AUGH.... damn valves...

[Deadhead]

Well... i adjusted my valves today....

made absolutely sure that the piston was at TDC and adjusted them .006 for intakes and .010 for exhaust.

I started my car up after doing this, and i get even more pinging.... and it's louder and much more apparent.

however, the car does idle smoother for some reason...

What did I do wrong? Is the clearances too small or something?

[Oldblueaccord]

Did you follow the valve adjusting procedure outlined in the manuals?

You need to rotate the engine and do each cylinder in a specifc order.

Also those specs sound a little tight. There listed on the sticker on the inside of your hood.


wp

[88Accord-DX]

What did I do wrong? Is the clearances too small or something?
Basically, you can set each valve when the rocker arm isn't on top of the lobe lift on the cam. I think you might have set some of you valves with it on top of the lobe. You need to turn the crankshaft bolt counterclockwise to turn your cam to where each rocker arm isn't on the lobe. Your valve lash distance is correct though.

[Deadhead]

Well... when i did the measuring, the rocker arm had some flex in it, it could move just a little bit.

So what i did is move the rocker arm as far up as i could put it, and then measure the distance and adjust as needed.

and yes, i turned the crankshaft bolt counter clockwise.

UP = cyl 1
90 degrees counterclockwise = cyl 3
90 more degrees = cyl 4
and 90 more degrees = cyl 2

Are the rocker arms supposed to move just a little bit? Or are they supposed to be stiff?

[Deadhead]

OH, and i don't have any stickers under my hood... the car was in a BAD accident a long time ago, and the hood was replaced.... they left no stickers on it.

[Justin86]

well that is a little tight for a stock cam shaft, that more like what I have with my 272 cam. stock should be about (intake .12-.17mm) (exhaust .25-.30mm) That pinging sound you are getting is just from the valvetrain noise, mine is loud too with tight clerances.

[88Accord-DX]

Are the rocker arms supposed to move just a little bit? Or are they supposed to be stiff?
Sounds like you did everything right. If the rocker arm is off the cam lobe, there should be very minimal play you can feel on the rocker arms when set properly. Even though you followed that precedure, always check your cam to make sure you not on the lobe on any valve when setting valve lash. If you tighten the valves too tight, you could be hearing the pinging you're experiencing. Never tighten to tight, better a loose valve than one too tight. ( valve contact)

[bobafett]

yeah delta specs are .006 .008

stock is .005-.009 and .008 - .012 i think so your right in spec but i would loosen up the .006 to .007 or .008

[Deadhead]

is there any advantage or disadvantage of having the valves too loose?

[88Accord-DX]

is there any advantage or disadvantage of having the valves too loose?
If the valve train (valves) is too tight. This can allow combustion heat to blow over & burn the valve.
If the valve train (valves) is too loose, it can cause noise (tapping or clattering). This can increase wear &/ or cause damage.

[FyreDaug]

Would there be any gains from changing it from too loose to stock specs? I have a tap that I need to get around to fixing. Will it use less gas? More power? Anything, or is it just to get rid of the tapping.

[bobafett]

a bit snappier response if the valves are set right, but it wont give you power like a performance gain... just a slight amount, and it will run better

[shepherd79]

i hope you adjust your valves when the motor was cold. it can affect the clearance a lot.

[Deadhead]

yes, the motor was sitting for over 8 hours.

I readjusted them today, and to no change.... still tapping like a mofo.

should i just open the clearances up by .001 or .002?

[bobafett]

stock cam or aftermarket?

[Deadhead]

stock as far as i know.... it looks like the one in the "how to" here on 3geez...

interesting thing is, is that i had to open up the clearances on ALL of the valve's from where they were... so i'm like wtf?

[FyreDaug]

You had to open them up? Maybe you are somehow doing it wrong, or your like a degree off with the cam/crank position or something. They are tapping cause they are too loose. Thats wierd

[Deadhead]

that's what i thought.... is there some sort of trick i can use to get the piston at TDC instead of "eyeballing" it?

[88Accord-DX]

is there some sort of trick i can use to get the piston at TDC instead of "eyeballing" it?
There are 3 things you can look at to find you TDC on #1 cylinder compression stoke...
Crank pulley, cam sprocket, distributor rotor.

The first thing is to look at you crankshaft pulley for it's timing marks. Line up the indention on the pulley to 0 degress on the timing mark indicator. Second method is to put something (stiff wire of some sort) down the spark plug hole untill the piston comes up to the top & your distributor rotor is pointing at #1 spark plug wire. This is done by turning the crank bolt counter-clock wise while checking the wire movement in the plug hole & position of the rotor.

*edit* I recommend you pull your (top) timing cover off to see if you cam sprocket is lined up in respect to the crankshaft, if you can't get the clattering to stop. There should be a mark with paint from the factory that points in 12:00 O'clock position on the cam sprocket.

Valve springs wear out along with cams in certain situations. Cylinder head rebuild & new timing belt is a good investment if compression readings are good.

[Deadhead]

well, from what i understand, the head on the car has just over 20k miles.

Also, my co worker has a 2.0L SOHC head for my car that he is getting rid of, best part is, is that it is freshly rebuilt :D

thanks for the info on the TDC.... and with the distributer rotor, is the rotor supposed to line up right dead center with the #1 cyl wire connector thingy?

[Oldblueaccord]

well, from what i understand, the head on the car has just over 20k miles.
Also, my co worker has a 2.0L SOHC head for my car that he is getting rid of, best part is, is that it is freshly rebuilt :D
thanks for the info on the TDC.... and with the distributer rotor, is the rotor supposed to line up right dead center with the #1 cyl wire connector thingy?

yes the rotor should line up with the #1 sparkplug tower on the cap or be very very close.

wp

[b8er]

i know this may sound weird but check your exhaust mani bolts, i did the vavles on my car like 3 times till i was sitting there and realized 3 of my exhaust manifold bolts were lose and was letting a little exhaust pass inbetween the head and the mani and made a pingin' tappig type sound

[Deadhead]

nah, it's definately the valve's.... it wasn't doing this hardly at all before i decided to adjust them, now it clicks/pings/taps loudly.