When and why do you need to get a valve job? My car has 85k miles on it. What is the difference between a valve-job and valve-adjustment? what would the increase in power be on mine? 3800 series 2 engine, assuming it is just a little old, no major problems. 5-10hp?
MOST modern engines have hydraulic lifters, which pretty much eliminates the need to have any periodic valve adjustments. You can take stock heads to a shop and put two grand into them and make better flow and bigger valves and more power, or actually buy a set of performance heads for less and make more power. the only time your valves would need to be set is when putting together a new engine, or taking apart the one you have and replacing say a head gasket or something. (in which case you would have a shop go through the heads and make sure they are up to factory specs. If your engine is running fine, and you have kept the oil clean and the motor in good tune, follow the recommended maintenance intervals in your owners manual. a valve adjustment is not going to give you horsepower.
