you sir are correct. took it all apart today, nothing looked out of the ordinary. next week the head will come off. shitty deal, hoping nothing is too torn up.

 

could a broken valve spring cause a tick like that? say if the inner spring was broken?

 

cam gear?

 

How would the cam gear tick? They are stock Gsr cams and oem gears

 

If it was loose on the end of cam and wobbling?

 

Nothing is loose. I've already had the cams out and back in and done the valve lash twice now. I appreciate the suggestion though. I think I'm gonna swap in my old lma's and see if that stops it. I just want to eliminate every possible option before pulling the head. I will probably try to borrow a boroscope and take a peek inside the engine before I pull it apart just to see if there is anything that stands out

 

well, compression test showed no issues, and i took a borescope and checked inside each cylinder, i didn't see any marks or indentations where a valve hit a piston or anything. this is driving me crazy. plugs all 4 look fine, no damaage or anything on any of them, no unusual wear on the cams or rocker pads, no damage to LMA's, i guess ill start pulling the valve springs and see if the inner one is broken on one of them.

 

ya i was wondering if that's what u meant when you said u tore everyting apart.
So you took out the cams and rockers for inspection.
Check the lma's to be sure they all had washers/shims ?
It sure sounds much louder on the driver side in your viddy.
Did u determine the fuel reg. was no longer a possiblity?
It is a mystery.
You better update when u figure it out. Curiousity is killing me.
Did u inspect the inside of dizzy? I have had a rotor loose before, don't know how.
I hate to see u take off the head if not neccessary.
Try that listening thru the cap for louder tick thing, that makes sense, although it will spit a little oil.
A small piece of bamboo worked better for me than my HF scope, lol..must be a Japanese thing.
(actually the hundreds of nature's fiber-optic cables running down the stick)

 

The distributor rotor could be making noise, also the pin the holds the drive gear on the shaft can sometimes slide back and forth against the keeper ring making all sorts of annoying sounds

 

the noise is definitely coming from the drivers side of the head. the noise isnt coming from the dizzy or trans. Lma's were fine and all had shims. i was almost hoping the compression test would show something so i could figure it out but all 4 cylinders were good. i guess ill be taking the valvesprings out and checking to see if one of the inner springs is broken, i really doubt it since they are new supertech springs and retainers and the car doesnt get driven too much. im on stock gsr cams so its not like its an aggressive cam. gotta love cars lol

 

you can check that without pulling things apart.

if an inner spring is broken it will be very obvious, the inner spring will move a lot (when it shouldn't) and more than likely will broken in half and stuck inside itself.

 

How would you go about checking the LMA's?

 

is it possible this could be from a wrist pin? someone mentioned that to me.

 

Yeah that is possible, but the sound would be below the head.

Are you sure there is no holes in the sparkplug boots?

 

Yes I can't find anything wrong in the head, everything is fine.

 

keep looking is all I can say...

 

well the reason i bring the wrist pin is because a friend just mentioned it. but if it was coming from the wrist pin wouldnt i be able to hear it when i had the stethoscope on the oil pan? the only place i can hear anything seems to be the head or maybe the very top of the block. i get nothing from the oil pan at all with the stethoscope

 

Dang man sorry about your luck. I know exactly how you feel. Maybe its time to pull the head and completely disassemble it.

I had to tear my engine apart 3 times before all my issues were finally resolved (I had some bad luck). Having to buy 3 head gaskets is just stupid lol.

Good luck and post when you figure it out cuz you got a lot of us scratching are heads...

 

Any lose cam saddles?

 

Check your timing belt components. Water pump, idler pulley, crank pulley, and the belt itself. Look for any nicks or missing rubber.

And what about the FPR how/why was that ruled out?

Also, before pulling the head, I would remove the oil pan/pickup tube/windage tray and inspect the bottom end for any issues. Wiggle rods to check for spun bearings, push/pull on the pistons to check for wrist pin issues, etc

 

 

Took the fpr apart and everything was fine. It's just a spring and a diaphragm. I've checked with the stethoscope on the water pump, oil pump, and front of the block on the timing belt belt side and I don't pick up any noise except up at the head or at the very top of the block

 

I know this might be far fetched but if you had a sticky valve could it possibly be slapping shut?

 

wouldnt that affect the compression test? the fact that compression is good leads me to believe its not a bent or damaged valve, maybe im wrong though

 

Pulled the head and I can't find anything wrong, valvetrain is pulled out of the head, no marks on valves or pistons from contact, anything else I should look for?