ok so i did a head swap. changed my intake manifold gasket, headgasket too. started my car and i hear this [freak]in TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP LOUD tap that is constant when i start the car, but for a 10 second interval it went away[i think my rev's changed]

well it revs and stays around 25-2700rpms NOT bouncing, but constant.

also out of the rear tailpipe i am getting lots of grey white smoke. it could be because i poured some oil into the cylinder to test and see if the rings were ok. or it could be because my car has been sitting for a month.

the problems im having is the smoke and the TAP TAP TAP which makes me think my car is undrivable

 

did you resurface the head when putting the gasket on, that could have caused a problem, or this sounds stupid, but i have seen it happen where people have put the head gasket on backwards, well if white smoke is constant then its the head gasket and has nothing to with the oil. the taping could be a valve its hard to say, how were the valves on the head before you swapped it, old new, bent, did you change them.

 

i bought the head from a dude on here that said it was good.

i looked @ the headgasket and it looked like it would only work one way...due to the coolant holes and whatnot,... so i dont think its that.

but my compression check says

180 180 180 150

WTF

also, no i didnt resurface the head when i put it on...i was unaware i had to

 

what head is this?

and the valve lash was set to spec?

 

How long was the head sitting that you put on?

Could just be the valves working without proper lubrication because they were sitting for a long period of time.

 

its a d16y8 head. and i dont know how long it was sitting. he said if the head didnt work i could return it, so i doubt it would be a bad head? idk. what can i do to unstick the valves? im about to get my car towed somewhere so they can fix it, because ive been without a car for a month. but i just dont have that kind of money to pay a mechanic.... man im so stressed out

 

You always resurface a head and inspect it before using it. Always....

White smoke...classic coolant burn.
Pull it off, have it done, get some head studs or at least new bolts, new headgasket too (you cannot reuse it after 1 heat cycle)
Learn from your mistakes. The hard ones sink in the best.

 

whats involved with resurfacing a head

 

You take it to a machine shop that knows that theyre doing. Ask specifically how many Honda engines they work with on average before choosing one

 

The smoke i don't know about but the tapping sounds like the bad part. Did you have a machine shop check the head before you used it? My Y7 made a noise like that one time and that's because my engine ate one of my camshaft bearings. I hope you didn't get that head from ebay or something. Best of luck.