H22AFerio

Yeah it sounds like stuck lifters or maybe a broken valve spring. It sounds like the valve spring is binding and then being forced into place by the cam shaft... weird.

Sleeper95ej

I dont think this is a valve related because you state it happens to BOTH intake and exhaust valves, but its piston TDC related... I have a z6 in my 95 ex and i notice its one of the few engines (H22 for starters...) that has the "lost motion" assembly built into the valve train. I was curious if this would have something to do with your issue so I searched and found:

Rick V, Moderator of Superhonda.com:
First off an explanation "Lost motion assemblies have a very simple job to do. they basically provide constant pressure to the rocker arm that the vtec lobe travels on. as for the reasons to why this is necessary i have no deffinitive answer but its fairly obvious. when you are not in vtec and the rockers are not bridged together with the locking pins the rocker arm that the vtec lobe rides on basically just sits there. without the lost motion assembly the rocker would just sink or most likely fling itself around from vibration. so this item, the lost motion assembly sits underneath of the vtec rocker arm and keeps it held up so the vtec lobe on the cam can ride on it. i would also assume that without this device in there and the rocker arm being either sunk or flinging around it would be alot harder for the pins to slide and bridge the rockers for vtec operation. i would also assume from just looking at the design that by keeping the rocker suspended and allowing the lobe to ride on it would help balance centrifical stress."


I just wanted to throw some info into this thread...Im also curious because I have the same engine lol...Good Luck OP..

WeakSauce92

This is definitely interesting.. I have the same engine also so any problem or info is great. Best of luck to you. And hey if you have the money, just get the head/valves polished/ported! maybe it'll help.

H22AFerio

Well he said it was still making the noise after the head was pulled off. So it can only be a few things. Rockers, Valves, cams ect. there is not much to the head. The LMA is a very is a good place to start because thoes bastards stick all the time. Did you adjust your valves after you swaped in the bigger cams? if not you could have warn your valve springs out completely thats why I was saying broken spring.

95_Civic_4dr

I just finished going over every square inch of the valve train, it all looks good...I found nothing bent, no cracks, no chips, no foreign objects, it all lines up, I checked it's straightness with a straight edge - all good. All the bearings are good, no chips, knicks, cracks, warpage, bends, etc...nothing.

I decided to put up with my POS NAPA valve spring compressor and pulled all the valves from the #1 cylinder out, they are all straight, no signs of damage, the valve seats look good (from what I could see). I moved the valves in and out and there is no resistance - it's all smooth operation...

I wouldn't know where to get a new head. Trying the cam in a different head is a good idea but it's doing it with both the Comp cam and the OEM cam...unless both cams are somehow jacked up? I lack a dial indicator so I can't take any precise measurements but they appear fine.



It's possible they may be binding - but the odds of all of them? And not to mention which valves slam shut depends on rotation of the cam. I've been watching them very carefully though and I haven't see them bind or anything, I checked them all for cracks or anything of the sort and there's nothing...they all look good.



Well, I know for sure it's not piston related since this is happening with the head pulled off.

Good info though


Yeah I adjusted them to Comp's specifications, after I did all 4 cylinders I started all over again and double checked the valve lash, all was good to go. Thing is, if it was the valve springs worn or broken, wouldn't the valve struggle going in? I mean, they close with more than enough force so I'm pretty sure the springs are okay.


I'm at a complete loss here, I almost want to just say screw it and call it normal...
But then I have to figure out why the CKP CEL came on.

H22AFerio

Man Im stumped....

Jimster480

Not sure. but there is def a problem. I would say that the CKP came on beacues of the head making a ton of vibration, it might throw the sensor off.

95_Civic_4dr

Well I figured it out, kind of...

Let me reiterate before I go on that the valves would slam shut with both the OEM and Comp cams.

So, finally fed up with it and the loud noise I threw everything back together and said, "if it blows up, screw it, I'm going with a DOHC" - seriously. I got to the valve train and decided to throw the OEM cam back in except this time before putting the rocker arm assembly back in I spent an hour (or something around that) carefully taking the assembly apart then putting it all back together. Got the timing belt on and what not and started doing the valve lash and here I noticed that my hour of working on the rocker assembly paid off and the valves finally closed normally and the noise was gone. As to what was screwed up before I have no idea, all I know is it's not screwed up anymore.
Just goes to show how much a simple mistake can cost someone a ton of time...and money...

Went for a test drive for about 30 minutes and all seemed fine, no issues, no CEL, and she's nice and quiet.

The power difference is night/day, it's very tempting to throw the 59300 back in but I'm a bit worried the issue might reappear.

As for the CEL, I don't know why that went off. I'm gonna assume it was just a result from using 87 fuel, not having the ignition timing correct (Dizzy was set retarded as far as it could go and I still couldn't get it set...) and like Jimster mentioned - all the vibration from the valves slamming closed.

0JDMEngineImports

I don't want to sound ignorant because I've never taken a head apart piece by piece. If you worked on the rockers, maybe the pivot point was tightened down too tight causing the rockers themselves to stick... Donno, but that seems to be the only thing in my head that would make sense when I picture it. Anyway, grats man. I don't think putting the new cam in will hurt it any if the stock one works.

Jimster480

glad you got it fixed man