05 LGT 5MT wagon - desperately need valve clearance adjusted

Hi all.

My LGT valvetrain is definitely getting ready to let go on me. Some occasional stalling that doesn't seem to be driver error, the car not wanting to idle, the car sputtering really badly on a cold start (it will damn near stall in neutral if cold started with the A/C on), the car trying to die on upshifts, and some decent idle roughness combined with some surging. With all the above, plus having been told about a year ago when having a valve cover gasket job done that my valves barely have any clearance left (iirc, it was about .07 mm on one of the exhaust valves), it's cause for concern.

From what I understand, valve adjustments cannot be done with the engine in the car. So this begs the question: should I wait until I burn a valve and then have a motor rebuild done? Or do I risk damaging other stuff when the valve(s) let go?

Is it typical to do a valve adjustment in the life of the EJ255/7? It seems like it would be extraordinarily expensive to do one unless the motor is already out and other things are being replaced.

First, do at least a compression check. If you have the means, do a leakdown as well. This will narrow down your issue to valves or pistons/rings. If it is your valves then I would just have them serviced.

Pull the motor, remove the heads and take them to a local machine shop to be given a once over. They can tip (grind) the valves to get the clearance back in spec or you can purchase a load of buckets and do the clearances yourself. Either way, you want to take the heads to a machine shop for cleaning, testing and decking.

This will be far cheaper for you to do now than having to replace both shortblock and have headwork done later. Either way, your headwork will need to be done.

First, do at least a compression check. If you have the means, do a leakdown as well. This will narrow down your issue to valves or pistons/rings. If it is your valves then I would just have them serviced.

Pull the motor, remove the heads and take them to a local machine shop to be given a once over. They can tip (grind) the valves to get the clearance back in spec or you can purchase a load of buckets and do the clearances yourself. Either way, you want to take the heads to a machine shop for cleaning, testing and decking.

This will be far cheaper for you to do now than having to replace both shortblock and have headwork done later. Either way, your headwork will need to be done.

The motor burns a ton of oil. I'm not sure just doing the heads and valve adjustment on their own make sense. I'm sure my rings aren't exactly fresh with 213K on them.

Last comp test was 140 on cylinders 1 and 3 and 120 on 2 and 4 when cold. Shows no compression issues when warm. Warm leakdown showed no issues.

IMO those numbers won't give you the problems you have with idle.

Have you cleaned the MAF sensor, checked for a vacuum leak by doing the boost or smoke leak test ?

Make sure the coil connectors are tight.

IMO you want the engine running well before you tear it apart in hopes of fixing something your not sure of.

I don't think most consumers have the valves adjusted on these cars.

burning a ton of oil will cause loss of power. is the intake or inter cooler have oil residue?

if your exhaust valve is .07mm instead of the spec'ed .35mm, the valve is opening early. Yer valve is likely burned and due for imminent failure. Failure would include cracking a piston and destroying the head and block.

yer overdue for a rebuild. A track day at the now open PIR would resolve the issues quickly. Bring a fire extinguisher and video. LGT engine fire...it's a right of passage.

IMO those numbers won't give you the problems you have with idle.

 

Have you cleaned the MAF sensor, checked for a vacuum leak by doing the boost or smoke leak test ?

 

Make sure the coil connectors are tight.

 

IMO you want the engine running well before you tear it apart in hopes of fixing something your not sure of.

 

I don't think most consumers have the valves adjusted on these cars.

These things were all conducted in one day pre-dyno:

Valve cover gasket (hence the valve specs were discovered)

MAF was replaced weeks prior.

Passed all pre-dyno leak tests without issue.

Coils are ay-OK validated by a local shop recently, plugs I did a year ago and are new NGK SILFR6A.

Would tight valve clearances (not necessarily a burnt valve) cause compression issues? I'm sure the rings are not super healthy at this point, which is why I hesitate to just do the valves and head gaskets and then come to find I've cracked rings.

burning a ton of oil will cause loss of power. is the intake or inter cooler have oil residue?

 

if your exhaust valve is .07mm instead of the spec'ed .35mm, the valve is opening early. Yer valve is likely burned and due for imminent failure. Failure would include cracking a piston and destroying the head and block.

