I didn't bother replacing them.

A valve adjustment is pretty straight forward on these cars. If you have the Honda valve adjustment tool it makes it easier, they sell it on amazon for like $15. My valves weren't loud or tapping at my current mileage, but needed adjustment after the head was taking apart. The exhaust valves all seemed to be fairly tight, which apparently is pretty common on K24's.

Replacing the timing chain is a lot more involved though, getting the timing cover off can be PIA. After removing the passenger motor mount and lifting the motor up helps free up a little more hand space to remove the cover. Setting the timing isn't bad as long as you use the gold links on the chain to match up the makes on the cam gears. Locking the cams at TDC through the pulse plates with pins or drill bites helps tremendously to set the timing though.
 
#10 ·
My friend and I both got our 06' and 08' TSX valve adjusted at 60K for him and 90K for me. Both cars seem smooth before adjust. After adjust the improvement was quite noticeable as the engine was even smoother. In both cases, the valves were loose.

Thus it is recommended to get it done.
 
#12 ·
So I know this is an old BUMP but there isn't much tech on here, so I figure any advice could potentially help.

I'll second what GFB said, we both recently got all into our motors, this was my first time with a K. My other cars were B, D and J series cars so a lot has changed since working on those.

I recently went HAM on my TSX trying to figure out a noise, which ended up being the balance shaft(oil pump) tensioner, anyway.

Through troubleshooting this noise, I initially did a valve job, as GFB said quit easy with a box wrench and screwdriver or just get the Honda tool, although doing the exhaust valves it was easier for me to use a wrench and screwdriver FWIW.

Then decided to do the chain, cost $280 for chain, tensioner, guides and front seal. I figured since I was pulling the timing cover I may as well do it all at once since I'm in there.
Just unbolt the pass side mount and jack the engine up and everything is right there.

My chain was stretched about 1/2 link and the tensioner was pretty maxed out anyway, so it was worth the work to me.
Again, line the chain up properly and no timing issues to worry about.

Of course the noise was still there so using a stethoscope figured it was most likely coming from the oil pan area.

Dropped the pan and could see the tensioner wasn't working as the guide broke in half and was luckily hanging onto itself and not in the oil pan or worse.
Dropping the pan was a pain in the dick and luckily I was at my buddies shop, so unbolted the front and pass side mounts and used 2 screw jacks to lift the motor enough to be able to drop the pan and replace the tensioner.

All in all it was a good bit of work and parts but now I'm going to drive this thing for a few more years because I know it will be fine.


/End Rambling
 
#13 ·
Finally got around to doing the valves at 127K, car was running OK so I did it more for peace of mind.

This would not be a good car for someone who has never adjusted valves before. If it's running OK, I'd probably just let it be or take it to a pro. It's hard to get the feelers in straight, so there's some art as well as science to this one. I bent my feelers into an L shape, which helped. I double checked each valve with three different feelers just to make sure I didn't set one way out of whack.

The tool would have been helpful but a box-end and a screwdriver did the trick too.

The intakes were a bit tight, and the exhausts a bit tighter than the intakes. Not sure if this motor burns exhaust valves if they're tight?

The car is a noticeably quicker in the lower range, but I also replaced the spark plugs so that was probably at least part of it. The valve noise is a bit louder now.
 
#14 ·
I adjusted my valves 3-4 times before I was satisfied with them, a little compulsive......but welcome to my life.:wink2:
Also the feeler gauges I used were long probably at least 6 inches long which made adjusting them a lot easier, but I also used the L shaped gauges as well. Long extended feelers on the intake side and L shaped on the exhaust side.

Mine are a little noisy but I would rather run them a little loose then too tight and potentially burn a valve as you mentioned. I adjusted my valves to the point that I couldn't put the next size feeler gauge in the space.
 
#15 ·
Update. Did the valves again, wasn't entirely happy with performance in the full RPM range. Tried the Honda tool this time, that seemed to help get it done more quickly.

Last time I went conservative on the loose side, this time I shot for the min spec on intakes, and about mid spec on exhausts. I think it runs better this way (especially when the vtec kicks in) but may check them again after 50K just to be sure the exhausts aren't too tight. 160K now.
 
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