Im about to do a valve ajdustment on my 1994 civic vx anyone have any tips on how i can make this adjustment smoother like if theres anytin i should look out for and what tools to use
the firing order is 1342, what i do is use a long extension for cylinders 3,4,2 to make sure its at tdc (put it in the spark plug hole). when it reaches to its toppest point and will go down if you turn it, your at tdc.
its simple as hell on hondas. just knowing and understanding all the procedure you'll fly through it easy. never even used that tool^.
feeler gauge
small screw driver
and wrench
One thing I would make sure of when I do it again is to adjust the valves to the smaller end of the tolerance range. If you do it to the larger end of the tolerance you might get a ticking noise when the engine is running...no harm being done, it just gets annoying. Other than that, it's a real easy job to do on a Honda/Acura. No need to use an extention to find TDC, there should be timing marks for each cylinder on the cam gear.
Put a socket on the crank pulley bolt on the front of the engine, or if its a 5 speed, you can put it in gear and bump the engine forward on level ground.
Its always best to turn the engine in its normal direction of rotation- counterclockwise for this Honda
That's exactly how I turned Rusty's crank when I was replacing his timing chain this past spring. I just put a big socket on the bolt attached to the main drive pulley and slowly turned it. If I can turn a small block Chevy V8 with a 1/2 inch socket wrench a Japanese 4 banger should be no problems. If it is difficult to move you may want to remove the spark plugs so there is no compression (I didn't do this on the V-8, YMMV). Make sure you know which way the pulley turns when the engine is running and under no circumstance turn the engine backwards.
Check (and double check) the valve clearances first. It's not guaranteed that 100% of them will need adjustment. The last time I ran my valves, only 4 out of the 16 needed adjustments. Measuring before you loosen the adjusters up can save you a lot of time in some cases. I usually follow the following sequence: 1)Rotate engine 2)measure valve clearance 3)adjust if necessary 4)re-check valve clearance 5)move on to next valve in sequence. This way you only go through the engine rotation sequence (the most time consuming part imo) one time.
Linear Mode