 

yer overdue for a rebuild. A track day at the now open PIR would resolve the issues quickly. Bring a fire extinguisher and video. LGT engine fire...it's a right of passage.

It seems like this is the way. Is it for sure burnt or would tight valve clearance without bits of exhaust valve missing cause the occasional stalling, rough idle, etc?

I took the intercooler off yesterday to get to the trans dipstick and nothing came pouring out as far as I could tell. Little bit of what seemed to be oil where the throttle body hose and intercooler connected, but I could have just had messy hands from the engine bay being a little gummy in general. The car does burn quite a lot of oil, especially under WOT. I burnt about a half of a quart in one day after a little cruise with a couple friends and maybe drove a total of 15 miles with them, plus some regular driving around Hillsboro, PDX, etc. I'd wager my valve stem seals are probably not doing hot either.

I was already pretty sure of where this was going, but it seems a motor rebuild is the way. Thanks y'all.

These things were all conducted in one day pre-dyno:

 

Valve cover gasket (hence the valve specs were discovered)

 

MAF was replaced weeks prior.

 

Passed all pre-dyno leak tests without issue.

 

Coils are ay-OK validated by a local shop recently, plugs I did a year ago and are new NGK SILFR6A.

 

Would tight valve clearances (not necessarily a burnt valve) cause compression issues? I'm sure the rings are not super healthy at this point, which is why I hesitate to just do the valves and head gaskets and then come to find I've cracked rings.

see post 7

Save you money over the next few months for a ej257 and have your head rebuilt. See my click here link in my sig.

if yer valve seals are leaking, oil loss will be staggering and performance will be terrible. my second rebuild failed with this problem as the head rebuild shop didn't actually put the seals in.

The thing is definitely an absolute dog until about 3000 RPM, and if you floor it it will occasionally stutter all the way every 500 RPM or so to redline. It's fast if you really rag the hell out of it, but yeah, otherwise nearly undriveable with all the misfires and stalling. I can't drive with the AC on around the city because upshifts cause the car to almost stall.

The thing is definitely an absolute dog until about 3000 RPM, and if you floor it it will occasionally stutter all the way every 500 RPM or so to redline. It's fast if you really rag the hell out of it, but yeah, otherwise nearly undriveable with all the misfires and stalling. I can't drive with the AC on around the city because upshifts cause the car to almost stall.

I romped down the "autobahn" a few times at warp speed, then started DD'ing it. A couple months of that pretty much did it in. I had to trailer it to the shop.

I'd really think about getting another leakdown test done. Your description sounds like it could be ringlands or valve issues for sure. If it is that the results should be definitive. If they aren't then your problem lies elsewhere, like fueling, spark plugs, coils, or AVCS issues.

Definitely not a bad idea. I do promise you though that the valve clearance being as tight as it is would still be at the back of my head if it's not the source of all my issues.

On the subject of AVCS, I replaced both OCVs and most, but not all, of my on-throttle misfires went away and it was nice. However, they keep getting clogged up. I don't think the car has ever missed oil changes, so I'm worried that there could be bearing material or something clogging them up. I've run the car low on oil once to the point where there was definitely an audible difference in engine note (probably ran it about a quart and a half low) and I'm sure the bearings didn't love that. Every time I change the oil, the problem is lessened for a couple days.

Anyhoo, I'll drive the car for now and live with it. I guess we'll see what happens.

The thought of driving it and not fixing could lead to more cost later on when it comes rebuild time.

The heads may be savable now. But if small metal particles keep wearing away cam bearing surface on the heads, you'll need to replace them too.

The thought of driving it and not fixing could lead to more cost later on when it comes rebuild time.

 

The heads may be savable now. But if small metal particles keep wearing away cam bearing surface on the heads, you'll need to replace them too.

I’d be replacing everything that touches oil - the heads, OCVs, pump - whole engine is coming out. Want to do it right.

I’m not in a position where I can park two cars right now, but after I’ve moved this coming week I may just buy a POS car and drive that around, save up for the engine work, and let her sit until then.