ekcivic2

Hi everybody.i recently bought a civic 99 vi with a stock d15b 3 stage vtec.well last week i replaced my timing belt.after doing so,i drove the car and it sound as the engine is knocking/pinging.i reported the problem to the mechanic,he verified the cam timing and the crank mark.he told me everything is line up perfectly.he then adjusted the ignition timing to 15 degree.but in vain the engine knocks terribly at low rpm 1000-2200.on the same day i adjusted it to full retard just to minimize the pinging sound.but still its pings.and it idles very low sometimes.

so guys do you know any other possible causes of engine pinging/knocking?
Thanks.

MonkeyMagic

i don't know how to put this nicely but.. i'd start by figuring out what exactly you ****ed up while doing the timing belt.

sure it's not piston slap or valvetrain noise you never noticed before? i know those d16y* motors can be mechanically noisy to begin with

ekcivic2

infact when i bought the car i heard the pinging sound very little.but did not take it seriously...on the day when the mechanic was marking the previous timing before removing the belt,he noticed that the current timing was one tooth off.he then put the cam timing to its correct marking and installed the new belt.

maybe the previous owner intentionally adjusted the timing off by one tooth long ago.

the engine does not make any abnormal noise apart from the pinging sound.

foo fighters

are all 4 cylinders firing?

ekcivic2

i think yes because there is no rattle.it runs good but the engine power seems to be a bit low.

foo fighters

compression in a cylinder may be real low makin it run off 3 cylinders, do a compression test.

ekcivic2

ok,i'll also try replacing the spark plugs and cable.will let you know if there is any improvement.

apexi_rsx

i wonder if this car has ever over heated before and had the head shaved down? may explain? maybe set the timing back to where it was before u took the belt off.

ekcivic2

i don't know about that....today i have cleaned the injectors,iacv,intake manifold,throttle body,replaced spark plug cable but all this without any improvement.the engine still pings.

Richard Callejo

we have the same issue with my d15b 3stage vtec