2005 Honda 2.4L (CR-V) valve adjustment...yes/no?

[Chris Meutsch]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Is this a simple rocker adjustment with a locknut and screw?
By all means, do it.
Normally this is within the realm of shade tree mechanics.

I like to have the engine dead cold -overnight rest. For consistency.
When it is hot, it cools too much by the time you get to the last one. And what is warm?

If you have it done, get before and after readings written out.


Yep, the old school locknut and screw type. I've thought about doing it myself, I just don't have the time. I'd rush it and don't want to do that. My mechanic knows it needs to be below 100 degrees to work on the valves so I will drop it off the night before. I will ask for the readings as well and post them here.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: 229
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: 229
The valves have been tight on every one I have checked even at half your mileage.


Did you mean to say "Twice your mileage"? Because not needing adjustment at 55k isn't too terribly impressive and really doesn't speak to the o/p's valve clearance condition.

Now if you'd have said "most of them, even at 220k don't need adjustment", that would definitely inspire confidence.


I have seen them tight at 55K miles. By tight I do not mean in spec. I consider tight to be worse than loose because it will burn the valves. You will not hear valvetrain noise with tight clearances, at least until the seats recede or the valvestems break and drop a valve.


I see, I misunderstood you. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[07Wolfie]

I've heard several times that the K24 may tend toward tightening exhaust valve lifter clearances over time. Stretched stems, worn seats, who knows? I adjusted the clearances in the '06 Element in my sig at 60K, and all the exhaust valves were tight. On the worst ones, I had to back the screw out more than 1 turn before I reached the minimum gap.
It's a bit ironic that I did the adjustment before the prescribed mileage because the little thing sounded so clattery. Seriously, these K24s do a pretty good diesel impression when they're cold. But I found all the intake valves in spec and the exhaust valves tight.

 

[1999nick]

Why Hondas still have valves you have to periodically adjust has long been a mystery to me. Most American cars have had hydraulic self adjusting valves for more than 50 years. Most foreign cars also have this feature now.

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: 1999nick
Why Hondas still have valves you have to periodically adjust has long been a mystery to me. Most American cars have had hydraulic self adjusting valves for more than 50 years. Most foreign cars also have this feature now.


All else equal, solid lifters/cams are more efficient, so you'll get more HP and better fuel economy out of the engine. That, along with lack of valve float at high RPM is why some of the racer dudes will actually convert their engines to solid lifters. It also greatly reduces the complexity of the valvetrain, with no small oil galleys having to provide pressure for the lifters. This is one of the reasons why Hondas are generally 'easy on oil' and very tolerant of questionable maintenance practices. This design will tolerate a lot of abuse.

The downside of course is that you need to adjust the valves periodically, but the valve adjustment is incredibly easy on these cars--and the valve cover was designed in a manner to be easily removed (at least on the 4 cylinders). It's not that Honda hasn't heard of hydraulic lifters, they've just decided to stick with this design philosophy, stressing efficiency and simplicity. I can see both sides of it. I had an '88 CRX, so I was pretty shocked to see they were still using this design when I worked on a friend's CRV. Obviously Honda are still wedded to this design element.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I was "disappointed" that they continue, to this day, to use adjustable valves on their flagship V-6 engine. That's too "old school" for such an excellent engine. Then I was "disappointed" to find out that in the K-series engine in my CR-V, they continue to use adjustable valves. Why, Honda, why?

But the big picture sheds light on it. With the roller cam followers, this system is about as efficient as it gets. Oil selection tends to become almost literally a non-issue as far as operating noise goes, as hydraulic lifter noise/pump up is a moot point. And I do prefer this method over Toyota's, where if you have to adjust a valve, you have to replace the whole shim/bucket, which is much more labor-intensive.

Okay, Honda, you have my gratitude after all!

 

[bruno]

I think you will find Ford has dropped hydraulic lifters in their newer engines .

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: bruno
I think you will find Ford has dropped hydraulic lifters in their newer engines .


I think you are right. The Ecoboost uses buckets.

 

[Stu_Rock]

One more comment regarding Honda valve adjustment. Do it.

We have a 2002 D17A2 (SOHC VTEC) with 55K miles on which I did a timing belt job because of age. I adjusted the valves at the time. They were all off--some high, some low.

Before, the engine made a funny buzz sound somewhere around 3000 rpm. It did that since I first encountered the car at 25K. Now it does not make that sound.

I suspect Honda actually lets cars out of the factory with incorrectly adjusted valves. Or one of them back in '02, at least.

 

[rjundi]

My dealership who I used to change the timing belt on my previous 95 Civic twice did a complimentary valve clearance check. They never charged additionally to adjust them. I never encountered issues in my ownership 230,000 miles.

My Honda had few repairs but had lots of maintenance items IMHO.

 

[1999nick]

I think you will find Ford has dropped hydraulic lifters in their newer engines . [/quote)

Very hard for me to believe, and very disappointing if true. This has been denied on another post on this site. Why would Ford take this backward step, possibly requiring more maintenance?