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Greetings everyone. I am glad to be here.
Post#1:
My 04 Civic LX is making a very audible rattling/clicking sound coming from the engine or at least the front of the car. I searched for a post with the same symptoms but none were exactly what I am having and hearing. The noise is nearly identical to baseball cards in the spokes of a bicycle but metallic- the same precise rhythm. When the car is cold it is faint and grows louder as it heats up. It is most noticable when maintaining speed, less noisy on acceleration and no noise when I let off the gas. The clicking noise itself increases with RPM speed, decreases with less RPM speed. The engine is not lacking any power up to 60-65 but seems a bit sluggish beyond that. The spark plugs, oil, oil filter, O2 sensor were changed/replaced, I had a carbon cleaning done on the motor as well. I added oil treatment, valve cleaner, and ran fuel injector cleaner through it also. I checked the heat shields, they are fine. This noise built up over a period of roughly 2 months.
Anyone with ANY thoughts on this, please reply--Thanks

 
Rep Power: 314

By the sounds of it you might need a valve clearance adjustment. There is a great DIY on the site, it might fix your problem.

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...djustment.html


Best of luck! Hopefully this helps.

 
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You may be right about that. I lifted the hood to listen to the sound today and it is clearly coming from the front of the motor where the 2nd spark plug is located. I may not have mentioned that I had a cracked exhaust manifold replaced 2 weeks ago, it may have been cracked for some time. Does this affect the valves?

 
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Went to the dealer for the same problem. A clicking/rattling that comes with 3.5k + on the tach. Comes on as well with the engine being warm. They diagnosed it with piston slap but they are iffy about it since the performance and gas milage is pretty much the same. Im going to try the valve adjustment and see if that will work...

 
Rep Power: 314

I don't think a cracked manifold would have any effect on your valves... But this engine has a tendancy of losing spec on the clearance so its a good maintenance habit anyway. Especially if your making noise which you are. Try it and see if it helps, if it does not we will look at other venues.

 
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I made an appt with a Honda dealer/service center for tomorrow am. I will report their diagnosis. Within the past 2 days, the car sounds like something is accually very loose or has come loose in the motor. I appreciate the DIY advice but it seems it may need to be inspected beyond the valves, and that I am not prepared to do myself.

 
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The dealer adjusted the valves and the rattle is still there. They changed the oil/oil filter which was an aftermarket one to see if it wasn't filtering properly and slowing oil flow. Same thing, rattle still there. Monday they will check the rocker assembly and check for clogs that may be disrupting oil flow.

 
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I just noticed a thread by sniperscout in which he has/had the EXACT sound coming from his engine. This is the video of his car making that noise.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjtqaIRYxms .....I sent an e-mail to see if he ever figured it out..

 
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*update* Honda service says the rocker arms on cylinder 3 and 4 have scoring from heat and a lack of oil, so they want to replace those arms and the shaft. Also the oil pressure is fine and the valve are adjusted properly. The car has lost oil between changes for over a year so I suppose it is possible it fell too low at some point. Has any else had this happen or does this sound right?