The 6-month transformation on my '02 Civic after a proper valve adjustment

I kept chasing a rough idle on my old Civic for months, tried cleaning the IACV and swapping plugs, nada. Finally dove in and adjusted the valves myself, lash was way off on three cylinders. Idle smoothed right out, and I swear the gas mileage went up by about 4 mpg over the next half year. Anyone else see that kind of change from a simple adjustment job?

2 comments

2 Comments

lily_gibson131d ago

Yeah I heard those old Hondas are super picky about valve lash too.

caleb_gibson22h ago

Set the gap a hair loose on the exhaust side and it woke the old motor right up... made a huge difference in how it idled and pulled through the low end. Took a few tries with the feeler gauge but once it was dialed it ran smooth for years. That little bit of extra clearance saved me from burning a valve too.