Hey I have a 2013 Honda Civic with 89,000 miles. I do a lot of city driving. As preventative maintenance I’d like to get the spark plugs changed and do a valve adjustment but may not be able to afford doing both at the same exact time maybe have to wait a month between each service. Which should I get done first? The car has never had a valve adjustment and has never had the spark plugs changed.
I would do the valve adjustment first. The spark plugs can be good till 100k miles .
What does your owner’s manual say about both those intervals?
On that vehicle, it's pretty simple to inspect the spark plugs (as is the case with most four cylinder engines). Remove the cover, push in the clip to the electrical connectors, use a ten millimeter socket to disengage the coils, pull out the coils, and use a longish spark plug socket (ascertain the correct size) with a smaller ratchet to delicately (hand tools only) disengage the spark plug ("lefty loosey").
Scotty (and others) have videos on interpreting the condition of the plugs, by color, shape and gap of the tip of the plug.
If they're burning cleaning and evenly, then gently (with a very sensitive feel to avoid cross-threading) torque them down to about 13 ft lbs. And put the spark plugs as "two-of-two" on your list.
If they're not in good shape, replace these first. It's very DIY type of task.
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Scotty has repeatedly emphasized the importance of valve adjustments in Honda, before the lifters take permanent excessive wear. So, you're right and responsible to plan for that.
