Posted in civic 92-00 but no one seems to answer questions about engines there....just cosmetic crap. so ill give it a try here

Alright guys, i've searched but the problem was that most ppl didn't know what the heck a valve adjustment was. Not in my case, i do mine 2 times per summer to be safe. So I just finished installing my AEBS mani on my b16 and while im waiting for the thermo to open to let the bubbles out, the engine out of nowhere starts ticking!!!! From the #4 cylinder intake side. I know nothing fell in because we covered the ports as soon as we pulled the stock mani and ive been in the combustion chamber with a boroscope 3 times since the sound started.

I know its not injectors becuase i pulled each inidividually and ran the car and the sound doesnt change. I did the reverse spark plug test and that was fine so its not a bearing. I changed the dizzy with another i had didnt change anything. Ive taken the head apart 4 times down to pulling the rockers. Checked cam gear bolts, both tight. Bought prelude lma's and did the 1mm shim trick.


I used a stethoscope and the sound is coming from #4 intake side for sure, I even checked the oil pressure to make sure the pump wasn't failing and i was getting 34 psi at idle and 70 psi at 3000 rpm. I pulled the valve springs off on #4 thinking maybe the inner one was cracked but nope. Since ive taken apart the head 4 times i know its not valve lash since when you pull the cams you are supposed to back off all the valve adjustment nuts all the way so u need to re lash every time u put it back together and im lashing at .007 intake and .008 exhaust. I did a comp test and all the cylinders are within 10 psi of each other.

Any ideas??? only thing i can think of is that its coming another part of the head and the sound is traveling down the cam but its intake side for sure and if it was a bent valve i would have found it in the comp test. could carbon build up on the valves make a random *** loud ticking?? kind of sounds like no oil metal on metal but if i run the car, then turn it off and pull the cover everything is well lubricated.

Thanks guys

 

what head are you using?? i had a ticking once and it was driving me crazy and found it was a LMA

 

dude i just changed to prelude lma's with the 1mm shim all the other cylinders are quiet so it has nothing to do with the new lmas

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jord18 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dude i just changed to prelude lma's with the 1mm shim all the other cylinders are quiet so it has nothing to do with the new lmas
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1mm shims is about .040" when i installed prelude LMA's into my B16 head i needed .040-.045" shims on the intake and .070-.075 on the exhaust side.

check the clearence between the center (VTEC) base circle and the rocker pad. it should be zero lash.

also check the cam lobes for strange wear....

 

thanks for the reply but i know its not the lma's because all the other cylinders are quiet as hell but #4 is just this loud *** ticking even when they are all lashed properly

 

You have proper valve clearances? Does the valve look deformed or is it making a good seal on the seat?

 

i just pulled the head so im gonna check everything and probably change everything at the same time since its out already

 

Could something have been in the IM runner and when you installed the IM the foreign object damaged or bent the valve just slightly so that you didn't see it when you inspected it. So now when its opening and shutting, its not seating right and causing the ticking?

 

i was thinking that but if somthing would have gone in the cylinder it would have gotten melted of stuck on the piston or combustion chamber. we also made sure as soon as we pulled the old one off we put rags in to ports right away and before i put the new mani on i checked if there was anything inside. Thanks a lot for your input man! i will remove the valve and check them

Thanks again!

 

The raeson im suggesting a bent or damaged valve is cause my cousin had a similar problem. A ticking noise we couldn't find for weeks. Finally after we pulled the head a second time, I took it to the machine shop for a valve job and they found a valve with a minor deformation.

 

well i was wondering if its either somthing broken in the vtec solenoid, im gonna take it apart tmrw morning, im gonna pull all the rockers and check that the return springs are stuck and if i cant find anything ill take it to a machine shop, get a 3 angle valve job and hopefully its a [freak]ed valve.

Thanks a lot for all your input man, your being a great help, ive taken apart the head on the car 4 [freak]ing times, havent driven the car in months because ive been working my *** off and all your input is great.

Thanks man

 

What head is it? D16? Did you measure valve spring free length?

 

b16

 

Your springs are still good? I remember my neighbors b16 was also really noisy cause his springs were old, running itr cams, and the valves were slamming hard cause his springs were too weak.

 

no way? cause i bought the engine from a jdm shop and whiel i was trying to figure out the problem today i measured the cam lobes today and compared to a pair of sir's i have lying around they are much bigger but not aftermarket so im assuming they are type r and ur saying that the springs got weak from the bigger cams?? and caused a ticking? cause i pulled the springs out and none are cracked of broken.

 

and its only cylinder #4

 

Measure the free length of the springs, they should be no more than the following
IN outer = 1.611"
IN Inner = 1.445"
EX = 1.652"
Also, use this to determine what cams you got


Can find a larger pic here
http://technet.ff-squad.com/

 

weak springs wont necessarily be cracked.

and bad valve guides can cause a ticking too.