Valve Lash Adjustment

[silversol]

Look on the front of yout engine near the oil pan for the green vin plate that will tell you if your engine is the original or not. Also on hondas with the valves ajustment needs to be done with the car stone cold. park it over night then do it the next morning with the engine cold!

[bowtieguy]

the only plate i see is the one confirming that the tranny is in fact original.

[GasSavers_Pete]

Originally Posted by bowtieguy

one thing i left out is tires...i have new, VERY deep "treaded " michelins that are likely hurting mileage. couldn't resist as they were on sale for the price of good 60k mile tires...the michelins are rated at 100k miles.

worth 3 or 4 mpgs? i doubt it.

Maybe the change from worn to new tyres would be enough to move the numbers that much?

I changed from Bridgestones to Olympic and the fuel used went up around 5% at the same pressure...but the noise went DOWN and the ride quality went UP.

That was the main reason for the change and they needed replacing anyway after 128 000 klms (around 70 000 miles).

Interestingly the Olympics should last around the same distance going by the current rate of wear.

Peter.

[silversol]

Originally Posted by bowtieguy

the only plate i see is the one confirming that the tranny is in fact original.

Its kinda hard to see. its behind the exhaust manafold right above the oil pan.

[bowtieguy]

thank you. the next time the motor is cold during daylight, i'll take off the manifold cover and take a peak.

[turbowagonman]

you need to set the valve lash, unless you want to fix burnt valves. they can get too tight, causing bad mileage as well as burning. I've had to fix alot of them that have done that.

[bowtieguy]

it's on the tax return to do list early next year, along w/ timing belt service.

i'm very frustrated w/ what i perceive to be low mileage...an observation: when the a/c is off, and w/ the use of pulse and glide(engine on), scangauge indicates some phenomenal(to me) FE. i've gotten close to 50mpg on some trips. scangauge is VERY close to what fill ups reflect.

it kills me that this engine has a very similar set up to the VX--minus lean burn of course.

[imzjustplayin]

Originally Posted by bowtieguy

it's on the tax return to do list early next year, along w/ timing belt service.

i'm very frustrated w/ what i perceive to be low mileage...an observation: when the a/c is off, and w/ the use of pulse and glide(engine on), scangauge indicates some phenomenal(to me) FE. i've gotten close to 50mpg on some trips. scangauge is VERY close to what fill ups reflect.

it kills me that this engine has a very similar set up to the VX--minus lean burn of course.

Well the lean-burn would help but that's not the primary reason for your worse fuel economy. Your transmission's gearing and your valve timing coupled with a heavier vehicle (300lbs more) and a slightly higher displacement engine is the reason why you can't get significantly higher fuel economy. The cam profile in our Civic LXs is a compromise between high end HP and low end torque while the VX can get a little of both thanks to the vtec switching to a different profile at higher revs.

[madnessspirit]

There are a few good videos on adjusting the valves on Hondas. Valves slightly out of adjustment may cause you to lose a very slight amount of fuel economy, but rarely much. It is a service you should perform as part of regular maintenance, I think around every 30-60k miles.

It is actually really easy to do, and if you are a little bit handy with a wrench, you should be able to do it in around an hour.