Honda Element Valve Adjustment

Today we show you how to adjust the valves on your Honda element. This will help fix misfiring & rough idling issues. Could also improve MPG if your car has been running rough. Make sure to subscribe to see more adventures of me and the Honda Element once its up and running agian.
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Intro (0:00)
Tools Needed (0:15)
Valve adjustment (0:50)
Checks & Test Drive (6:36)

[@anthonyventrice7871]

Hi, I watch all your videos and appreciate what you taught me. I own a 2004 Honda element and being a partially disabled veteran, I cant do some of the work myself and the Honda dealer is so much money. Do you work on other elements? I need valve adjustment, all fluids change, suspension work in front and rear of car. PLease let me know, Thanks...I live in Staten island, NY. Also looking for another element for my wife with low mileage and all work updated already if you know of any Elements for sale, Thanks

[@StephenAldaco]

Hey Anthony! Thank you so much for watching it means the world I am so glad some of the videos have helped! I do not live in that area I am in Southern California. What I will do is Pin this comment to the top of the video so if anyone sees it they can reach out and help!

[@anthonyventrice7871]

@@StephenAldaco Thanks Stephen, If you hear of any good Elements for sale, PLease let me know....I will be willing to have it shipped back to me, God Bless! and Keep up the good work! I would like to send a donation to help you, how can I? Thanks

[@StephenAldaco]

@@anthonyventrice7871 will do that is so thoughtful thank you! You can donate on my website here www.stephenaldacoyoga.com/store Or you may see a “super thanks” button on this video if you click that it will ask you how much you would like to donate! I’ll keep you in mind if I see one for sale.

[@broccolihart1]

​@@StephenAldacoHey, what part of socal are you near? I'm off the 110 near Pasadena.

[@davidzip873]

Brave man - doing car repair wearing your smart watch.

[@StephenAldaco]

Bahahaha this is an easy one and I didn’t need to squeeze into a tight spot lol.

[@ray32825]

Wit engine stone cold, bring cylinder # one to TDC, then adjust 1 and 2 on the intake and 1 and 3 on the exhaust. Rotate crank 360 degrees and do the rest, i.e. 3 and 4 on the intake and 2 and 4 on the exhaust. Simple! :)

[@YoungSchraderhausK9]

Thank you!

[@herzogsbuick]

I'm really in an e-hole right now, and so stumbled on your video. My clicking of the subscribe button was resolute, and without hesitation. Can't wait till I can watch your videos under better circumstances heh

[@StephenAldaco]

🤩 thanks for watching and subscribing! Not sure what you mean by an E-hole but doesn’t sound great. Hope you make it out soon my guy! Stay strong 💪

[@herzogsbuick]

@@StephenAldaco i was riffing on a k-hole, but the e standing for element. rough idle i couldn't track down, all sorts of stuff, so learning from you that the valves are a common culprit helped a lot. thanks! got my freshly bought feeler gauges ready hehehe

[@StephenAldaco]

Thank you for watching. Please reference Eric the Car guys video which goes into greater detail about this process. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2acemOte5qBfpo

[@dmccartyfan25]

Thanks for the video. Where is the nut for cylinder 1, intake valve #1? At the beginning of the adjustments, it’s missing.

[@StephenAldaco]

Yeah so it was inside of the engine I found it with a magnetic hopefully yours wasn’t also missing

[@swaha55]

Is there any way or tool you can use other than sound to know if the valves are too tight or too loose without taking off the valve cover? I thought I read somewhere there is a tool that measures the the space of the gaps of the valves.

[@StephenAldaco]

There is a tool but you have to take the valve cover off.

[@rome4urentertainment_1]

🤜🏾💥🤛🏾 tnk you

[@StephenAldaco]

👊 no problem

[@Element_lifestyle]

Hi, Any news on your Element diag?

[@StephenAldaco]

As soon as I took it to the shop the misfire stopped. Checking the injectors this weekend 👌. Thanks for asking!!

[@anthonyventrice7871]

Hi Stephen, can you help me locate a 2004 Element used OEM roof rack and a OEM Spoiler, Thanks

[@StephenAldaco]

Hi Anthony I will keep an eye out!

