So, I ordered the Lisle ( along with the cordless impact wrench I have always wanted)
Put the Lisle socket on the Dewalt impact wrench... The clouds parted, the sun came out and the Honda Gods touched me on the shoulder and said everything will be ok..

Seriously, I had the crank bolt off in 10 seconds. The Lisle socket is amazing..( I took a video of the difference between a regular socket and the Lisle if anyone is interested in seeing)

So I pulled the valve cover etc and took a quick glance.. Chain was intact- things looked good. I set the engine to TDC It looks like the chain jumped-a lot (see pic)

 

Before I continued the teardown I inspected gears and both cams.
The intake cam looks perfect with almost no wear. The valves are way out of adjustment.
The exhaust cam on the other hand shows wear on every lobe (see pic) but the rollers do not have any damage at all.
My question is
- is everyone in agreement that the head needs to be replaced? Or?
- since the car was running good prior to the timing chain, should I just change the chain and leave the cam alone?
- should I replace the cam?
- if so, can I replace just the one. In other words they don't need to be replaced as a pair.
- since there is no damage to the rollers, do I have to replace them with the cam?
Remember the car is 12 years old and has 330,000 miles. I defiantly want to watch my spending..

After work tonight I will start pulling the chain cover and see how it looks.

 

I took a look in the shop manual for your accord. There is a spec for the cam lobe height. The rocker arms have a spec for the diameter of the piston/roller bore.

I'd probably just replace the timing chain if this was my car especially since you have 330K miles. If the engine starts having issues, I'd probably get a low mileage engine vs repairing.

 

Head should be OK, but needs new stem seals, valve guides, reseat/replace valves as indicated, cam bearings?, and shave head. Cams should be OK, but inspection as suggested by PAH necessary on such a high mileage engine.

Although an older high mileage vehicle, presumably you intend to keep/maintain the vehicle, consequently you want to invest as needed to insure many carefree miles.

good luck

 

TexasHonda / PHonda
While it is a high mileage vehicle, it is my daily driver. I don' t mind investing a reasonable amount of money to keep it reliable. What is the major concern? That it is a 12 year old car with 330k miles and it is time to do it? Or that the chain slipping may have caused bent valves or worse? I would hate to do all of this work, just to have to do it again if there is other damage?

How can I tell if there is other damage without pulling the head? Would doing a leak down test tell me if there were any bent valves other damage?
I know the valve seals are bad since it does burn oil. And I am sure it needs to be done, but... Can you tell I really don't want to pull the head... lol.

I would love to hear what the 2 of you have to say.. I think I just convinced myself to pull the head.



Thank you both for the help.

Mark

 

Its an engine with 330K miles, so the lower end of the engine probably has some wear as well.

You can do a leak down test to verify if valves were damaged and pull the cylinder head to get valve guides replaced and any other work required.

It all depends on what a reasonable amount of money and time means to you. A quick look at car-part.com shows used engines with about 100K miles cost $500-1000. I'd probably roll the dice and install the timing chain and see how the engine runs.

 

Before I'd put a new timing chain on, I'd try a quick check for bent valve - like this:

- Without turning anything, find the timing marks for the crankshaft. Figure out how to turn it to 90-degrees away from TDC, the most direct way possible. Doesn't matter if you turn forwards or backwards, doesn't matter which side you put the mark. What that does is put all 4 pistons at mid-stroke without any of them coming up to the top where they might hit the valves.

- Remove the chain. With the pistons at mid-stroke you can spin the camshafts any way you want without the valves hitting the pistons.

- Just by spinning the cam, check the valve clearances. Sounds like you may have already checked and the valves are way out of adjustment (post #12)?? If they have excessive clearance, that's a sign that the valves are bent. If that's the case, I wouldn't waste time installing a chain if you already know the valves are bent.

 

Excess valve gap (> 0.1-inch) would indicate a bent valve.

good luck

 

I took the valve measurements this evening.
Exhaust are not too bad. But the intake are all over the place.
Jim, Pahonda and Texas what are your thoughts? What do readings like this indicate?
If valves are bent that means that thefts have some kind of damage. How do I tell if the strike cause "too much" damage?

It is feeling more and more like I am going to have to buy a low mileage engine and swap the whole thing out..

 

Unlikely any valves are bent. Head still needs repair/service IMO. For instance, tolerances on valve guides need to be checked and guides replaced as necessary.

Since the chain needs replacing, head should be rebuilt due to potential intake -exhaust valve leaks (improper seating).

However, its your car and you should decide how far repairs should extend.

good luck