100,000 mile valve check

oldcivic

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My 2012 Civic with R18 engine is coming up on 100K miles. The manual, dealer, and others recommend a 100,000 mile valve check since the engine does not have hydraulic lifters.

My Honda dealer charges about a grand for this check including replacing the water pump and a new drive belt. This is outrageous in my opinion. If I wanted, and I don't, I could check the valves myself, it isn't hard to do. The water pump is pumping coolant just find and the drive belt has no signs of cracking or any other kind of wear. When I point this out to the service advisor their standard comeback is "that's just what we do at 100K miles as standard practice". When I ask about replacing a perfectly good water pump they answer that it's going to go out eventually any way.

My independent shop says that unless your valve train is making ticking noises, leave it alone and the water pumps are known for lasting a long time. They said they very seldom replace them or do valve checks as they point to two Hondas, one with 400K+ miles and another with 300K+ plus miles on it, both with no valve check done.

Question for those qualified to answer: does a valve check really have any value (other than an expensive peace of mind) if the car runs like new and the engine has no valve train noise? Thank you very much.
 
It alters the way the car drives for sure. I was having issues with mine bogging down and not feeling right. At times it would drop idle to the point it would sputter and die on occasion. Honda checked the valves and every one was closed significantly over what it was supposed to be set at. This happened at like 30k miles, so I didn’t have a bill. The car ran entirely different after they were adjusted.
 
Howdy! :itsme:

I have an R18 (2013), and I'm at about 135K. No Valve Check, and Water Pump is fine.

At 100K, I just changed the belt and the spark plugs. On my old '96 Accord, the water pump went out at about 215K-- I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything for current day, but I can't imagine their engineering got worse. When my car gets closer to 200K, I'll go ahead and change it if it hasn't given out by then. This R18 has given me zero issues, so I'm leaning toward the mindset of your local shop; Unless your engine makes a loud ticking noise at startup, or you feel like it's driving noticeably worse like @webby has mentioned (noticeably less power, bogging, etc. ) I think you should be fine.
 
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200k and this is when I did the valve adjustment, well I brought it to the dealer it was like $700 or so a few years ago. I did it because it the manual says 100k and I figured i'll spend the money because it's a car we are planning to keep and it wasn't something I wanted to do when its 90+ degrees out.

Belts usually gets changed when they show cracks or missing teeth, 230k on original water pump and still going but I did drain and fill a few times at 100k to get all new fluids in there. I think belts were done around 120k and there was some cracks showing. Surprise they didn't throw in a brake fluid flush, you know that needs to be done every 3 years ;)
 
Since no direct answers my plan is to leave the valves alone when the time comes and change the belt only when it shows cracks or some kind of wear. Water pump, no, will not change just because a dealer wants to upsell.
 
Since no direct answers my plan is to leave the valves alone when the time comes and change the belt only when it shows cracks or some kind of wear. Water pump, no, will not change just because a dealer wants to upsell.
At least change your belt. You don't want it to give and snap without warning.

If you are adventurous, you could check your valve clearances for piece of mind. All it would cost you is a gasket and a valve shim/measurement tool.
 

this user claims they've done a number of r18's at 100k, and they mention they're usually loose on the exhausts by 3 or 4 thousandths. If you want to see what's involved, here is a vid.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLHS-uIczH0


feelers are quite cheap if you don't have a set
Amazon product
View: https://www.amazon.com/Hotop-Blades-Feeler-Imperial-Measuring/dp/B081CT2KCP/
 
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