CivicN3wb

My engine has been making a clicking/fast ticking noise and I thought a valve clearance adjustment might fix the problem. I followed Grey's DIY and adjusted my valve clearances today, but the noise is still there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht89jXzp8lA

Does my engine sound normal, or am I right in thinking that there's a noise that shouldn't be there?

Thanks

ezone

#1, most recordings of engine noises suck. Hard to tell what the human ear really hears. It doesn't sound like a sewing machine though.

#2, I think I hear loose valves, but it is really tough to tell for sure. Redo?

lazlong

Agree on the valve adjustment redo. Intake should be 0.007-0.009 inches (not 0.006) and exhaust should be 0.009-0.011 inches

CivicN3wb

Do loose valves mean I made the clearance too high, or something worse?

It does kind of look like 0.006 on that picture, but I actually adjusted the intake side to 0.008, and the exhaust side to 0.010.

I put the next thickest feeler gauge in after doing each adjustment to make sure it wouldn't go in, so I'm pretty sure that the clearances aren't greater than 0.008 and 0.010. Do you think I should make them tighter?

ezone

Did you do it on a hot engine or a cold engine?

Did you recheck clearances on all the cylinders?
Set each set of valves with its piston at TDC?

IF they are already (and still are) correct, don't make them tighter. Tight valves burn.

And yeah, "loose valves" usually means excessive lash.
Your recording doesn't do it any justice, it is very tough to tell what it really sounds like.

Valve adjustment isn't the only reason things could make noise there either. I had a 09 or 10 Odyssey about 3 weeks ago now, with a chewed up cam lobe that caused a lot of racket, almost exactly the same noises as a loose valve adjustment (because the effect is almost the same!)

CivicN3wb

Cold engine. I let it sit over night before doing the adjustment.

Yes, I went over all of the valves again and checked them. I guess it's possible I made a mistake somewhere, though.

I didn't take off the top timing cover to see the TDC marks, but I turned the crankshaft until the valve was all the way up, then went a little further to make sure it was all the way up.

I adjusted the valves to the middle of the acceptable range, so I could make them a little tighter, but the reason I set them in the middle of the range is because I read that terrible things can happen if they are set too tight..

I don't know what to do

ezone

Can't tell for sure, but this COULD be an issue.....You are supposed to put the piston for that particular cylinder at TDC on the compression stroke. (Stick a long screwdriver in the sparkplug hole and watch when it goes all the way to the top and starts to go back down.)
I've never needed to look at the timing marks to run valves on these 4 cylinder engines.
I can do the entire routine just by watching valve action on the companion cylinder to the one I'm setting up to do....and repeat for every cylinder.
Example: If I want #3TDC compression stroke, I watch its companion (#2) and roll the engine until the valves tell me they are in overlap. Then I know that #3 is on TDC compression.
If I need #4, I watch #1...See?







I have tried a different method that worked well on Mazdas (half of the valves get adjusted while the engine is on #1, the other half get adjusted on #4), and it didn't turn out so great on a Honda. Shortcut didn't work for this.

ezone

Oh yeah;

Loose valves just make noise.
Tight valves burn (that's really bad).
Got that?


Have someone double check you?
Someone that knows what they are doing/how to adjust valves?

dustinrwh

@CivicN3wb, I know this was awhile ago, but did you end up figuring out this issue. My car sounds very similar and just had the valves adjusted with no noticeable change.