Valve Adjustment | Honda S2000

Hey everyone, today I’m going to show you how to perform a valve adjustment on a Honda S2000. This has been the most requested DIY video so I really hope you find this one useful.

Valve Cover Removal:    • DBW Valve Cover Removal | Honda S2000  
Valve Cover Installation:    • DBW Valve Cover Installation | Honda ...  

Difficulty: Moderate
Estimated time: 90 minutes

Tools necessary:
- 3/8 Ratchet
- 10mm socket
- 5mm hex drive
- Pliers
- 17mm wrench
- 10mm valve adjustment tool - http://amzn.to/2rR87oj
- Bent feeler gauges - http://amzn.to/2rxDeVn

Before you start this DIY you want to make sure the engine temperature is under 100* F. The reason the engine must be cold is because the temperature can affect the expansion of metal engine components and it can throw off your measurements. Since it can take several hours for the engine to cool down I normally perform a valve adjustment after the car has been sitting overnight. I also want to point out that you will need two special tools: a set of bent feeler gauges and a 10mm valve adjustment tool. You can find links to these below in the video description.

Steps
1. Once the engine is at room temperature you will need to remove the valve cover. You can find a video that I made on how to do that linked below.
2. Once the valve cover is off you’ll need a little extra room to work with. Remove the fuel rail cover and then unclip the injector wiring harness from the fuel rail.
3. Now you want to setup cylinder 1 so that it is at top dead center. I could make an entire video explaining what top dead center is but for the purposes of this video all you really have to know is that when a piston is at top dead center the valves can be properly adjusted. You can tell when a cylinder is at TDC because the exhaust camshaft lobes will point to 11 o’clock and the intake camshaft lobes will point to 2 o’clock. You can also tell when a cylinder is at TDC by looking at timing marks on the cam gears. For cylinder 1 the timing marks on the cam gears will be pointing inwards towards each other. With the car in neutral use a 19mm wrench to turn the crankshaft clockwise so that cylinder 1 is set to TDC.
4. With the piston you are adjusting at TDC you can now measure the valve clearance using your bent feeler gauges. The valve clearance in this case is the space between the valve stem and the adjusting screw. For the intake side the clearance should be between .21mm to .25mm and on the exhaust side it should be between .25 and .29mm. What you want to do is take a feeler gauge that is sized within the valve’s clearance that you are adjusting and try to insert it between the valve stem and the adjusting screw. If the feeler won’t fit you know that the valve clearance is too tight and needs to be adjusted. If it does fit you want to slide it back and forth and feel how tight the clearance is. Ideally you want the feeler to feel snug with slight drag between the valve stem and the adjusting screw. If the feeler gauge has no drag at all you will want to adjust the valve clearance so it is tighter.
5. To adjust a valve place the valve adjustment tool on the lock nut for the valve you wish to adjust. Make sure the tool is sitting around the lock nut and then lower the flathead until it is sitting correctly on the adjusting screw. Loosen the lock nut by turning the handle counter clockwise. You want to do this while holding the adjustment screw in place with the flathead driver to ensure the clearance doesn’t change. With the lock nut loose you can now spin the flathead in order to loosen or tighten the valve clearance. The adjustment screw should only need a fraction of a turn in order to adjust the clearance to spec. When you have finished turning the adjustment screw you’ll need to tighten the lock nut by turning the handle clockwise, all while holding the adjustment screw in place with the flathead driver. Now you’ll have to measure the valve clearance and repeat this process until the valve clearance is within spec. Once you’re happy with the adjustment, torque the lock nut to 14 ft-lbs.
6. After you are finished with cylinder 1 you will need to rotate the crankshaft 180 degress to get the next cylinder to TDC. The next cylinder to reach TDC will be cylinder 3, then cylinder 4, and finally cylinder 2. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each of these cylinders after you get them to TDC. Once all the valves finally adjusted you can begin putting things back together. Make sure all the lock nuts are torqued and remove the 19mm wrench from the crankshaft bolt if its still there.
7. Replace the fuel rail cover and replace the injector wiring harness onto the fuel rail.
8. Finally, reinstall the valve cover. You can find a video that I made on how to do that linked below.
Thats it! Start up the car to ensure that everything is operating normally. If you encounter a misfire double check all of your electrical connections and make sure everything is bolted down correctly.