dwllama

Hi all,
my mom loved my 96 sedan so much she got herself a 97 wagon. EX so it's the f22b1. Well after driving it to Spokane from Missoula (180 miles or so) she left it with me for the week so I could get it to the shop for the timing belt (scheduled for tomorrow) since we have no service records for the car and can only assume it hasn't been done. (85k but hey it's 15 years old!)

I drove it to work yesterday just for fun and noticed it was awfully noisy, my first fear was rod knock (just because I am a paranoid sort of person) but I had a coworker listen to the car and all he could hear was valves so I worried less. Later driving it home decided it doesn't really seem like bottom end to me but it is still really noisy compared to my car.

I did not notice the noise on our test drive in missoula at all. Checked the oil before we drove it anywhere and it was fairly clean and spot on full.

Came home tonight to do some testing and analysis and the first thing I did was check the oil in case it had leaked out on the trip: first check showed it a quart heavy ??? I can't imagine where the engine generated an extra quart of oil? So I drove it around the block to get some sound videos and when I came back and checked the oil again it seems to be half a quart low although there is still oil up the side of the dipstick (it has empty gaps though)

Im not that familiar with the VTEC part of the engine (since mine is f22b2) but they work by pressurizing oil in the rocker arm right? I'm wondering if its possible an oil passage is blocked or partially blocked somewhere? would that cause that kind of symptom?


Noise mostly occurs moving, mostly between 1500rpm-2500rpm or so (just estimating I haven't looked real close). Can't really hear it over car and engine noise above 35 or 40 or so.

I used a mechanic stethoscope with it in fast idle (cold) to listen to the noise and it is loudest on top of the valve cover (guess I didn't really check the sides of VC or really the head) although you can still hear it down on the block like where the engine code is stamped. Tried to capture this on video by jamming the stethoscope earpiece by the microphone on my camera but it didn't work. Video still demonstrates the sound.

Car is going in for timing belt tomorrow like I said, hoping to get some idea what this is in case I should have the shop do anything else while they have it open. Of course I can ask them too when I drop it off. (They specialize in hondas) Wondering if I should have them adjust the valves (not a bad idea anyway but if it isnt urgent dad and I can do that sometime ourselves, its just a pain) or if there's anything else I should be looking at?

any chance the wrong weight of oil could cause a problem like that?

Here are my videos, posted on youtube:
Engine bay:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TE_EPtzmSo
Out the window while moving (since noise is most obvious reflected back off of stuff):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrvL2UyyKVk

EDIT:
one of my friends wanted more videos to help me diagnose, here they are
moving in 1st gear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDIfVTNXuNs
in park
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmxlK-YYu4U

dwllama

Well the guys at the shop that did the timing belt said it was a little bit of piston slap and that it was completely absolutely normal for that engine. (They also checked the valves which were perfect he said, they must'a been OK cause I authorized them to do the adjustment for an extra $40 and I didnt get charged for it)

sound drives me nuts driving the car, guess i should be glad mine is f22b2! But at least I guess it doesn't mean it will up and explode on us.

kokonec

Gday mate!
I just bought a 1996 Honda VTIS for my wife. It has the f22b1 engine. It only has 113,000km (70,000 miles) and is a one owner vehicle. It has the full service history. When i test drove it i didnt really take much notice of the sound. Iam more of a Ford man so i was not familiar with the way Hondas sound. But when i brought the car home and drove it the next morning when it was quite cold in definitely has the exact same noise as the one you have. Seems to do it under load. When accelerating. It goes a lot quieter after 15 minutes driving but i can still slightly hear it. I took it to a honda dealer. The big boss is my wifes uncle. I got them to adjust the valves etc which were due to be adjusted in another 6,000km. (Timing belt was already done 5,000km ago). After the adjustments the noise it completely the same. It is driving me nuts!!! Lucky my wife is driving the car most of the time. This sort of stuff doesnt really bother women much. The Honda technician told me that these engine did have a piston slap problem. The next day i actually found 3 other cars of the same model that were advertised for sale and i went and test drove them just to see if they made the same noise. All of them did but to various volumes. Mined seem on the louder side and mine has the lowest milage!! The mechanic says the engine will not be damaged in any way. I will be speaking to the dealer next week to see if the piston slap problem can be fixed. But iam dying to know if anyone has actually fixed the problem or just turns up the radio and put up with it.

maystg

I have a 97 accord ex with the f22b1 and mine makes that exact same sound. I tried adjusting the valves and my automotive teacher told me it was a knock. But every other older Honda ive heard sounds like that. And you say its piston slap, which is normal for these engines? I've been curious myself as to what it was

maystg

And also yes I just turn up my music. And when its had time to warm up my intake cancels the sound out!:D

dwllama

nice assumption when you don't know the gender of those you're talking to on the internet

I think more like it doesn't bother those who are less obsessed with their cars. haha

I'd also be curious if anyone has managed to "fix" it. my f22b2 like I said doesn't make that noise much/at all.