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Hey gang,
I found ETCG via YouTube and was pretty happy; I was really pumped to find a website and adjoining forum!
On to my issue: I have a 2005 Honda element @ 185000mi with a 2.4l 4cyl and a manual transmission. As best as possible it has been diagnosed as having one or more burnt valves. This diagnosis came from nasty misfires in cylinder 2 which ultimately became disruptive to normal operation. I initially swapped my coil packs, then spark plugs, and then fuel injectors; in all cases the misfire stayed in cylinder 2. Hoping that the timing was off, and lacking the experience to diagnose further, I sent the Honda off to the dealer shop. They did a timing adjustment, which temporarily helped but ultimately still left me with the misfire. The dealer shop felt strongly that I had a burnt valve. To my knowledge, the head gasket was replaced after failure about 160,000mi ago.
This brings me to my current state: I have been working at the repair myself, and have removed everything leading up to the rocker arm assembly (hoses, valve cover, timing chain, cams, intake and exhaust) and am stuck at lifting the assembly out. on the rocker arm assembly I have removed 20 of the long bolts, the cams, as well as two smaller bolts on the driver-side exterior. I see one remaining fastener with a hex socket (5).
My questions: (1)is this last fastener securing the assembly to the head? (2)does the assembly (in practice) lift straight off? (3)if the assembly is uncooperative, how can I persuade it to come off (i assume pry bars, pliers, and similar tools create significant risk of damage to mating surfaces, rocker arms, and just about everything…)?
Thanks,
Patrick
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Allhan,
Thank you for getting those two diagrams. I’ve found both of those in varying levels of quality, but looking at them again is always helpful.
The fastener about which I was curious is actually unlabeled, but in the first diagram is just above bolt 4. I am realizing now that oddly bolt 1 is actually missing from my setup, and after taking a look I found that the hole was simply clogged with muck.
Despite the help, I am still unclear about the actual removal sequence: what I am inferring is that I can drop four bolts (two in each of the extreme ends) in the center-most bolt holes. From there is it a matter of gently urging my stuck assembly off the head? Is there threading present at the very bottom of the assembly where those bolts can get some purchase, essentially turning them into handles? I’ve never had to remove this before, and for the life of me I cannot find a clear video detailing the process. Most people seem to take it for granted that the assembly comes off or goes on at a moment’s kind notice…
Thanks,
PatrickThought I should come back and share that my original problem was resolved! I know it has been several weeks, and I doubt I am any busier than the average reader, but life got lifey.
Now, my original question was essentially: How do I uninstall the rocker arm assembly. The short version is this: pull. In my car, I had several years of sludge and varnish built up on the assembly, and these residues made everything stick together pretty tenaciously. The rocker arm assembly in my 05 element (like many I assume) is designed to simply lift straight up. I had to wedge a long handle (breaker bar) in the driver side of the assembly exterior (there is a depression on the exterior between the cam sensors that happens to be about 2-3 inches deep, providing just enough purchase for a lever) and pull hard. I feel like I got lucky as nothing was damaged in the process.
Ultimately, the entire purpose of this exercise was to open up the cylinder head and replace a burnt valve. This job is now complete, and my element is happily (and quietly) purring away during the daily drive. I’ve got a picture of the offending exhaust valve attached.
Thanks,
PatrickBurned exhaust valves are common when the valves are not adjusted correctly. It’s very important to get the adjustment correct. Now that you’ve replaced the bad valve, I hope you also did a valve adjustment to make sure everything was in spec. Lastly, you could have found the bad valve with a leak down test.
This may have also been helpful to you.
Thanks for the update and for using the ETCG forum.
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