A bad sound made by the engine
has led me to check the valve clearances. Equipped with the "big
blue" "Honda 360/400/600 Sedan and Van" manual, the Haynes
manual, and a new set of feeler guages, I took a look.
I used a 17mm wrench to turn the crankshaft and move the
camshaft.
After moving the camshaft as described in the manuals, I found that the
#1 and #2 valves (looking left to right) were right at .004", the #3
was at less than .002, and the #4 was at .005. I assumed that the
number 3 was the trouble, though all the literature says that a
too-LARGE clearance causes the symptom, not too small. anyway
with some trial and error I got it to .0035. Close enough (?)
Unfortunately this didn't fix the problem of the "bad sound".
Although I thought the engine may have sounded better when I started it
up after doing the adjustments, after a few minutes it was back to it's
noisy self. I will have to go back and inspect again. If
nothing has moved then I am at a loss about the sound.
Oh, and to make matters worse, the #3 had a bit of the aluminum case
bent down onto it's spring. I gently tapped it straight after
taking this picture... .
Here is what a good one looks like - it is right at .004 clearance...
Here is the "big blue" manual's
page on this topic...
