98 civic valve check

checked the valves on my 98 civic cx again... i was bored. i did it at the
30k mark, and now its at 45k. they *seemed* okay to me, but possibly
slightly looser than before.

i did the "go-no go" route... all the valves went with the go, so they were
all ok, some with a little less drag on the gauge than others. on the
"no-go", it either didnt go in, barely went in to the verge of forcing it,
or went in with a *lot* of drag.

so i guess i could have tightened the ones that went in with a lot of drag,
but didnt really want to mess with it. it was the #2 cylinder, IIRC... that
was the only real culprit.

so basically, my valves are kinda loose, at least the #2 cylinder. is it
better to have it too loose than too tight? would it be worth messing with,
or am i being anal?

i realize most people probably never check the valves or have em checked,
and the engines still run forever.

oh yeah- replaced the plugs while i was at it. all looked fine- light grey.
last time i apparently used NGK, this time around i used denso.

 

Too loose is better than too tight. When they are too loose, you will
get a little more noise and perhaps a slight decrease in performance.,
but no permanent damage.

If they are too tight, you risk burned valves.

 

My 175,000km, 1998 DX Hatch, has only undergone oil changes and regular
preventative maintenance. I believe the valve adjust is not included in the
preventative maintenace. My valves are quiet noicy when the engine is ideling,
but the engine sounds smooth when revved. Considering that I can get 42mpg
(american) and I have yet to be beaten by another Civic (that's not a DOHC
version), I'm inclined to leave the valves alone.

Pars

 

its a one-time only 30k mile check, along with the first air filter and
spark plug change.

 

That sounds like the Type-4 maintenance schedule (which goes for about $300
canadian). Perhaps the valve adjustment is include in that particular
maintenance schedule. I'll have to pay closer attention, next time.

Pars

 

hehe.... the first thing i did after i got my CX hatch was get a helm
manual. then i went online and got that center console dealie and an
ashtray/lighter. i figure all will increase the resale value somewhat,
compared to most CX's that dont have em.

 

I would aim for the low end of the spec because the valves would be quieter.
There is little chance of the valves having a problem with being too tight on
that Honda engine. That's why it's boring to check valve clearance. There is no
'wow, I made an improvement' for doing valve clearance checking.

 

+++++++++++++++

Your opinion would swing to the opposite side of the scale if you hung
around with CRV owners . . . . The first generation CRV should have a
valve adjustment after 30,000 miles, and every 30,000 thereafter. Honda
just forgot to 'fill in the dots' in the maintenance schedule.

Same goes for the rear differential fluid change.....

'Curly'

 

I had 4 Honda at one time. I used to check clearance regularly. I got bored after so
many checks. I now only check when the valve get loud.

Do you know how boring it is to check 16 valves, yet only turn 1 valve screw 1/8 of a
turn? My point is that the recommended valve check interval is vastly over stated. If
you have doubt, do check them like recommended. From experience, I ignore that valve
check on the maintenance guide. I actually lost the gauge for the low spec on valve
clearance, so I've always used the next lower gauge.

I have a question for you. Do the owners of the CRV complain about the need for
adjustment regularly?

 

I was meaning to get one of those centre console, but never got around to it.
Now, I'm accustomed to not having it. It'll probably get in my way.

If you have standard tranny, the most useful addition to the CX would be a
tachometer. They probably go for under $200. The tachometer comes in handy when
redlining in 2nd gear. The jump from 2nd to 3rd is huge. In a race situation,
switching up early to third, will put the DX/CX in a huge hole and it'll take
the engine awhile to crawl out of it, to a more useful rpm range. So, having
the engine gasping at 6800rpm redline in 2nd, doesn't help much, but it does
result in less time spent while bugged down in third gear. Even so, third gear
is my favorite gear, since it becomes an extremely powerful gear at highway
speeds. As per the "Why do all ricers love the Honda Civic?" post, it's a
great gear to use when trying to intimidate the left lane hogs. Simply pull up
beside them while in third gear and punch the gas, which will demonstrate the
cars flexibility and cause it to surge ahead (at 80 mph, third would be reving
at about 5000rpm). The idiot beside you is probably going to think that your
stock engine is tricked out.

