Well instead of me saving money by getting LMA's cheap through my machinest... In the end I am out $120 for Topline LMA's and a weekend of my life = lesson learned.

~SKY~

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1SlowB16EF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">where can you get this .040 shim?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just use a washer from a hardware store. Dial calipers are all you need to verify the thickness.

~SKY~

 

Were your LMA's knocking/ticking before they went out?

 

Hey,
Yeah ticking loudly when not in VTEC and at certain RPM/temperatures the ticking stops.

~SKY~


Modified by skyman88 at 5:16 PM 10/14/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by skyman88 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey,
Yeah licking loudly when not in VTEC and at certain RPM/temperatures the ticking stops.

~SKY~</TD></TR></TABLE> Mine did the same thing about 2 years ago and everyone said it was bent wristpins, too much boost. I thought it was my LMA's, but I couldn't find any info on what they did when they failed at the time. Mine would tick loudly at idle and the sound would decrease in volume up until the vtec crossover. If you let the car idle down from say 7K rpm, you could listen to the sound appear right around 5K. Mine wasn't "pushed" in as your pic above though. I have since rebuilt the motor and replaced the LMA's and haven't had an issue. Sorry for the OT post.

 

Hey,
OK, new LMA's installed and no problems yet. 2 of the Topline LMA's had failed (one intake and one on exhaust side) and another on the intake side was not at full pressure. There were actually pieces of the broken springs at the bottom of the holes the LMA's sit in.

Definitely do not buy Topline LMA's, the price is not worth the headaches.

~SKY~

 

Have you inspected the bottom side of your rocker arms to see if the problem is starting there?

 

Hey,
Yup, everything else looks perfect. I would post a picture, but as you can tell from the first page WPI decided to finally stop letting me use my shared network drive.

Everything else in the valve train looks great so I'm hoping it was just the brand of LMA. I took a lot of pictures of the rocker assemblies to look at the wear patterns and points of contacts. Every part of them looks perfect. I'll keep you guys updated if anything changes (crosses fingers).

~SKY~

 

do you have any pictures of the lma.. do they go bad.. will that make my valves to tick loud

 

maybe check and make sure that the oil ports on that cam journal are open and not plugged??? especially since you had the head off at a machine shop could be some debris in the way. But I'm not sure where the LMA's get there oil from I assume its runoff from the lubrication points at each cam journal.

 

Just run Prelude LMA's with the .04" shim you get more spring travel so bigger cams won't bind. my buddy compressed both types and factored in the shim to find out one day while he was bored at work...

 

hey,
I'm bringing this thread back because I'm having a similar problem. The 1st gen ('89) B16 head on my ls/vtec has been giving me non-stop problems. Within a few hundred miles of first starting it up, I had an intermitent clicking sound that occurs only at a range of about 1500-2000 rpms, then stops. I adjusted the valves and it didn't help at all. It has been throwing code 22 vtec oil pres. because i havent been getting enough oil to the head. I've made sure the oil feed line is clear, replaced the o-ring under the #3 cam cap, replaced both o-rings on the rocker shaft oil feed pins, replaced oil pan, oil pickup, and the noise was still there.
After replacing the LMA's with another set of used ones that had been soaked in oil for 48hrs, the noise seemed to be coming from just one LMA. Also, when taking right turns, they will click regardless of the rpm. Another few hundred miles of cautious/gentle driving, and the LMA's are just as noisy as they were before. Any ideas about what can cause the LMA's not to get enough oil? Anyone know how they are fed w/ oil?

Cliff Notes: LS/Vtec, LMA's keep breaking, related to low oil pressure. What else can i check to account for the oil starvation which is causing the code 22 and the LMA's to keep drying up and making noise? I've already adjusted valves, changed lma's, cleared oil line, replaced #3 cam cap o-ring, replaced rocker shaft oil pin o-rings, cleaned vtec solenoid screen, and tested the vtec solenoid to make sure it clicks.