OK, so I don't want to sound like the people that are always asking about their car's pinging or ticking noise...but I need some help. I bought a 99 si a couple months ago and since then have noticed some consideable valve noise. So I finally got around to opening it up and adjusting the valves. So now here is my question. When I checked the valves before I touched them, most of them would accept a .010-.012" gauge and in the manual it says that the clearance should be .006-.007 on the intake and .007-.008 on the exhaust cams. So I adjusted them to the correct gauges and the valve noise got a lot worse. Now I have never adjusted valves on a car like this before, does everyone else actually put the feeler between the valve stem and the rocker or between the rocker and cam? Also, are the numbers that the book gave me correct (.006-.007" in/.007-.008ex)?? What else could cause this? I have been racking my brain and I will be back out there tomorrow to try again. Any ideas would be awesome and I will update with what it turns out to be...

 

did you set the cams right for each cylinder correctly? its a pretty common mistake to set them all as it sits, so if one of the lobes is hitting the rocker, then you adjust a whole bunch of play into it. do one, then set the next one so all the valves are closed and the cam lobes are away from the rockers. and yeah, those numbers are right. and i measure between the cam lobe and the rocker.

 

Thanks, but yeah I rotated the motor to TDC for each cylinder. I suppose that what I am worried about is that the person that owned this thing before me changed something else. It is weird, becasuse I bought this SI and it is totally stock...how many 6 year old SI's are totally stock? Not many. So I have this feeling that someone put this thing back to stock to sell it. Now what if the head/block were decked...or would dying valve springs have the same effect as faulty clearances? Lastly, is valve noise acceptable in these cars? I just got out of a mitsu lancer (too expensive) and I was told by the techs that considerable valve noise was acceptable in those engines! I don't know. Today I am going to check the catalyst plate against the manual, adjust them out a couple thousandths, put new oil in it, and pray.

 

you can usually hear the valve noise, but it shouldnt be excessive. was it stone cold when you adjusted it? i mean, like it had been sitting for 6-8 hours or more without being started? if they have any heat in them at all, it will throw of your adjustments badly.

 

Well, here is the verdict. You were partly right on your first response. I made a rookie mistake, but it should be good for others to learn from. TDC is not necissarily TDC unless the cylinder is in the top of the compression stroke. So just because it is at the top doesn't mean that the valves are totally closed! SO anyway, when I redid it I realized instantly my mistake. So learn from this post!! Thanks for the help.

 

Ok, so I want to clarify on this subject real quick for my benefit... Sorry don't mean to hijack the thread. Let's say for a second, my 90 Civic hatch with a D15B1 motor has a firing order of 1,2,4,3. Ok, not sure if that is actually correct, but for the benefit of the question let's pretend that it is. I want to adjust my valves, so i would put #1 at TDC on compression stroke. Once I've completed #1, then I would rotate the crank so that the #2 piston moves up on TDC, which shouldn't require but just a half turn or so (If that much), and I would verify this by checking the rotor on the Dizzy.

So far so good right? Then I would move to the #4 cylinder, and adjust it, and then to the #3 cylinder to adjust it, rotating the crank each time, and checking the dizzy each time.

Is this correct? The reason I'm asking is because not to long ago I adjusted my valves, but for the life of me I can't remember if I did it 1,2,4,3 or 1,2,3,4... *Crap* Now I have to go check, just to be sure. LOL


Thanks!

 

Rat- My firing order is 1-3-4-2..not too sure about yours but you are on the right track. I don't bother with trying to figure out the "dizzy", I just pull the plugs and put a long screwdriver or something down the hole and rotate each cylinder in correct order until the object in the cylinder is at it's highest point starting with 1 and with the cam gears pointing "up". Not too sure if that is the professional way of doing things, but it got the job done real well. But if you want to be sure, you could look at the distributer too, I guess you never can be too careful. Anyway good luck.