[@shiftymedia619able]

You need to clean your bay my friend good video

[@StephenAldaco]

Dude definitely my bay is a mess…tells a story tho! Thanks for watching

[@bosun120]

@Stephen Aldaco Sorry another question. Did you re-use the same spark plugs you removed, after completing the valve adjustment and putting the valve cover back on? I heard that Element spark plugs have some sort of crush washer, not sure if need to be replaced every time?

[@StephenAldaco]

Depends how they look if they look burnt or black I’ll change them. Usually I change them because I’m already down there. There usually like 10 bucks per plug so not a bad idea.

[@bosun120]

@@StephenAldaco Thanks, the NGK 6994 plugs I have in there are pretty new (

[@StephenAldaco]

Yeah you can reuse them I would re grease them so they don’t get stuck. There is small packets of grease you can get at the auto parts store good luck!

[@bosun120]

​@@StephenAldaco Just completed the adjustment yesterday. Took a bit longer than expected, due to first time doing this + being meticulous/double checking the tolerances for all 16 valves. I did notice that after the adjustment, the engine seems to be running quieter, especially at idle. Did you also experience on your E and/or is this normal? Thanks again for your video tutorial!

[@StephenAldaco]

@@bosun120 hey nice job man!! It sounds really good to me congrats that’s a big job you did

[@j0lla127]

After you adjust the valve on the larger cam lobe while is in the UP position, do you have to turn the engine and have the smaller cam lobe in the UP position as well and then do the adjustment? I didn't see you do the adjustment for the smaller cam lobe.

[@StephenAldaco]

Hey yes place the lobe in top dead center when adjusting the exhaust side and when working on the intake side

[@j0lla127]

@@StephenAldaco I was referring to the intake side cam lobes. The intake side has two cam lobes, Big and Small. Do both cam lobes has to be in the UP position when adjusting the valves? Since small and big cam lobes can't be in the UP position at the same time, do you turn the engine to have the big cam lobe in the UP position, then, turn the engine so the smaller cam lobe is in the UP position.

[@StephenAldaco]

@@j0lla127 correct the side closest to the firewall is the exhaust side and that should be up when adjusting the clearance on that side. Then when working on the intake side the side closest to the front of the car you should adjust the smaller lobe to the up position on the small side. Hope that makes sense if you have more questions hit me up on Instagram 🤙

[@al-du6lb]

Since you're an element afficionado, maybe you'll have an opinion on my endeavor. I have an 03 DX with 140k. Absolutely love the car, and I've taken good care of it, so I expect to get a lot more life out of it. Over the years, the only thing I regretted about having a DX was the lack of cruise control. There's very little info online, but I am considering picking some parts off a junk yard element and swapping in a cruise control. I'm a tinkerer, not a mechanic, how difficult do you think this project would be? Is it worth it? From the little info I've found, I believe I need a new throttle body, cruise control actuator, interior cruise control module. I'm hoping the module will just be plug and play, but I'm not sure and I can't seem to find a wiring harness from the actuator through the firewall into the vehicle.. If you can think of anything else I would need, please let me know.

[@StephenAldaco]

Hey thanks for the question! I would check the Facebook group Honda Element owners / or on reddit. I honestly am not sure if it’s plug and play. Another great resource is @elementlifestyle on KZbinZ

[@al-du6lb]

@@StephenAldaco Thanks for getting back to me Stephen.

[@dbarnes192]

Hey Dave franco!

[@StephenAldaco]

I will make a video one day of all people you guys call me lol

[@clovergrass9439]

How long does it take for a pro mechanic to do an Element valve adjustment?

[@StephenAldaco]

Good question maybe 2-3 hours? Maybe a mechanic can chime in here.

[@bosun120]

Top quality video quality, much better than Eric (granted that was 7+ years ago).

[@StephenAldaco]

Thanks Bo! Eric the car guy is amazing and I learned from his video to be honest. Thought I would try my best to update it.

[@StephenAldaco]

Yes I placed a bid on one in my area last week actually. Hopefully we get it fingers crossed

[@bosun120]

@@StephenAldaco Thanks for doing that! I had a question starting around the 4:33 mark. Is there a torque for how much to tighten the jam nut and/or bold head? Or you can tighten them just by feel/hand (without stripping anything, of course)? I will be getting the Powerbuilt adjustment tool, so hopefully that helps out a bit.

