Are there any good Honda mechanics around Saratoga? I have a few things I want to have looked at on my wife’s Element that I don’t have time to do myself. I generally DIY everything so I haven’t found a good mechanic around here yet.
TIA
Talk to Jon 88Slowmarro
hes shops in cp but hes smart and hes one of the few many will trust with any of their cars. May be a bit further then youd like but well worth it IMO
Jon knows his shit…
Oh haiiiiii
I gotta come up and say Hi man… havent seen you in awhile
What do ya need done man ? My shop number is 664-1290 talk to Brian and tell him ya know his employee john . Tell him what ya need or p.m me and ill set ya up . Were clean and know our shit with all the tools to do what needs to be done .
I thought ya didn’t love me anymore lol
Nah man, been a hermit lately. Lifes been busy.
One of these nights ill come up and have a beer or two with ya
Well it’s more of a check up than anything but the Element could probably use a valve adjustment. I have not checked the gaps to know for sure (if I had gotten that far I would have adjusted them, I’ve even got the gaskets sitting in my garage).
Basically when you start it cold and it’s sitting in park it sounds fine but ticks like many Hondas (sounds like injectors to me - similar to my Si). When you put it in gear the ticking is much louder and starts to sound like a diesel. Not like the engine is going to blow or anything (not knocking). When the engine warms up it doesn’t happen. I think it’s the injectors (wish I had a spare set to swap over to check), valves needing adjustment, or maybe an exhaust gasket somehwere (unlikely, but it could expand when it warms up and stop the noise).
I may try to get the valves done this week myself or pull the injectors off of my Si and see if that changes anything (though the engine may run like poop if the injectors aren’t the same). I may just be paranoid cause I’ve heard from many E owners that the 2.2 can get noisy but I am super paranoid about engine noises and just want to have an expert look at it and tell me to stop worrying. We are taking it to Cinci over the Holidays and just want a once over.
56K on the clock. We bought it from a Honda dealer in the spring/early summer. It was a certified pre-owned, but of course I figured if they certified it already I could take the retail down and drop the warranty. :haha
It’s done this for months and still runs smooth - no MPG issues, no smoke, doesn’t consume any fluid. Just noisy when cold. I just don’t think I’ll have time to do any of this myself.
Sounds like lifter noise to me… :dunno
My CL had lifter tick…never hurt the car any.
What is the Element motor, H, B or K series? Idk. I do know that on the CRV the manual says to check the valve lash every 100k, when in reality its needs to be done at every 30k. That is a B series, but think it would be similar for the Element.
Start of a exh leak at the manifold or donut at manifold and downpipe. Pretty common on em
The b series the valves tighbed in the head and caused skips . Not the rocker adj
Element only came with a K RED. Could be the manifold donut like stated by 88. Have seen a couple elements come in with tight or loose valves. Not common though. Some Ks just make noise
Yeah I should prob brush up on the K stuff soon huh :lol
Might want to yes
could be a shot tensioner, 52K is a lil early for it but you never know
Dougbt that unless oil is gross as hell
Oil was normal last time I checked it (not long ago). Would the tensioner get quiet when the engine warms up? Seems like something that would be noisy all the time or at least RPM dependent as its working.
Well most people who adjust the valves report them getting loose, not tight. As I understand it’s not ideal but not dangerous, just louder than normal. I think tight = quiet