[Dr. Dyno]

It means he never checked clearances.

 

[Dr. Dyno]

I'm not familiar with a 4.1 engine's valve lash adjustment but do know many small four-cylinder engines use shims that the cam lobes ride directly on. Some of them as on the Fiats I used to work on are the size of maybe three quarters stacked up, thus the term "puck." True, the shims never change but the valve lash does but it's very unlikely in 55K miles.

 

[Dr. Dyno]

3sfe does not use hydraulic, it uses shims. Generally they last for a long time since they are not a high revving motor to begin with.

And just to be clear it isn't the shims that wear but the valve lash can change as the valves themselves do so the shims need to be changed to different thicknesses to maintain the proper lash..
Most modern engines can go for years w/o the lash changing so it virtually never needs to be checked. One notable exception it the first generation CRV. The exhaust valves would burn by 100K miles unless the lash was checked periodically. Happened to my daughter years ago. The car needed a valve job at 100K, which of course her extended warranty refused to cover.