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Hey guys, as you can see I'm brand new here. I hate to start off bugging you with a question, but I'm thinking that time is of the essance lol.

Its a 2001 Civic LX 1.7L, no mods whatsoever. Its at 110,000 miles and I did the service for it. Not my first t-belt job either...

Well, all went dandy, except now that everything is back together, theres a strange noise comming from the valve/under the valve cover area. It sounds as if someone was knocking their nuckles against a piece of plastic or aluminum.

Its very difficult to pinpoint this noise... Its not from the timing belt area as far as I can tell. Everything is bolted down to spec, including the airbox, that huge resonator, coils, everything..... Its worrying me that I don't know what this is.

The car drives fine, JUST had its oil changed... And I mean like an hour ago lol. So timing is right on... Its got a brand new belt, tensioner, water pump, accessory belts..

Any ideas? I've heard people mention valve lash, but I dont know how to adjust it, or if it could cause noise.

Thanks alot guys!

 
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yeah loose valves could cause tapping sounds. you need a feeler gauge and there is a diy thread floating around here somewhere. the valve clearance specs are on the emission sticker under the hood near the top.

 
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Thanks for the quick reply!

So I can probably handle valve adjustments... but do you think the timing belt change could have affected these clearences? I ask because this noise wasn't there before I tore the thing apart and put it back together.

Its a non-Vtec BTW.

Oh, also, will this hurt anything if the car runs this way? Assuming it is valves that need adjusting?

 
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are you sure the noise isnt coming from the timing area like tensioner or cam gear? sometimes a new tensioner needs to be broken in. but if the noise is coming from valve cover, its hard to say. all there is under there are the valves. loose valves will make noises, but they should not have been affected by timing belt change.

 
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It COULD be comming from the tbelt area... Its very difficult to tell. Plus, what I'm hearing could be residual vibrations. The noise seems to have gone down since driving it about 50 miles...

But yeah man I mean I threw the valve cover in the parts washer, but made sure all parts of the gaskets and such weren't still in there. I dunno.... I'll post back with more applicable info when I get updates (Its my mothers vehicle).

Thanks again!