I have a 2001 2.3l 4cyl with 81k on it. It has a somewhat major ticking noise about 10 seconds after start up. It gets nearly silent after the engine warms up, but never completely goes away. I've adjusted valve clearance twice and a friend of mine did it once, and nothing has changed. Another friend suggested that it was the balance shaft making noise and I should to a timing belt job on it. Any suggestions??

Thanks in advance!!
Chad

 

Theres alot of Things that can cause valve tap,

Such as Worn rockers, warped springs, worn cam lobes

So If You Adjusted the valve clearence,( and if you did it right) Those are some things you should look into

 

Honda Techline says "noisy valves are happy valves".
the valve lash makes less noise when warmed up for 2 reasons, the oil splashes around under the valve cover and muffles the noise, and the rocker expands with the temp rise to lessen the clearance.
Be sure you are using an oil filter with an anti back flow valve to keep oil going up top quicker on cold starts.
I'll bet that this is your first honda, and the noise just seems unusual to you.

 

I'm using a Pure One filter, so I'm sure it has an anti-drainback valve. Also, the second time I did the valve lash adjustment, I set them to about .001" closer than they should have been. No change at all. I've thought about running the engine with the valve cover off and put a thumb on the valve lash screws to see if I could tell which one was making a racket. Any thoughts on it being a balance shaft?
Thanks!
Chad

 

HAHAAH dude your gonna get oil all over the place