This article focuses on getting your valve lash clearances correct.

Your valve lash

effects the effective profile of your cam, and therefore affects performance.
Incorrect settings can also lead to accelerated wear or damage to valvetrain
components.

Here are the tools you will need:

Ratchet and some extensions, plus a crow's foot extension
Sockets 10mm, 17mm
Torque Wrench
10mm combination wrench
Flathead Screwdriver
Gasket Scraper (don't use your flathead for this)
Feeler Gauges ( 0.18mm-0.27mm )
Maybe a jack and jackstand
Some shop towels

MAKE SURE THE ENGINE IS COOLED DOWN TO 100 DEGREES OR LOWER

BEFORE ATTEMPTING ADJUSTMENT

First you will need to

open the hood, and for
any of you that do not
already use it...use this
lower hole for the hood
support...it will open your
hood almost straight up
and give you plenty of
room to work.
OK now that we have the
hood open, the first thing
we want to do when
working in/on/around the
engine, is disconnect the
negative battery terminal.
After you get that done,
you will need to remove
the sparkplug cables and
the breather hose that
goes to the intake.

Now you need to remove

the (5) 10mm bolts
holding the valve cover in
place. Once they are
loose use a small flathead
to separate the rubber
washer from the cover if
the bolts do not come off
freely.
Once you lift off the
cover, the gasket will
probably stay on the head
because it is stuck in four
corners by hondabond.

Go ahead and just pull

the gasket off.
It is a good idea to have
some paper or shop
towels laid out to lay the
cover and bolts on.

Looks pretty good for 73k

miles...

To gain access to the cam

pulley so we can see the
marks for finding TDC on
each cylinder, we have to
remove the timing belt
upper cover.
Make sure you pull out
the oil dipstick, then you
need to remove these (2)
10mm bolts.

A crows foot comes in

handy here.
Once you have the bolts
out, you will need to pull
the power steering hose
out of it's bracket, then
pull the cover off, starting
at the back.

OK, if you cannot gain

access to the crank
pulley, you will need to
loosen the lugs on the
front driver's wheel, then
lift the car and get it on a
jack stand. Then remove
the lugs and then the
wheel. Once you have the
wheel off, you will need
to remove these two
plastic screw clips to
lower the splash guard
and gain access to the
crank pulley. (YOU CAN
USE THE ACCESS HOLE
THERE, but I wanted more
room so I just lowered
the cover)

Good show, now we can

use our 17mm socket to
turn over the engine.

Before you get to

turning the crank, go
ahead and pull out the
spark plugs
OK, now turn the crank
counterclockwise until the
'UP' mark is at the top
like so. There are also
two horizontal scribes on
the pulley that will align
with the head...I could
not get a clear picture
with the power steering
hose there.
That brings cylinder #1 to
TDC for adjustment. (the
cylinders are numbered
from right to left, looking
from the front, as
1,2,3,4)
When you are ready to
make your adjustments,
here are the specs.

Intake: 0.18 - 0.22 mm

(0.007 - 0.009 in) (rear
of engine towards
firewall)
Exhaust: 0.23 - 0.27
mm (0.009 - 0.011
in) (front of engine
towards radiator)
OK, now that you know
which gauges to use, you
can use a 10mm wrench
to loosen the locknut
while holding the
adjustment screw with
your flathead, then turn
the adjustment screw
until you can slide the
feeler gauge back and
forth with slight drag.
After you have it set you
want to hold the
adjustment screw in place
and retighten the lock
nut...then retest the
clearance, and if needed
repeat the procedure.

Also, the rocker arms

are aluminum, so do
not overtighten the
locknuts. (D16Y7 13
lbf-ft, D16Y5 & D16Y8
14 lbf-ft)
Here is an example of
where each tool goes.

After you get done with

cylinder #1 you will turn
the crank 180 degrees
counterclockwise...this
will turn the cam pulley
90 degrees and the 'UP'
mark will be on the
exhaust side. This gets
cylinder #3 at TDC.

When you get done with

#3, you again give the
crank 180 degree
counterclockwise turn,
and the 'UP' mark will be
on the bottom...setting
up #4 at TDC for
adjustment. Once you are
done there, turn the
crank 180 degrees
counterclockwise again,
setting the 'UP' mark to
the intake side, and
getting #2 at TDC. Make
your adjustments there
and you are ready for
reassembly.

