Valve clearance adjustment on 2006 Accord

2006 EX-L w/V6 and Auto. 79,000 miles. No oil consumption problems, etc. All's well except for a bit of noise.

Of late I've noticed some "valve clatter" when it's cold. Quiets down pretty much after reaching operating temperature. Took it in to my mechanic (non-Honda shop) for oil change and tire rotation and asked him to check it.

Owners manual specifies "valve clearance adjustment" ONLY WHEN NOISE IS EXCESSIVE or verbiage to that effect. Mechanic said he noted a bit of noise but none of the service books make mention of valve adjustment on the V6's - only on the 4 cylinder.

Nothing I've seen in the various forum threads contradict this.

Am I missing something?

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused
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Nope.

That's been Honda's talk track on the V6 for a long, long time.

The fact is, that's an expensive service item--and Honda is loathe to specify an actual interval for that, because it makes them look bad in the marketplace.

So they just don't specify it as a regular maintenance item.

Doesn't mean it isn't....

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

Unquestionably Confused wrote in news:4ee9ff04$0$29431$ snipped-for-privacy@newsreader.readnews.com:

That's more likely to be piston-slap. Shows up right around 70-90K. Quite normal.

Valve-clearances can close as well as open, so noise is not a reliable indicator of the need for adjustment. Whatever Honda says, periodic checks are always a good idea. And they are easy to do, even on this engine.

Reply to
Tegger

Unquestionably Confused wrote in news:4ee9ff04$0$29431$ snipped-for-privacy@newsreader.readnews.com:

That's more likely to be piston-slap. Shows up right around 70-90K. Quite normal.

Valve-clearances can close as well as open, so noise is not a reliable indicator of the need for adjustment. Whatever Honda says, periodic checks are always a good idea. And they are easy to do, even on this engine.

Reply to
tww1491

I take it that noise from BOTH piston slap and out of spec valve clearances would abate as the engine warmed to operating temperature?

Thanks as always for your educational posts, Tegger!

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

Unquestionably Confused wrote in news:4eebf13b$0 $17294$ snipped-for-privacy@newsreader.readnews.com:

The piston-slap, yes. The valve-clearances, not necessarily.

I'm not at all sure why Honda says to check only if there's excessive noise. Honda describes itself as an "engine company", so they MUST know that clearances can CLOSE as well as OPEN. Being an engineery-type myself, one reason I gravitated to Honda was its focus on engineering. So this don't-check-unless-there's-noise thing is a bit jarring to me.

I try.

Reply to
Tegger

And more often than not succeed!

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

For the last 15 years, it's had zero to do with engineering.

I keep saying it: read Car Guys Vs. Bean Counters.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

ok, i've NOT read this book, but i've browsed bits on amazon, and the impression i get is that while it appeals to emotions, he's blowing smoke in the hugest self-aggrandizing self-ego-stroking way.

if you look under the hood at the vehicles produced under his leadership, they're poorly designed, poorly specified and poorly executed in the most spectacular bean counting way. as an engineer and materials guy, i can tell you this for fact.

so, if by "car guy" me means kids with crayons and modeling clay knocking up concepts that look good so they can make a big song and dance about it to the media, then sure. but if he means people under the hood that know how to make a decent quality casting, who know why leaf springs suck, and how to configure components so there's room to get at a spark plug for maintenance or provide anything other than a poorly accessed slide to adjust an accessory belt, then no "car guy" ever walked his factory floors. or sat his board room table.

Reply to
jim beam

By "car guys" he's talking about people who made cars that the public wanted, on many levels, to buy. They may or may not have been engineers, but they were responsible for producing a product that was lusted after.

By "beancounters" he's talking about who took over that responsibility.

Read the whole book, not just bits of it. You'll see.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" wrote in news:elmop- snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:

I bought my car in 1991, when the focus was /definitely/ on engineering. And Soichiro Honda was still around when my car was in development, so his spirit still had influence.

Of course, the laws were much different in the late-'80s, as well: They were far less numerous and far more lenient, allowing car companies to focus more on what /they and their customers/ thought was important than on what activists and regulators think is important.

I haven't read that book; in fact, I had never even heard of it until now. I imagine it's not much different than "The Decline and Fall of the American Autombile Industry", by Brock Yates, which I /have/ read. "The Decline" tells much the same story about loss of product-focus as your book's title implies.

Reply to
Tegger

Yes, but there's different information in the new book.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

that's an interesting analysis. particularly in contrast to what used to be engineering-centric producers like honda. i don't think honda ever produced a car that was a mass lust object, but they sure were able to shift product once people figured out that honda made cars that handled well and were superbly reliable. particularly in contrast to that crap detroit's been stuffing the rear end's of the american public with for so long. then when they got rid of the engineers and the reliability, there was /nothing/ left to keep honda in place other than legacy goodwill - 'cos it sure isn't lust.

it'll have to wait in line. "currency wars" is next.

Reply to
jim beam

Nailed. It.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

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