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What’s going on fellow do-it-yourselfers!? Greetings from Seoul, South Korea! I’m currently on a remote tour because I’m in the Air Force.
Alright I have a 2003 Honda Accord EX-L 4-cyl automatic with about 195,xxx miles on it. I’m pretty sure I need to adjust my intake valves because I can hear it on a cold day and after the engine warms up, it goes away.
Here’s my problem…..I’m DEATHLY afraid to take off my valve cover for several reasons. I think I just have this fear of exposing the inside of an engine. On this same car though, I’ve swapped out the A/C compressor, drive belt, tie rods, and your normal wear and tear stuff eg rotors, brake pads etc. My question is, should I just suck it up and go for it an adjust my valves myself or just live with the “problem”? I’ve watched all of Eric’s videos on valve adjustments on the J-series engine and both the B-series engine. I have a K-series engine and I know that it has a solid valve train so they’re adjustable. I’m pretty good with using feeler gauges and tools for that matter.
So what do you guys think? Thanks in advance for your input…..
P.S. After typing all this out, I think I’ll just go ahead and call myself a chicken-shit for not doing it…..hahaha!
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I agree that you’ll never learn unless you do it. You sound like you’re pretty good with cars and tools, and know what you’re doing, so if you want to try it go ahead!
However I know Eric has said “it’s better to hear them than smell them” so if they’re not really loud or causing problems it might be better to leave them alone. Not that you’ll necessarily screw anything up but more that it’s not worth the time. You’ll have to make that call but if you want to do it, I have full confidence you’ll do a great job 🙂
Id say go for it. Id also recommend a FSM for your vehicle too so you can read through a repair procedure before trying to attempt it 🙂
I was in the same boat as you a while back. Being super paranoid about getting anything the engine after the valve cover off, I made sure everything was clean around it and then used compressed air to blow anything else away from the cover. Finally I opened the cover and realized it was no big deal. If nothing else keep a piece of clean cardboard around and place it over the engine whenever you leave to ensure peace of mind.
Ultimately: just go for it.
Are you putting the recommended weight oil in the car? Cause if you have an oil that’s too heavy the lifters can be starved of oil. As the engine heats, the oil thins out a bit and gets into the lifters and the noise will stop.
I fully understand your fears as I have the same fears as you as a DIY’er. It’s nerve racking. I think this would be a good ETCG video topic.
WOW! To be honest, I didn’t expect that many responses to my topic….haha! Thanks! Yeah but I agree, ETCG1 should make a video about this and call me out so I feel special….lol! If he does do it, it’ll make me feel a embarrassed then I’ll hafta do it for sure!!!!
I have a FSM manual already too and I’ve read through that and everything but I’m still kinda scared about it. I think I’ll just suck it up and go for it. Hell I think I had this feeling about doing my brakes for the first time. “Oh my god, what if I don’t install the rotors and the pads on correctly?!?! I could crash right into a fire truck and explode!!!” hahaha!!!
Thanks for the words on encouragement by the way….
Oh yeah, by the way, I am putting the correct weight of oil in my car every 3,000 miles……10W30!
Just kidding! 5W20 banana:
If you feel confident enough then go for it, if not, then maybe hold off. If you give it a shot and mess up on something don’t worry about, it can be fixed. That’s the fear I had when I did my first head gasket. But that’s why I bought a POS car at first, to practice these kind of repairs before I tried it on my main car.
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