and that i need a valve job. what is a valve job, and is it expensive? i have a stock 1.6 SI motor in it, but i want to make my car better and faster, would it be cheaper to buy a new engine? some of the people who want to buy my car say that they would put a B16 vtec in it. what is that, and how much better is it than my engine?
A valve job involves removing the head from the engine, disassembling the head regrinding the valves seats and installing new valve seals guides. new engine vs. valve job? Depends on how many miles are on the original engine. It's seldom a good idea to do only a valve job on a hi mileage engine. Valve job would be cheaper at first, unless you plan on keeping the car for a long time, then a new engine would be a good choice. Maybe the guy was just setting you up to ask for a lower price?
Basically a valve job is a valve backlash check and adjustment. There has to be a clearance measured in thousanths of an inch between the camshaft and the rocker assembly. This is generally measured with feeler guages.
