05 valve adjustment -- necessary?

[jandr95]

At 110,000 miles, my 05 is due for spark plugs and a valve inspection/adjustment. I can change the plugs myself but I need to save $ and wondered how necessary the valve work is on this particular engine.
It has had regular oil changes and runs and sounds fine. Any thoughts?

Jim

[harold]

If it is not too noisy and the power is good and your happy, it is probably OK! I have read about valves tightening up on CR-V's, witch would not be good. I think I would go until they became audible. Some will not agree! Hal

[Bill R]

If the idle is smooth and it is fairly quiet when cold, I would leave it. My 2005 CRV has some noise when under cold acceleration - see my post under Problems and Issues. I feel it has to be a exhaust tappet - plan to see if I can hear it with a stethscope. The tappets have to be set with engine cold. Where I am, the dealer wants about $ 360 to do the job. I would be concerned the dealer might push the job and set them too close - they usually have a set time to do the job. Our CRV has a little less mileage than yours. We bought it used last year.

[Bill R]

Update --You may get a little cold noise but if quiet when warm would be ok. If idle is smooth, that usually shows things are pretty good. I found out today on a site called "The Temple of VTEC" that the k24 engine is usually noisy during cold acceleration since it takes the oil a while to get to the valve train.

[Radar24]

Cold engine valve noise is one thing but exhaust valves that have too little clearance can lead to a burned valve or valves. A heck of a lot more expensive than $360. Probably at least tree times as much if the head itself is not damaged unless you can find a used one. Replacing a damaged valve seat insert and do it properly requires very skilled machining and knowledge. With a matching price tag. A single valve is not quite as bad.

In my opinion any one with over 100k that has never ever had the valves adjusted or within the last 60k miles is playing with fire. Valve adjustment is a function of temperature as the steel expands and contracts more than the aluminum head. Eventually the right conditions will exist and at that point it will not take long for the valve to burn! A valve that does not make full contact with the valve seat cannot cool properly. It will burn in no time at all in vehicles under heavy load conditions or when driving at high speeds. The hot exhaust gases literally cut right thru the valve head like a blow torch.

I do not have any experience on a Honda but I had plenty on my Volvo B142. It is no fun and expensive even if you remove/replace the head and have it repaired at a machine shop.

IMO from reading this thread some of you are playing with fire! So be it.

In all fairness I am not familiar with the Honda DOC head but in general adjusting valves is not that big a deal. As Teddy would say “Nothing to it”. May his soul rest in peace. As he laughs his head off at everyone getting wet in his funeral while he pilots his Mya on a perfect sunny day in the hear after.

If you can remove and replace the valve cover confidently, have a feeler gauge and above all the FSM so you can properly do the job it is maybe a 2-4 hour job. Depending on what else you do while you are at it and how meticulously you clean and inspect things in the process. An easy Saturday morning are afternoon job.

It is probably just a 4-6 out of 10 in difficulty. Without doing one I cannot say any better than that. Sorry!

-Rg

[RinconVTR]

If you dont here a lot of significant ticking at warm idle, there is nothing to worry about and no reason to waste any money to have them adjusted.

If they are starting to become loose, you'll hear a lot of ticking when cold and become quiet when warm. That's fine. Still considered normal in most cases.

Having a tight valve on a engine that runs and idles good is not common. You will typically have starting problems and idle issues in such a case, and if you ignore the signs you'll pay the price.

[Bill R]

Radar - Why don't you check the valve settings on your CRV and let us know what you find?

[Radar24]

Radar - Why don't you check the valve settings on your CRV and let us know what you find?

It just turned 6000 miles a couple of weeks ago. So it would be a waste of time. It is very quiet. Above that and more importantly there is no scheduled valve adjustment on the '07+ until 96k miles (I think) and that is only if there are audible complaints attributed to the valves that it should be checked.

It seems that the valve receding into the head problem has been fixed. So no more burned exhaust valves due to too little clearance. Other than by error.

[fillsteak]

My understanding was that the valve clearance issues were only affecting the 1999-2001 crvs.

If you are looking to save a few bucks, then I'd wait on the valve adjustments. That's what I'd do if my engine idle sounds fine and there's no ticking noises or anything abnormal while driving.

If the valve's went then the check engine light would go off and a code reader would spit back a bunch of codes for the multitudes of things going wrong. Before that happens, however, there should be audible noise and other signs like a lack of power.

Lol, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Radar24]

My understanding was that the valve clearance issues were only affecting the 1999-2001 crvs. If you are looking to save a few bucks, then I'd wait on the valve adjustments. That's what I'd do if my engine idle sounds fine and there's no ticking noises or anything abnormal while driving.

If the valve's went then the check engine light would go off and a code reader would spit back a bunch of codes for the multitudes of things going wrong. Before that happens, however, there should be audible noise and other signs like a lack of power.

Lol, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

If you are not intending on keeping the CR-V for a while then "Lol, if it ain't broke, don't fix it" has a lot of merit. It is often the course of action taken by most when one has over 60k miles. However if you drive to work in a suit and cannot afford to have the CR-V break down unexpectedly and drive a long distance to work then the wait and see what happens "if it ain't broke..." may cause a lot of stress and loss of capital. Only you can decide what would be best for your particular situation.

If I were intending on keeping the CR-V knowing that the cost of a burned valve can be up to $1000, if I worked over 20 miles from work then I would invest the few hours to do it myself. Or try to find someone qualified that could do it for around $200. That is good money if it takes 4 hours; $50 per hour. I understand that the going rate is about $300 at a shop. With an emphasis on qualified.

The consequences of not doing a valve adjustment at 150k miles not knowing if it has ever been done might be a) trying to have to force it to limp home on a missing cylinder (or two) or with just a lack of power if you are lucky. b) have some code come up that might prevent it from going over 10 MPH in a 'limp home mode' on the state highway under ECU control (check other post as this has actually happened) or c) even prevent it from starting at all if Murphy has his way on a really snowy or rainy day. I am certain there must be c,d,e,f... situations and unpleasant scenarios.

At my point in life PM such as a valve adjustment are a no brainer. There is definitely a point in waiting if you have to choose between paying for rent, eating cereal with milk and bologna from a deli or doing a valve adjustment on a vehicle running like a top. In that case one of the two has to suffer and I might forego the valve adjustment. Maybe it is best in that case if you drove something cheaper.

Most of us waste so much money on food that spoils, coffee at StarBucks, going thru a carwash, premium instead of regular, running water while brushing our teeth, CDs and DVDs, concert tickets etc.... I think you get the picture. In contrast a valve adjustment if it has never been done in 150k miles does not seem like a waste if you intent on keeping it.

Now if the vehicle is totaled the day after the valves are adjusted then now it is a total waste! Choose wisely. I am only pointing out the consequences. It is up to you to decide.

I believe I have read posts about years other that ’99 thru ’01 with valve adjustment issues if I remember correctly. Maybe not. The valve seat receding into the head and reducing the valve adjustment clearance problem can happen with any aluminum head. Since aluminum is malleable. Some designs are less susceptible than others. Or even very rare in some cases. Adequate valve seat support and the type of alloy must be the key but I am not a cylinder head engineer.

-Rg