What is "Valve-job"?

[bushbean]

What does a "valve-job" entail?

Thanks. Just trying to figure out if this is someone I can do
in my garage.

[shepherd79]

no you can't do that in your garage unless you have a machine shop inside your garage.

mostly it is rebuild your cylinder head. taking your valves out and cleaning them or replacing them with a new ones. replacing valve guides.
Basically you want valves to be sited as tight as possible. 3 angle job is common for that purpose.

[2oodoor]

no you can't do that in your garage unless you have a machine shop inside your garage.
mostly it is rebuild your cylinder head. taking your valves out and cleaning them or replacing them with a new ones. replacing valve guides.
Basically you want valves to be sited as tight as possible. 3 angle job is common for that purpose.
That said, this is a often misunderstood term.
Sometimes it can be just lapping the valves in
Sometimes it can be just cleaning them up on the non seating surfaces
Sometimes it can be replacing or recutting valve seats and replace all valves
Sometime it can be checking all valves and just replacing the ones that are bent burnt etc.

Warning, ask for specific details when your are charged for these services.

[MessyHonda]

yup i would rebuild the whole head 3 angle valve job is worth it also....you can also go crazy and get a 5 angle job but it might no help unless you are pushing some crazy hp

[bushbean]

The engine oil gets black-dark and smells like gasoline after only 1000 miles. Thus, I was thinking about a "valve-job." I'll most likely take the cylinder head off myself, and see how much work I can do myself. I know I can definitely "lap" the valves myself using a lapping stick. I don't think I can do the valve seal; I heard it's very difficult to do.

[HondaBoy]

sounds more like a piston ring that isnt sealing and creating a blow by situation, thus making the oil have combustion mixed with it and smell of gasoline. mine does that, but not as quickly as you say yours is doing. might also want to do a compression test just to see how well things are going in each cylinder.

[shepherd79]

yeap, one of the piston rings worn out and it let gas to sip through and into the oil.

[MessyHonda]

yeah it might be cheaper to find a lower mile engine and swap it in

[bushbean]

yeah it might be cheaper to find a lower mile engine and swap it in

Kinda hard to find a low mileage engine on a 18 year old car.

[bushbean]

My engine burns almost no oil. Wouldn't you think that worn rings would result in excessive oil consumption?

[MessyHonda]

Kinda hard to find a low mileage engine on a 18 year old car.



not really you just have to look hard....i found mine with 136k runs like a champ...even after i abuse it and redlineing it every day. these engines last long if you take care of them. at least 250k

[hotdoghogie]

is their a place to get larger valves for our cars? are those custom made of off another engine?

[race12001]

you can get them of any thing similar but you will have to grind them and bore the heads fo a match fit

[hotdoghogie]

really... a fully modded head liekt hat... man i could imagine with cams and a b18 mani... some heads and mega squirt... like 190hp to the crank... who needs v-tech!

[88Accord-DX]

Everything is pretty much been said about valve job but a few things.

There is valve interference agle which is 1 degree difference in the valve seat & valve angle.

The valve must have a margin (tip of valve past the seat) of 1/32", without valve margin, the valve could overheat & burn.

Vavle spring squareness, free height, & tension are preformed on a good valve job too.

[Blkblurr]

Spend the money and have a shop that is known for cylinder head work do yours. I had mine done that way and it cost me $435. The boiled the head, cleanded and did a 3 angle grind on the valves, put new valves seals in, milled the head, reasembled everything for that price.

[bushbean]

Spend the money and have a shop that is known for cylinder head work do yours. I had mine done that way and it cost me $435. The boiled the head, cleanded and did a 3 angle grind on the valves, put new valves seals in, milled the head, reasembled everything for that price.

That's a lot of money!

[MessyHonda]

thats cheap.....ive seen some people spend 1500 on just a head job....everything was built to racing specs tho

[Blkblurr]

That's a lot of money!
Not if you need to get it done and don't have the skill or tools to do it yourself.

[bushbean]

Not if you need to get it done and don't have the skill or tools to do it yourself.

Like extortion.

[bushbean]

Messyhonda is right about getting a low mileage used engine might be cheaper than doing a valve job.

[Blkblurr]

Like extortion.
I don't know too many people that can mill the head and boil it clean in their garage.

[njpeter]

saw a rebuilt head on ebay for around $225..shipping is a killer, cheaper to get a head off a reasonable mile engine, but sounds to me like you are running rich precision machine work isn't cheap...how's compression and leakdown tests look? ( that's the car equiv of an blood pressure and stress test..you need to know this before you put a wrench on the car, you could do the head, and miss a cracked piston ring..lot of work and expense for nuthin.

[bushbean]

saw a rebuilt head on ebay for around $225..shipping is a killer, cheaper to get a head off a reasonable mile engine, but sounds to me like you are running rich precision machine work isn't cheap...how's compression and leakdown tests look? ( that's the car equiv of an blood pressure and stress test..you need to know this before you put a wrench on the car, you could do the head, and miss a cracked piston ring..lot of work and expense for nuthin.

Could a DIY him/erself do the compression and leak down tests?

[shepherd79]

yes you can do compresion test at home. just go to autoparts store and pick up compression tool. it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes do to the whole thing.
make sure you have your fuel pump fuse pulled out and when you crank the engine push the gas pedal all the way to the floor for maximum air.

[njpeter]

a leak down test is a little more complicated however, you'll need some compressed air and a leakdown kit, it essentially checks to see what kind of shape the ring and valve seals are in, but a compression check is a real good start to knowing what the real story is...uuhhh..try not to cross thread the plugs..okay?

[bushbean]

So do I just screw in the gauge, turn the key for a few seconds, and watch the gauge reading?

By the way, my car has a carbie. I think the car will start even with the fuel pump disabled because there is residual fuel in the carburetor.

[MessyHonda]

So do I just screw in the gauge, turn the key for a few seconds, and watch the gauge reading?

By the way, my car has a carbie. I think the car will start even with the fuel pump disabled because there is residual fuel in the carburetor.


no you take out all the spark plugs...you can disable the coil if you want..crank it like 10 times and then read the guage

[njpeter]

I'd suggest reading the directions that come with the gauge.

How about using the web/search the forums a little...here's an outside link to start just a quick google search can help you decide how _you_ want to do the test

http://www.3si.org/wiki/index.php/How_do_I_do_a_compression_test%3F

and one more:

http://www.superhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124194

looking at the plugs is sometimes as good as doing a test..they should all be slightly brown colored..any single stand out or oil on em is _bad news_..you also want to blow a can of gumout cleaning the crud out from around the plug holes before you put a wrnech on it. I've seen a couple of motors ruined by crud getting in when the plugs are pulled. having compressed air helps lots if you're going to start playing mr. goodwrench. You can get a sears cheapie for $69 and it's handy to clean the engine bay, blow crud out of fuel lines and also to fill the tires.