You now need to get the

mating surfaces clean.
Grab your gasket scraper
and get off all the old
hondabond, most of it will
be in the inside four
corners...get that off then
get the rest of the
surfaces (head and cover)
clean and dry.
Go ahead and get your
timing belt upper cover
back on, and torque the
bolts to 7.2 lbf-ft

OK, now on to the gasket

replacement. If your
gaskets are new, then
just skip the replacement.
Instead clean off all the
old hondabond and apply
new...you will see where
it is in a later step.

The mating surface

should be clean and dry

On to the spark plug tube

seals. They tried to give
me a hard time, so I
broke out the vise grips
and they popped right
out.
If it is gunky in there, go
ahead and clean up the
inside of the cover...mine
was fine so I left it alone.
Also, if you are wanting
to paint your valve
cover...this would be the
time to do it.

Once you have them out

and have cleaned the
holes, just press in the
new main cover gasket
and the new spark plug
tube gaskets.
Now you need to add
some hondabond at the
four corners...just apply a
light layer on each corner.

OK, give the hondabond a

minute to set, but no
more than 5 minutes,
then get the cover back in
place on the engine. Once
you get it set in place,
rock it back and forth a
few times to set the
sparkplug tube
seals...then you can start
on the bolts. tighten them
in three or four steps to
7.2 lbf-ft.
After you have the cover
back on, go ahead and
reinstall the plugs,
plugwires, and the
breather hose.

Finally you will want to replace the splash guard over the crank pulley, then
replace your wheel, lower the car, and torque your lugs to 80lbf-ft.

Wait at least 30 minutes to add oil or start the car...so the hondabond can
properly cure.

With everybody and thier grandma lowering their car, I have seen quite a few bowlegged cars on
the road. For a daily driver, this not only looks sad...it actually affects performance and will wear out
your tires. If, after lowering your car, the alignment shop says that your car does not have enough
adjustment to fix the camber...you need to install some camber kits. Most likely, you will need front
and rear kits. In addition to fixing the alignment for daily driving, these kits allow you to dial in more
negative camber for track days. These kits are also very easy to install, so you could actually finish
front and rear in about an hour if you hustle.

Items to gather before you start:

- jack and jack stands
- blocks for front wheels
- lug wrench
- torque wrench
- ratchets
- 14mm socket
- 10mm deep socket
- ball joint seperator
- breaker bar and liquid wrench (optional)

Before you start, go ahead and loosen the lugnuts on all four wheels...if you are doing both front
and rear kits. And a reminder, you should never work under a car supported by only a jack...always
use jack stands. You should also disconnect the negative battery terminal.

Front Camber Arms

After you have loosened the

lugnuts, raised up the car,
supported it on jackstands, and
removed the front wheels...you
will be able to see the stock
upper arm that we are going to
be replacing.

The first step is to remove the

cotter pin, and then remove the
17mm castle nut from the
balljoint.
Next you need to seperate the
balljoint from the knuckle. You
can use a fork type ball joint
tool, or a small pitman arm
tool. I chose the second option,
and it worked great. Make sure
you thread a nut on the end of
the balljoint stud, just a few
threads, before putting a puller
type tool to it...or you might
mushroom the stud....and the
balljoint will be ruined if you
ever want to use the stock
parts again.

In order to get the rear bolts

out on the passenger side, you
need to remove the battery and
the stock airbox to gain access
to them. After disconnecting
the negative and positive
battery terminals (negative
first) you will need to remove
the 10mm nuts for the battery
hold down so you can remove
it...then just lift out the battery
and set it aside. Next, if you
still have the stock airbox, you
will need to remove the two
10mm bolts shown and also
disconnect the intake tube from
the box, then lift the airbox out
and set it aside as well.

Now you can get to the two

14mm bolts to remove them.
On the driver side, this bolt is
easy enough to get to in order
to remove it.

But on this side you have a

hose in the way. See that clip
the hose goes through? Just lift
it out, and reposition it to give
you more room to work.

Like so...now you can get to the

bolt to get it out.
OK, now that we know how to
get all those bolts out, lets get
back to work. Make sure you
clean any grease off of the
knuckle where the balljoint will
seat.

Then put your arm in and

tighten the rear bolts finger
tight.

(DO NOT TORQUE THEM YET)

Now lower the balljoint through

the knuckle, and install the
castle nut. Torque the castle
nut down to 29 lbf-ft, and then
tighten it until you can get your
new cotter pin through and
install that. (cotter pin is not
shown...but MUST be installed)
After you get the arm in, and the castlenut torqued down, reinstall your wheel with the lugnuts
finger tight. Lower your car off of the jack stands, and torque the lugnuts to 80 lbf-ft. Now go back
and torque the rear bolts on each side to 40 lbf-ft and reinstall your battery and the airbox, and put
that hose back as it was. The next step is to either go get an alignment, or get the rear installed.

