update: finished the valve adjustment over the weekend. not all of them actually needed readjusting but most did, especially the exhaust, all of them could fit the next size feeler outside of the upper spec. followed
Spoke with the dealer about the timing belt and plugs. 100,000 miles and the dealer mentioned valve adjustment. Valve adjustment and plugs $925. Is the valve adjustment needed? It runs fine but need it to last so not sure?
www.piloteers.org
slvr7 had great advice and it worked out quite well. got the gap set tight on a 9 thousandths which allowed the 8 to slight drag no issue, same on the exhaust, a tight 12 thousandths allowing the 11 a nice drag feel.
while putting back together everything I finished up with brand new OEM Honda ground straps, BOTH of them. I forgot to take pictures of them side by side but the new ones are really nice looking. Old one's weren't in terrible condition but you could tell the corrosion was starting to take its toll on them, and I am not one to wait for a catastrophic breakdown and a phone call from the wife asking how to use the roadside assistance coverage.
came home from work today and jacked the vehicle to get the front wheels up on the ramps. I didn't want to start the engine until it was time to do the relearn procedures and I needed to replace both lower cat gaskets.
this was an interesting task. ahead of time I had ordered 2 gaskets AND 6 locking nuts, recommended replacing from FSM, and some of the old ones got mangled from the impact gun.
prior to removal I had to, 1) remove the subframe stiffener support, 4 bolts easy to remove w/ 14mm socket, and 2) remove the bracket that holds the rubber isolator attached to the exhaust in the same area held in by 2 small bolts removed with 12mm socket. PB blaster is your friend in this area, spray and let soak at least 5 minutes everything!
hammer and mini pry bar got the old gaskets out one in pretty full form, the other came out in chunks and pieces. had to clean out the groove and clean the mating surfaces w/ the die grinder wire wheel attachment. push in new gasket and tighten up NEW nuts in clockwise circular pattern starting at the single stud then going to the dual studs opposite, 40 ftlb torque.
re-install the exhaust bracket (just a little tight, not super torque) and subframe crossmember (same 40ftlb as the exhaust nuts)
once this was all done I grabbed the keys and proceeded with the idle relearn. FSM says 3,000 rpm until engine coolant is up to temp (194 *F) or rad fan kicks on. well neither of these are happening because it is winter time so I let it hit 180 then followed the 5 minute idle period with throttle closed. (page 11-359 FSM)
after this I took it out for a test drive to do the manual crack pattern re-learn (page 11-5 FSM)
you're basically running the engine in 2nd gear on the shifter using engine braking to slow down the vehicle from 2500 rpm to 1000 rpm AND 5000 rpm to 3000 rpm, both of these several times in not particular order!
I didn't think I would run into so many people so late at night but I managed to find some stretches of back road where I could safely accomplish this. Please note that slowing down from 2500 to 1000 will bring you to below the speed limit on most roads and getting up to 5000 rpm in 2nd gear will get you going pretty fast for some roads so best find a road where the speed limit is around 45 to 50 mph and traffic is pretty light or also has a shoulder to pull off on while you're decelerating with closed throttle.
drove back home in regular mode and re-checked the OBD with this new lame scanner I got that doesn't do much anything special that my old cheap bluetooth plugin did. I was hopeful it would do the crank pattern learn procedure for me but no, and it doesn't even have an active misfire counter! It does let me graph some stuff which is kind of useful. I am going to return it and save up for a better scan tool. if this 5610 model is innova's best then that is pretty sad.
I am not ready to call success yet again on this but no far no misfires and no engine lights. the vehicle hasn't been driven enough yet to flag all the systems green to go but I will keep tabs on that.
good news is the exhaust gaskets did fix the annoying ticking noise I was hearing while at standstill but would go away at speed. ANY time ANY exhaust sealing surface is separated it is imperative that a new gasket is used.