Pars
98 Civic Hatch

 

i like it. the car has all sorts of storage now... center console, door
pockets, glove box, seatcovers with built in pockets in the backs. that lil
cellphone/GPS nook next to the stereo is nice. ashtray... coin holder.

when

ive been thinkin bout that. supposedly its as easy as just getting a cluster
from a tach-equipped model and swapping the whole thing out? EX, DX, or
whatever?

reving

yikes. well, since i dont have a tach, ive been shifting at whatever the
owners manual recommends as the maximum. i think 3rd is good to 70mph, with
4th and 5th being from 70 to max top speed. i havent hit any rev limiters,
so im not sure.

 

+++++++++++++++

No, they don't complain, because it's not a commonly known fact. They
wait until they're paying for a head job, then they complain to Honda
that it's not in the manual. The manual says something like 94,000
miles, or IF they get noisy.... Unfortunately they get quieter and
quieter as tolerance diminishes. Then they start burning until you get a
'check engine' light. Too late.

Ignorance is bliss, until it gets expensive. 'Curly'
-

 

so CRV valves actually "tighten up"? odd. i figured the opposite would be
true.

 

Any rattles?

I wonder if potential buyers will be nerves about a new cluster, since mileage
reading can be altered.

In third gear, you can get up about 105mpg before you hit the rev limiter. It's
only after 70mpg (in third gear) that the car really starts to pull. The 1.6L DX
motor might run out of steam at 65000rpm, but it can handle the revs just as
well as the dohc vtec version. Since your engine still has low mileage, I'd
start feeding it Mobel-1 and start having some real fun (just watch out for
cops).

Pars

 

Just buy an EX instrument cluster, possibly from EBay for ~130 US. You
can swap back in your original speedometer. The biggest difficulty I
had was removing the trim piece to get to the instrument cluster.

 

none at all, or at least none that werent already there. when im on the
freeway with the windows up aand the AC on, theres road noise, of course. i
think the 185 (195? i forget)/60-14 BFG tourings i put on might be quieter
than the stock firestones. a lil fatter, and no freeway onramp squeal!

any cluster i find now will probably have more than the 46k miles my
original one has. not planning on selling any time soon, although i toyed
with the idea of gettting a scion xA. it really wouldnt do anything my
current car doesnt already do tho.

oh, ive been feeding it mobil1 since the 7500mile change. honda filters,
too.

so i could get a whole cluster, and its plug and play? very very tempting...

id obviously need one from a manual-trannied car, preferably a 98, right?
any particular trim level i should look for? LX? EX? DX? i would guess DX
hatch, so i still would have the "open hatch" indicator? not crucial, but i
would like everything to work as stock.

oh... and if its plug and play, would that mean the low fuel light would
work as well? my CX has the spot for the light, but no light...

 

That seems a little early to start using mobil-1. I started using Mobil-1 at
about 30,000km. I wouldn't be surprised if your engine still hasn't broken-in
enough to return 100%. You're going to need to put some real revs into that
engine to get it into peak condition.

I'm not sure, but I would expect the socket that the cluster plugs into would be
standard for the 98 models. Alan from the other post seems to know better.

My DX doesn't have a Hatch indicator light. Also, the DX Hatch sold in the
States does not have a tachometer (Unlike the Candian DX hatch with comes with a
tachometer). The EX cluster is probably the right version to use in an upgrade.

A neat thing about the aftermarket tachometer is that it tends to look like a
turbo gage when sitting above the dash at the corner. However, that look can be
somewhat 'rice like'.

The fuel light indicator in my DX does not work. So, simply upgrading the
instrument cluster is probably not going do the job. Besides, I find the fuel
light indicator in my wife's 2000 Civic EX annoying.

Pars
98 DX Hatch

 

upgrade.

but a stick, not auto

yeah- i want an OEM look. maybe a small digital one wouldnt be bad either?

the american DX supposedly has the fuel light. no biggie. its weird, the
differences between the american and canadian cars, considering they all
came out of the same factory in alliston.