CRV Valve Adjustment Procedure

Hi all. A relative of mine has a '99 CRV and I'd like to check the valve
adjustment on it. I know I'll need to get a manual, but does anyone know if
the procedure is similar to a '90 Civic or a '95 Accord? I've done valve
adjustments on these but not on a DOHC engine like the CRV's. Are the
valves in the CRV adjusted by screws on rocker arms (like the SOHC engines),
or is there some other method? I'd like to know because I don't know if I
want to volunteer for the job or to advise him to take it to a mechanic.
Any advice appreciated!

WW

 

It's just like a SOHC engine, with adjuster screws and (12mm?)lock nuts.
You can just download the procedure from many sites so you don't need to
buy a manual. . . Some auto parts places in Canada will even print the
procedure pages off their (self-serve) computer.

Remove the plugs and use the power steering pulley to turn it over.

Bear in mind that the Britt version of the manual says to do it every
50,000 Km (30,000 miles), and they tend to tighten with age, so some
people adjust to the looser side of the spec. I'd rather hear them tick
than smell them burning.

Try also hondasuv.com, look in 'CRV /articles'

'Curly'

 

NEVER use anything but the crank pulley bolt to turn the engine.

 

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Um, Honda doc,

Where did you read that?

With the plugs out, you can turn over a '99 CRV engine with your gloved
hand on the PS pulley, and some around here do it all day long. The big
nut on the PS pump will not come loose for the tiny bit of torque it
takes to crank the engine over, and the added bonus is being able to see
the timing markings on the pulley from above.

'Engineers know the rules . . owners / technicians / tinkerers know the
exceptions'

'Curly'

 

Turning the PS pulley by hand to turn the crankshaft requires a transfer of
power from PS pulley to PS belt to crankshaft pulley to crankshaft. You're
asking the PS belt, for one, to take the load of the engine instead of the load
of the tiny little PS pump.

One can argue this "reverse power" transfer setup is inconsequential for a lot
of reasons. Maybe the engineering calculations would indeed support this,
particularly for the mere two, slow speed rotations of the CS pulley needed to
adjust the valves. But the reality is the PS belt was not designed for this
direction of power transfer. It might work for the short run but I wouldn't do
it for the long run, if only to promote good practices.

(Some of the online manuals say the PS nut is left-hand threaded, BTW.)

.... and some in each category know it's a team effort where no lines should be
drawn in advance about who knows what. All should think things through in
logical fashion as well as draw from experience, IMO.

Some of those exceptions prove to be mistakes in the long run. But hey, the
technician has the customer's money in his pocket. How is a customer going to
trace back to him the use of non-OEM coolant when the car's water pump fails a
few months later? Or how about a dented oil pan because the technician didn't
support the car properly when changing the timing belt? Someone took shortcuts.
They "knew the exceptions," like you say. Not.

I view any allegation of exceptions to the manual with skepticism until it's
well-supported by careful analysis. Yada yada...

 

I didn't have to "read" it anywhere. I've seen enough cars towed to our
Honda dealeship over the last twenty years to know that doing repairs in a
manner other than described by Honda will lead to disaster. If you can't fix
cars the way they are supposed to be fixed, keep your hands out of them. At
least stop telling people how to fix their cars according to your hacked up
methods. If you can't give the proper information, stop posting.

 

i tend to agree because the cam may rock on the compression stroke,
then your adjustment is off. i work on them all day long and use the
crank bolt.
i'll use the p/s nut to turn it over for rotor replacement but
that's it.
there's a right way, a wrong way, and there's the internet way!
Chip

 

--------------------


Sorry, guys. . . .

A year ago I heard a Honda tech say it was OK to use the PS nut, so I've
been doing it that way every chance I got. I just accepted it was the
gospel truth. (sounded believable to me)

Crow swallowed.

'Curly'