irishpilot

I have searched and couldn't find a real good answer...

so I've owned my lude for 3years and have never done a valve adjustment and the tapping is getting REAL bad.

so I currently have my valve cover off and it is sitting on no 1 tdc and I cant fit the feeler gauge in the way the helms shows.

My question is, I remember a member saying, I think it was 4bidden, that if the cylinder is directly on tdc then it wont give an accurate measurment of the valve lash. Is this correct?

And I thought that if the lash was too tight then it wouldn't make noise?

Like I said the lude is apart so any input is helpful

 

delguiner

ok maybe this is a stupid question, but im fairly new at this.. what is a valce adjustment? what does it do? and when do you know that you need one??

thanks

irishpilot

a valve adjustment is needed for our valves because we dont have hydralic lifters. so its our jobs, or your mechanics to adjust them. the interval is supposed to be either:
12,000mi or 12mo-which ever comes first

so I'm way over

so I went back down to check on my situation and with the no 1 cylinder at tdc the rocker didn't budge at all, yet the no 2 cylinder was free to move around, this is only on the exhaust side...i didn't check the intake. the lobe on the cam was pointing strait up for no 2. For no 1 it was pointing towards the Intake side--this again is on the exhaust side, 3'o clock.

thanks for any input

yield

I JUST did this on the weekend for my SI too - it's easy. If you can't get it to fit in the direction the helms says, do it from the reverse side, i.e., from the inside of the engine out. It should slide right under. Here's a great thread on Marcucci's way of doing it: What cause valves to tap?

This way you know the valve is closed by making sure the lobe is opposite rocker arm. Also, in case you didn't know, you can jack up the driver side of the car, put it in 4th and then just rotate the tire to move the engine, although it is still tough to move (battery disconnected of course). I did it as Todd suggests (includeing .001 tight than spec) and it was pretty easy and is much quieter. Great DIY maintenance.

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irishpilot

thanks alot yield

irishpilot

when it says to have it point away how far away

in that post, about half way down Phamine posted 3 pics of the cam lobes in different spots, which did you do?

Basically, was the lobe pointing 90degrees, 45degrees, or zero degrees (strait up)

thanks again
the tapping is driving me crazy

4bidden

I dont even bother with looking where the cam gears are anymore. Just get an intake cam lobe facing straight away from the head (slight tilt back since our engines lean back) and do your adjustment, then switch over and one exhaust will be straight up (not the same cylinder) and do that one with the correct measurements. Then turn my wheel until another cylinders lobes are up.

Use 5th gear, and remove all spark plugs unless you are the hulk.

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-Jeremy

yield

It's the middle pic where the intake cam is at 45 degrees. The helms says 0 but as Todd points out, it's easy to be slightly off - if you put it at 45 degrees it'll be 180 degrees across from the pad on the rocker arm, which is what you want. On the exhaust cam it'll be 315 degrees or whatever - again directly across from the rocker arm.

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irishpilot

hey thanks for clearing thing up guys

4thGenReady2Go

I know this is all i ever say in valve adjustment threads, but for anyone else reading this who is considering doing their adjustment, make sure you allow the engine to cool completely before making any adjustments.

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Senna: Another reason to own a Prelude.

SoFlaLude

Can the valves be adjusted during a timing belt/water pump routine, or is it not even necessary? I'm sorry for my ignorance here, but I'm doing the above maintenance soon and have noticed the valve tapping getting louder the past few months and figure that it would be like 2 birds/1 stone since the valve cover's gonna be off already.

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1993 Prelude Si 4WS
2000 - 2001 Boston Crusaders contrabass
Member of LudeTrendz - www.ludetrendz.com

overdrive23

anyone have a mechanic do it? i'd love to do it myself but i work 60+hrs a week and have NEGATIVE time on my hands....just wanna see how much i should put aside for somting like that/this.

thanks mucho

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Gee officer, with all those lights and stickers, I thought you wanted to race!

@ries

I'll do it for a pack of smokes and some beer... oh wait... your on the wrong coast.

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DanYO

of course they can, just make sure you adjust them when the timing belt is on

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94' VTEC

Phamine

If i remember, I measured at 45 degrees. I think I also tightened overspec by .001 since I was still getting valve tap at spec.

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Jake
94SI