My valves are adjusted when doing the plugs. Usually one or two are slightly loose and when the set to spec my mileage is down for about a week or two.
Under valve cover pics Honda J35 Accord
- Thread starter dan_erickson
- Start date
Thanks for sharing the photos under the valve cover of an Acura MDX that didn't have frequent enough oil changes.
Looks normal for a J-series from that era.
I think the issue might be that Honda engineers who designed the maintenance minder didn't realize how tough on the oil the J35 engines especially with VCM can be with extremely high temperatures in certain parts of the engine. Also the Honda owner's manuals recommend conventional oil, and for people who follow their owners manual's recommendation of conventional oil + the maintenance minder with OCI around 6k to 7.5k miles, with these hard on the oil engines, it could explain why these engines end up with sludge / varnish.
I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I avoid doing valve adjustments on any Honda. Of the one's I have done, none were out of spec more than a thou or so, hardly worth the bother.
I've serviced 2-300k mile J35's which I know for a fact never had a valve cover off. They all ran as smooth as they did new.
I've serviced 2-300k mile J35's which I know for a fact never had a valve cover off. They all ran as smooth as they did new.
You must hate money.
You must hate money.
Quite the contrary! I love money, I hate wasting time.
For what a valve adjustment pays on a J35, I can make up for 5 fold in other work. Assuming an 8 hour shift, I can knock out a J35 TB/WP job in 2-3 hours. A valve adjustment easily adds 2-3 hours to that, meaning an entire shift is consumed by one job that pays 6 hours. Plus or minus a brake job or two.
Instead, I can spend the first 2-3 hours on the TB/WP job, while spending the remaining 5-6 hours on gravy jobs like brakes, spark plugs, a quick alternator, etc.
Valve adjustments, from a technician's view, are a commission killer. Any way you look at it.
Could that be the reason why the Rear Main seal failing so early in most of these engines? I think it is related.
I've been buying tools (not as much as The Critics) and parts to do the RMS at home but now I don't feel like doing it. It is not dripping onto the ground,.......yet. and I don't drive the car that much. I've spent over $1.3K tools and parts sitting in boxes.
I'm not sure. I always use high mileage full synthetic oil, which treats the oil seals perpetually in the hopes of it extending the life of the oil seals. I haven't had any issues with the rear main seal yet, or any seals, as none of the vehicles have leaks yet.
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