[@macabo]

Except this guy doesn't know what top dead center even means and ignores that a jam nut is missing from the left intake valve on cyl 1... This video is a good example why you should cross reference against an official service manual (easy to Google for a PDF on Hondas) and not just trust some random guy throwing feeling gauges onto the grass on KZbin

[@macabo]

Also here's what TDC means. it's not just aiming each cam lobe straight up en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_centre_(engineering)

[@SDPosse619]

When cylinder one is TDC can you also do the exhaust after you’re done with intake?

[@StephenAldaco]

You need to put on TDC on the exhaust cam when adjusting the exhaust side on cylinder 1. Then TDC on intake side when adjusting intake

[@SDPosse619]

@@StephenAldaco is there any marking to know when the exhaust is TDC or is it just visually looking at it?

[@StephenAldaco]

@@SDPosse619 kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4eqdJSfd95miZI At 3:59 there is a little arrow pointing towards the top. I usually just visually look at it to make sure it’s pointing up.

[@SDPosse619]

@@StephenAldaco thanks but I still don’t get it. The instructions I am seeing online says to to do TDC for cylinder one and adjust both the intake and exhaust. I don’t see anywhere in the instructions to do TDC for exhaust. Am I missing something? www.ataq.qc.ca/hosted/Honda_ELEMENT_Valve_Clearance_Adjustement.pdf

[@StephenAldaco]

@@SDPosse619 send me a message on Instagram I’ll try to help

[@adrenalinemadness3340]

This video was two years ago and now I wonder, was it worth it? Did it help with fuel efficiency or it just didn’t?

[@StephenAldaco]

It turns out I was having bigger issues I ended up doing an engine swap and she’s been running great since!

[@shitboxoffroad]

​@StephenAldaco what issues?

[@StephenAldaco]

I had overheating issues due to improper care of the radiator.

[@brianthompson9241]

At how many miles should the valves be adjusted for the first time? (In the Element)

[@StephenAldaco]

Honda recommends 110,000 miles. I do like 50-80k

[@brianthompson9241]

@@StephenAldaco I bought my E with over 190k miles on it. I now have over 200k. Runs great. I just want to keep it that way. No idea when (or if ) valves were done previously.

[@StephenAldaco]

@@brianthompson9241 Nice happy to hear it! I was having a misfire that’s why I took a look at it. You know what they say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. If you notice a rough idle or poor mpg I would take a look at the valves

[@brianthompson9241]

@@StephenAldaco Thank you

[@StephenAldaco]

@@brianthompson9241 no problem amigo 🙌

[@gb25jr]

Is she still running strong?

[@StephenAldaco]

She is now I blew a head gasket tried that sealer crap made it worse. I ended up swapping the motor 0 problems since then

[@johnnymoran1177]

Did this remedy your mis-fire condition?

[@StephenAldaco]

It did!

[@johnnymoran1177]

Thx!

[@StephenAldaco]

No problem!

[@SpartanOne5]

Ha I live in my Honda Element

[@Mikeyc8791]

Probably wouldn’t hurt to clean the engine

[@StephenAldaco]

True.

[@mattfoley6082]

You don't list socket extension in tools.

[@StephenAldaco]

Thank you Matt I’ll add it into the description.

[@chunkydunkydiabetic1187]

AWESOME VID!!! How much would you think this would cost with a mechanic? I'm afraid everytime I bring my '04 Element to Rising Motors in Bellingham, WA... I leave with a new noise, last time I left with a new rattle!

[@StephenAldaco]

Thats a bummer I would venture to say between 150-300!

[@chunkydunkydiabetic1187]

@@StephenAldaco that's incredible!!!! Thank you Stephen, you're a miracle, have a good one! 🍻

[@clovergrass9439]

What's hourly rate? How long does it take a pro mechanic to do a valve adjustment ​@TS-dv3qv

[@mfayyazpardasi2352]

آپ کی ویڈیو بہت اچھی لگی ھے اگر دل اجازت دے تو ہمارے ساتھ بھی تعاون کریں سب بھائیوں نصیب اپنا اپنا مل کر رہے گا ضرور مجھے آپ کا انتظار رہے گا بھائی