Under the Valve Cover of a 97 Accord EX (pics)

[Pajamarama]

Hello --

Inspired by some of the other pics I have seen here, I removed my new old car's valve cover tonight and snapped some pics. I wasn't sure of this site's policy on posting large inline pics so I made a small album here:

http://pajamarama.imgur.com/

I purchased this car about 3 months ago and have no idea of its service history. Based on these pics, does this valvetrain area look in good shape, bad shape or about average for its age (15 years)? The valve cover was a little yucky -- do I need to clean it? No I did not change the gasket because it looked to be in pretty good shape. I do have replacement gaskets and can change it at any time.

I am about 2200 miles on the current oil (5w-20 conventional, I think, done at the Honda dealership.)

Anyway, any thoughts or suggestions based on these pics are welcome.

Thanks!

- PJ

 

[tdpark]

Looks good for the age- what is the mileage?

 

[Pajamarama]

Originally Posted By: tdpark
Looks good for the age- what is the mileage?


Sorry -- forgot to put that in there: 167,300.

 

[jsnyder49090]

How many miles are on it?

 

[jsnyder49090]

lol it looks [censored] good to me i would say its been well taken care of thats my opinion.I wouldnt worry about it seems like you are doing the right thing.

 

[abycat]

I can only see the valve cover pic but that looks just fine. If the valvetrain is the same i would not try to clean it. If you try to use cleaners and additives you dilute the oil. Pyb or pp or pu if you want to clean it up slowly. I would not worry though.looks fine.

 

[DemoFly]

Very good shape.

Honda using 5w20 is interesting. That F22a-b engine is specced for 5w30. I wonder if they are putting 5w20 in F22b1's now because they have VVT.

I think I'd be cool to call them up and double check what oil they used. It's difficult to make a recommendation when the dealer might be giving you good stuff.

 

[dave1251]

Looks great. If the rest of the engine is as good your are a lucky customer.

 

[Lead Shoes]

Nice f22b, I would consider that to be in great condition for 160k, most Honda's look worse, everyone is too worried about how to make them go faster, not make them run better first...

 

[Pajamarama]

Thanks for the thoughts. I am glad you all think things look pretty good.

Yes it is in pretty good shape apart from some exterior body work that is needed. I do have a cracked exhaust manifold I need to replace. I am getting lower fuel economy -- 22-23 avg per tank -- than I expected when I bought it. Not sure why. Next things I plan to do is change the fuel filter and the exh manifold this weekend.

 

[DemoFly]

Originally Posted By: Brenden
Nice f22b, I would consider that to be in great condition for 160k, most Honda's look worse, everyone is too worried about how to make them go faster, not make them run better first...

Moreso, most people think their oil doesn't get dirty because they drive a Honda, and they last forever.

 

[HTSS_TR]

It looks okay for 15 years 167k miles engine, it doesn't have visible sludge but it has some heavy vanish. I saw under the valve cover of a Camry with 187k miles (but only 10 years old), it didn't even have any vanish anywhere.

That Camry belong to my friend's sister, had 5k miles OCI with dino only, but most trips were highway that why it was so clean.

 

[ltslimjim]

Lot's of discoloration, some varnish, but no apparent sludge. That pooling area of oil, drain-back holes clear and working? If you have concern for deposits lower at the top-end, you can start by adding PEA containing Fuel Systme Cleaners to the gas tank before each oil change for a few intervals. Valve-train looks about what you can expect for the mileage for this app, IMO.

Make sure PCV system and valve are properly working(usually oil consumption will increase with a PCV system that doesnt work, more blow-by in the combustion chamber)...should be g2g for quite a while longer.

Speaking of consumption, how much does it tend to use between oil changes?

 

[Hokiefyd]

That looks great to me. You don't know for sure, but you can probably be somewhat confident that lots of conventional was used and at varying intervals.

If an F22 head is anything like the head on my K24, there are many areas where oil will pool and will look dark. The drain holes are large diameter and likely clear in your engine.

I always find it interesting how they did the valvetrain on the F engines. They have 3-lobe SOHC VTEC; that is, three cam lobes for each cylinder. And all of the followers use roller-tipped rocker arms except for one on each cylinder. I can only guess that this is a 3-stage VTEC system, where you have a "normal" primary intake lobe (probably the left-most lobe in the picture for each cylinder), a "small" secondary intake lobe (probably the one without the roller-tipped rocker arm), and then the "high speed" lobe (probably the middle one of each set). The primary and secondary lobes are probably used through 2,200 rpm or so, at which point the system switches both intake valves to the "normal" primary lobe. Then at 5,000 rpm or so, the system switches both intake valves to the "high speed" lobe. I reckon that's why that one rocker arm on each cylinder doesn't have a roller follower: it's only used for low speed operation.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Originally Posted By: Pajamarama
I am getting lower fuel economy -- 22-23 avg per tank -- than I expected when I bought it. Not sure why. Next things I plan to do is change the fuel filter and the exh manifold this weekend.



Might be time for new O2 sensor(s), that can make a big difference too.

I'd keep using a good oil and changing every 5k. Just varnish there, no major sludge.

 

[SLCraig]

I'd be pretty happy with that. I did some work on my old 96 Saturn and it looked a lot darker than that (varnish) but the thing still ran great. You have no issues based on the pics at least anyways.

 

[JZiggy]

Nothing weird about those pictures. This engine will run a long time especially since it sounds like you intend to keep it up!

It is actually a 2 stage VTEC. At any time either the big middle roller is doing the work or the two smaller ones on either side acting in tandem.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: JZiggy
It is actually a 2 stage VTEC. At any time either the big middle roller is doing the work or the two smaller ones on either side acting in tandem.


Thanks for the correction. I wonder why they would use a sliding rocker arm on one of the two smaller lobes and a rolling rocker arm on the other.

 

[BrianWC]

Originally Posted By: DemoFly
Originally Posted By: Brenden
Nice f22b, I would consider that to be in great condition for 160k, most Honda's look worse, everyone is too worried about how to make them go faster, not make them run better first...

Moreso, most people think their oil doesn't get dirty because they drive a Honda, and they last forever.


It may be because some of us are scarred from driving other makes and have found our Hondas easier on oil?

My Odyssey aside, lol.

 

[ARB1977]

Looks pretty good. Wouldn't take too long to clean up. As long as there aren't leaks or oil burning pick a good conventional or synthetic to clean it up.