Rep Power: 0

I bought a new civic si in october of last year, and have noticed a constant light knocking noise comming from the engine. as I accelerate it gets faster, and sounds completly normal when at idle. I did however hear another new si drive by and it sounded the same as mine. I was wondering if this is a characteristic of the car, or if there is a technical service bulletin on the 2003 v-tech that i should be aware of. has anyone heard of the this, or do i need to take it back the dealer. (i hate my dealership). by the way it makes no difference what octane gas i use. any input would be appreciated. thanks.

 
Rep Power: 0

Might need to have a valve adjustment done. Alot of the ticking noises that come in to my dealership are caused by the valves. How many miles are on your si?

 
Rep Power: 423

First off, its VTEC. If you've got the car, surely you've looked under the hood, and it stares you right in the face. V-tech is a phone... if thats whats under your hood, thats your problem.
Second... K engines seem to develop this... get the valves adjusted every 30K. Failure to do so seems to cause serious problems in the valvetrain (most notably, it goes boom) as they get farther out of adjustment.... so its wise to just do it. Its not a TSB, or even a problem at all, Honda recommends you do it, its just that not many people realize it, and its something that HAS to be done.

 
Rep Power: 0

Hmmmm.....Honda (and all other companies) use hydraluic lifters which is suppose to remedy the "manual adjustment of the valves" . Well if this is the problem, then i stand corrected.

 
Rep Power: 0

Honda DOES NOT use hydraulic lifters, they are adjusted with a threaded valve stem and a locking nut.

 
Rep Power: 0

my 02 Honda Nighthawk CB 750 Motorcycle has hydraulic valve thingies! dope dope! no adjusting required!

But my 02 si.. i dont believe it has it... so far no knocking on mine. Wish me luck..

 
Rep Power: 0

my friend has an 04 civic si and at 20k miles he got his valves adjusted i've heard thats a problem on k series engines, my mom's 02 CRV got her's done at 40k. on d17 engines i dont think they have that problem, mines dont sound that loud and so far i have 30k miles on my 03 ex

 
Rep Power: 811

Try higher octane gas

 
Rep Power: 0

I adjusted my valves at 30k. I think you should too. My friend that works at Acura tells me that it should be done about every 30k. Its pretty easy from what I hear, although I have not attempted it myself. But my friend will teach me.

 
Rep Power: 302

It's very simple. But you have to take your time and not rush it. Just need a few tools and a good feeler gauge. Piece of cake.