Rear Camber Arms

After you have loosened the

lugnuts, raised up the car,
supported it on jackstands, and
removed the rear wheels...you
will be able to see the stock
upper arm that we are going to
be replacing.

Now you will need to remove all

three of these bolts to get the
stock arm out. A breaker bar
can help here if they are being
stuborn.
With the stock arm out you can
see that our new camber
adjustable arm is a bit longer
than the stock one at this point.

To get a baseline, adjust the

new camber adjustable arm to
about the same length as the
stock arm.

Now it is time to install the new

camber adjustable arm. Install
the two rear bolts first, finger
tight, and then go ahead and
work the front one in. You will
probably have to muscle the
rear trailing arm around a bit to
get the bolt in. After you have it
in, get that one finger tight,
then go and torque the rear
bolts to 29 lbf-ft, and the front
bolt to 40 lbf-ft.
After you get the arm in, and torqued down, reinstall your wheel with the lugnuts finger tight. Lower
your car off of the jack stands, and torque the lugnuts to 80 lbf-ft. The next step is either to go get
an alignment, or install the front.

Here are the tools you will need:

Jack & Jack Stands
17mm Box End Wrench
Some Shop Towels

To get started go ahead and jack up the front end and support it with jack stands.

Now you will need to open the hood. For any of you that do not already use it, use this lower hole
for the hood support...it will open your hood almost straight up and give you plenty of room to
work.
Now you can get up under the car and find the oil drain bolt, you can also see the blue Honda oil
filter here too.
Time to go ahead and break loose the oil pan drain bolt with your 17mm wrench...just crack it
loose for now, don't remove it any further.

Now get yourself a drain pan under the engine, making sure to place the pan far enough in front of
the drain hole to account for the stong stream of oil that will shoot out when the drain bolt is
removed. Once you have the pan positioned go ahead and remove your drain bolt by hand. After
you get that last thread free you will have quite a stream of oil coming out. Let the oil drain until
you have maybe a drop or two a minute coming out.
While the oil is draining you can go ahead and get the old oil filter out and a new one in it's place.
I find it easiest to remove th e filter from the top...giant arms or aftermarket performance parts
might make this impossible though...if that is the case you can easily see from under the car
where to remove it.
In order to remove the filter from the top you will need to move a few hoses out of the way.

Then you just stick your arm down there with a shop rag to catch any drips, unscrew the filter,
and pull it out. It is a good idea to tip the filter back after you clear the last thread so as to limit
any oil spillage...you will know what I mean when you get your hands on the filter..
Once you have the filter out you will need to get a new one in it's place...here is a new Honda OE
filter and a new drain bolt crush washer.

Honda OE oil filters come in two flavors Fram and Filtech...I always ask for Filtech.
Before you put in your new oil filter you need to take some NEW oil and lubricate the gasket on
your new filter. Just get a little on your finger and run it around the entire gasket...this helps
create a leak free seal and probably helps when it is time to remove it too.

Once you have the filter gasket lubricated, go ahead and install it in the same manner that you
removed the old one. Turn the filter until it snugs up against the block, then give it another half
turn. Overtightening can cause leakage, but the most common issue is a very hard time removing
the filter at the next oil change.
After you get your new filter in place you will need to wait until the oil is done draining to continue.
Once the oil has slowed to a drip or two a minute, you can get your drain bolt back in place.

You want to be sure and use a new crush washer on the drain bolt to avoid any leaks. Make sure
not to over tighten the drain bolt, as the pan is made of aluminum. Just get it snug.
When your new oil filter and the drain bolt are back in place you can start filling the crankcase with
new oil. You just need to remove the oil filler cap and pour it on in.

D16Y5 & D16Y8 - 3.5 Quarts

D16Y7 - 3.8 Quarts
After putting in the appropriate amount of oil, give it a minute or two to settle in the oil pan before
checking the level. To check the level you need to remove the dipstick and wipe it clean. Then put
it back in and check the level. The oil should come up to the second hole on the dipstick...if not
then just slowly add more oil until it does. Once you are done replace the dipstick and oil filler cap.
Make sure you get any hoses you moved back in place. Next you will need to start the car and
check for any leaks. If you find any then just tighten up the filter or drain bolt...whichever is
needed.

If there are no leaks then just lower the car off the jack stands and you are done!