Thanks to the information people have provided me with on this forum, I have been able to identify a valve problem on my car. When I do my valve job, should I replace my timing belt and water pump??
And is there anything else I should do while there is a lot of work going on uder the hood???

 

If you are going into the engine that far to do a valve job a timing belt and water pump would certainly not be a bad idea. Cam and crank seals should also be replaced and the timing belt tensioner/idler bearings checked for being dry of grease and also replaced as needed. If you have a bunch of miles on the engine and are going to have the heads off you might even consider reringing the pistons.

 

you should also first check out what the cost will be. a used jdm engine is a good deal, it may be a lot less. and, doing a timing belt with the engine out of the car is incredibly easy.

 

How much are these import engines.? and is it really worth it do a full engine swap instead of just the valves? It frustrating to have to do such a large job since the car runs great...other than a bit of smoke when you start it up..

 

you have to look. a jdm motor for a 2.3 costs about 1200, then there might be shipping, too. BUT, that would include a whole bunch of stuff. compressor, alternator, p/s pump, etc. for the 2.5, i have seen them on ebay for 600. for a couple hundred more, you can get the trans, too. here's the deal. in japan, it is illegal to put used parts on a car. so, if a car goes to the boneyard, it gets crushed and recycled. also, every year, the fees for the car go up, so after a few years, it is cheaper to get a new car. now, most of the people there dont drive their cars that much, and they take really good care of them. a friend who has a local shop told me he does one of these jdm motors a month. he said most of them look new. i have never gotten a jdm motor for the millenia, but i did get one for my old galant. it looked so good, i thought it was either new, or just rebuilt. this was the 4G63T motor. pulling the valve cover, the valve train looked brand new. only after removing the exh manifold could i tell it had been run. what few drops of oil still in it looked fresh out of the can. i changed the timing belt and water pump, the remaining coolant was still new looking. i got and extra turbo, altenator, p/s pump, a/c compressor, and the cyclone vris intake, not on us cars, and i made it work. i would do it again in a heartbeat.
if you are going to do the labor yourself, i cannot see it being more labor to swap out the engine. plus, the down time would be a lot less. some places will give you a guarantee, mine was 6mo/6k. this car is very well built, and they should last a long time. i would change out the timing belt and water pump, maybe the seals, too. it is incredibly easy to do this with the motor on a stand.
on another note, it sounds like your motor is still in pretty good condition.

 

Im probably not going to do the labour myself since I dont have the space to do it but am interested in the idea of the other engines incase the one I have goes down the gutter. Like you say it is in pretty good condition and sounds and runs great other than that. I think its probably worth just doing the valves and timing belt but doing the piston rings and such would seem a little much for a car with only 99km???
Thanks for the posts. I have a decentstart into figuring out my costs.