valve adjustment doesnt stay put

[Amit Shakya]

honda accord 2000 lx, 2.3L vtec.

hi guys,

I have been trying to adjust the valves in my free time on my accord and heres the problem:

on 2 of the intake valves (cylinder 1 and 2, only the left rocker arms), no matter how tight/loose i adjust the valves, once i rotate the engine and double check they go back to a specific valve clearance (which is beween .09 and .011 so the car runs fine but it is out of sync with the rest as it a bit looser than the 14 other valves).

just to make sure, i have done this multiple times so i know its not a problem with it moving while tightening the nut or with not being on the right cylinder or timing marks not lining up.

as of now, i am removing the rocker arm assembly and am trying to replace the adjusting nut and tappet but i doubt those are the problems.

any tips? what are the possible causes of this?

[btw, car runs the same before/after adjustment. i’ve had a slight hesitation initially while accelerating, and bucking when i release the accelerator pedal in 1st first gear at low speeds since i got this car 5 years ago but i doubt a valve adjustment would cause/fix that. think thats probably the tps but not bothered with that right now.]

thanks for any leads.

Topic

[college man]

You may want to inspect the rocker arm and cam for wear.

[Amit Shakya]

hi college man,

thanks for the reply. i removed the rocker arms and camshaft. i dont have the tools to measure both of them ( i do have the honda service manual).

from a simple visual check, i see that one of the rocker arm rollers (the primary intake rocker arm doesnt really have a roller like the vtec and secondary rocker arm, its just a semicircle) has chipped edge but i dont know how engines work and i dont get how that small chip would logically cause a loose valve.

i am thinking that i should just goto a junkyard and get a cam + rocker arm(s). i had ignored an oil leak from the camshaft seal for 5 years that, im guessing, caused accelerated wear on the cam/rocker arms. or that i bought the car at 137k and didnt know anything about cars and it probably didnt have valve adjustments its entire life (now at 182x).

do u have any tips on what i should be looking for in terms of wear?

or a website where i can read about this topic?

thanks college man.

[Amit Shakya]

also whats the logic behind cam wear/rocker arm wear and a valve adjustment staying put just until the engine is rotated?

also given that, despite the wear, the clearance is still within spec, should i bother fixing this problem or or are there other consequence?

[college man]

[quote=”karmapacox” post=132833]also whats the logic behind cam wear/rocker arm wear and a valve adjustment staying put just until the engine is rotated?

also given that, despite the wear, the clearance is still within spec, should i bother fixing this problem or or are there other consequence?[/quote]

If the car runs ok. you could just keep driving it.

[Author]

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