Honda Cam/Valve Help

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Looking at the camshaft, the thing that baffles me is the lobes. I thought that in Hondas, for each pair of intake side valves, the two outer lobes spin in sync for regular operation, then if you rev up to a higher RPM, they lock in with the big lobe in the middle to allow bigger clearance and better performance. Why then, if going along the cam, is the first small lobe, then the large lobe, spinning together, and the other small lobe isn't? In this picture the first lobe is clearly pushing up on the rocker arm, pushing down the valve in question, but the other arm is untouched? The small lobe large lobe being lined up while the third one is not seems to be consistent across the entire camshaft. Did I misunderstand something about how camshafts work or is there something terribly wrong with my engine?

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Here's a picture from the side showing that the valve in question is getting pushed down by the rocker arm, but the other lobe is free. Any and all help/advice would be appreciated. What was originally just a quick head gasket swap has instead become a headache to me because I don't know what this means.. Either I took the head off at a weird time where this sort of thing is normal? or this is a simple fix I could maybe do myself by popping out all the valves and cleaning them/lapping the valves into their seats? Or perhaps my engine is warped and only a machine shop can fix something of this magnitude... Any input would be a great help.

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Additionally, peeping into the intake holes, the stems themselves have some carbon on them which probably needs to be cleaned..

Take it to your local honda dealer

>>17739056
I'll be heading to a couple of dealers/mechanics and see what anyone has to say today. But if anyone here happens to also know anything, it would be a big help.

As the other thread said....

You should be at top dead center, and you should make marks matching your block and the gears.

Then you don't have to have this paranoia about not moving anything, and you can put it to tdc.

Why are you making this so hard for yourself?

I have no advice on Honda's weird cams.
I like old volvos. They're simple and reliable.

This didnt have to be this hard though.

With that said, if it was running, I guarantee you the valve isn't "stuck" open.

Don't you have a service manual or something here?

>>17739147
I honestly made a mistake not setting it to TDC first. I'm going off of all the crash courses I've rummaged through in order to get this head gasket job done, so I truthfully don't have any training or experience with this sort of stuff.

>>17739163
I finally found a few resources which tell me that at low idle, VTEC limits one arm to very low clearance, then later engages both (and finally the big lobe for high RPM.)

It may just be that everything is working as intended and I'm wigging out because I don't actually know what I'm doing..

Go to the honda threads but the middle more "aggressive" rocker arm is what I believe to be the high end cam profile allowing the valves to open further. But this is usually at like 3200 rpm plus. Basically a solenoid turns on after input from the computer allowing high pressure oil to flow in oil galleries/channels to push on another "piston" which connects the 3 rocker arms, opening the valve all the way.

Why 2/3 are engaged is weird but I'm not a mechanic and not a honda fanboy

So uh, after speaking with some nearby shops, I eventually took it down to a machine shop. Everyone pretty much agreed that these hondas have a single valve thing going on at low RPMs so what I saw was normal. Gonna get the thing resurfaced and cleaned out and tested for cracks.

The only other thing I'm wondering is, if they turn my camshaft any while cleaning it, how do I set timing since the sprocket is off the cam? TDC is the first cylinder lobe pointed down, right? I would then just have to make sure all the other sprockets are set to TDC and put on the belt?

>>17740131
>how do I set timing since the sprocket is off the cam?

Look around for timing procedures. Most cars will have a TDC mark for the cam sprocket. The sprocket is probably keyed to the camshaft. So you line up the cam TDC mark with the proper index, rotate the crank to TDC (crank timing mark). Then you bolt the head on.

But check the procedures for your engine first, because some engines are fucking weird (Audi, for example).

>>17741634
Oh, thanks! I looked around and think I'll be set. I really appreciate the tip.

So, as long as all the gaskets are replaced, I don't set the engine head on ass backwards, and set the timing right, my car should be back to new?