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Alright so I have an 04 LX (D17A1) with 39km. I changed the oil/oil filter around 2k ago and then about 2 weeks ago the plugs went so I changed them to original spec NGK's that made the car more smoother and back to almost new/normal.

But now the tick tick tick sound, the ticking is getting more noticeable, I feel that it’s just the valve lash getting worse & worse other associated problems I’ve noticed with this is: sluggish of the line, les torque, unsmooth acceleration (would this be correct?) So my cars booked in to a Honda service centre to adjust the valve lash for me, on Tuesday morning.

The other question I have though they said, they'll only replace the head gasket if they have too? Does it need to be replaced/how will they know if it needs to be replaced/noing Honda they replace it and charge me for it.

 
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Your car is way too new to require any of this work done. A valve lash adjustment isn't required until 176,00km. Also, who came to the conclusion that you ever needed a head gasket replacement? If there was a problem with it, you would have white smoke from the exhaust, and/or oil in the antifreeze and/or antifreeze in the oil. They test for a head gasket leak with a compression test gauge. The head gasket would be done under warranty if in fact there was a problem detected by a compression test.

 
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Yeah but I've been red lining this motor from day one! shorley it's got to be the valve lash, couldn't be anything else going tick tick tick tick in rythm with the crank, at idle? Everything else is in top notch - been looking well after my tranny/clutch etc..

 
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Yah. The valves do make a ticking noise at idle on my car. However, it sounds like that on all these civics. And I'm 100% sure they don't need adjusting on my car. What leads you to believe the head gasket has failed? You'd probably have serious problems if that was the case.

 
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thats interesting - nothing leads me to believe the head gasket has failed - it's just like i mentioned in the first post "The guy at the service place said they will check and see if the head gasket will need to be replaced, when they adjust the valve lash" I'm sure it's fine so i'll tell them not to touch it. But my valves didn't tick before.... like 2 weeks ago....


Also why all of a sudden am I feeling this from my car......
"sluggish of the line, les torque, unsmooth acceleration" really unsmooth you can feel like no power when the throttle is like a 20% at around 1500rpm and then all of a sudden the power comes on.... really suddenly..?

 
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actually this morning it skipped a beat in 2nd gear when it was still cold.

 
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you sure your plugs are gapped right? And when i worked at honda every 30,000 miles we would adjust the valves on the 01 and up.

 
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Yeah plugs are gapped right, had Honda guys do that - I'm certain that it's the valves - every 30,000 hmm when you guys adjusted them did you notice great discrepancies across the board or was it just minor adjustments..

 
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Mine d17a2 is at 53k miles and it needs a valve clearance adjustment. it ticks quite a bit and lags sometimes, the clearance is simply effecting cam performance. i plan to adjust them at 60k or so - i owned a toyota truck with a dohc 4 before the civic and it needed a clearance job at 60k. theres a diy for this in the diy section.

btw, you dont need a head gasket unless its toast. but you might as well replace it when you take off your head to adjust the valves.

 
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Could he have said "valve cover gasket" ?

 
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ticking can also be a faulty or clogged injector, but whatever your taking it to honda anyways, i thought you ment valve cover gasket too in the begining of the post...

 
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wait, blouisgod where is there a diy, i dont see it

 
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http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...lve+adjustment

 
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alright thanks, i was searchin the diy section only, and it didnt come up...**** i gotta do this on my 300zx (4 cams) wtf!

 
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i heard ticking on my car once, it got louder and louder, till the motor failed, i pulled the oil pan off and seen that piston 1 was as loose as a shoe string, 3 weeks a later a new motor... not saying that you have the same problem, but just wanted to share

 
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Yeah cool, thanks for the info


I'll tell them to check the injectors make sure that's all good


Yeah I don't want to be replacing my motor till it's done over 120k. But since i've got all the bolt-ons i'll replace it with a D17a2 that'll be nice. I'll just run the Vtec off a V-AFCII.

 
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You do not take the head off to adjust the valves.

 
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heheh I know that, I did mean the valve cover gasket - sorry about any mixups

 
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Mine lasted 90k and 50 with boost. we will see what the next one does

 
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That's interesting...

I mean I hammer the **** out of mine; down shift in the red around 8000-8200 rpm all the god dahm time since day one. But I must be doing everything right since i've not fu(ked anything yet!

Update: I just got my vic back from getting the valve-lash adjusted and all my issues have gone. It's nice and smooth once again.... and gotten it's Torque right back! I thought something was fu(ked but it's all good thank god.

So thrusday i'm slapping on the adjustable cam gear and dyno tunning it once again to get some more top end - will retard the timing a degree or two and see if I can squeeze out another 5 or so whp.

 
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Ya I had mine done at 40,000m by a buddy and he said they were way out.

 
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Remember that all solid lifter cars will tick a bit. Even when in spec they will tick. My friends E30 BMW makes a racket no matter how soon after valve adjustment he is.

 
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the 01 and up civics dont use lifters. we have rocker arms.

 
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I meant rockers. Muscle car days.