I've got two videos of the noises from my engine, one when its still cold, one when warm. It's been bugging me for a bit and I want to know if its just the valves that need adjusting or something worse.


Cold: http://www.viddler.com/Mario555/videos/2/

Warm: http://www.viddler.com/Mario555/videos/1/


Keep in mind, it's about 20 degrees or so outside when I recorded these.

 

bump.

 

bump again

 

No replies yet?

 

It really sounds like you need a valve adjustment.

 

yup. valve adjustment. or you haven't changed yur oil in like 5000 miles, please tell me that's not it!

 

That motor is not running as smoothly as it should. Are you mechanically inclined? If so do the following:
change oil
valve adjustment
throttle body clean
injector clean
check your plugs
check your timing

 

I changed the oil already, it was either last month or december.

 

i second ej8 mans quote

 

Plugs are a little brown/black not too much, I'm assuming it's because I'm running a little rich due to stuck open thermostat. Throttle body is clean.

As I said earlier, I changed the oil already so it's new oil (5w-30 Full Synthetic from Valvoline).

 

Last time I checked the timing it was at around 23, any lower than that and the car runs pretty bad for some reason .


EDIT: Forgot to add that the car idles around 1.2-3 to 1.5k (Warm/Cold).

 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't the timing be 16 +/- 2 degrees? If your timing is advanced that much you'd have detonation problems most likely. The motor is stock, and your running premium gas? If it runs bad under normal specs then your timing belt is probably off a tooth or two.

 

93 from BP, and my friend who sold it to me said the engine was not stock.

 

What does not stock equate to? That may be why its running like crap at idle. Does the motor have aftermarket cams?

 

I honestly don't know what it has unless I take it apart, I could probably call and ask him but it's been awhile since he's had the car so he might have forgotten.

I'm not saying the car is running horrible, I was just wondering if that noise was just the valves needing adjusting, the car runs pretty good :X.


EDIT: I remember seeing Crower on the valves when I took the valve cover off before.

 

I actually didn't hear much valve tapping in your video, but the engine sounded rough. Maybe my ears are no good. Aftermarket cams could require that high idle and cause it to run rough at idle.

The 23 degree timing would concern me. I wouldn't attempt a valve adjustment without knowing if the cams are stock or not. The valve lash would be different.

You should find out what all he did to the motor, and then we can better help you answer your questions.

 

I'll try calling him after he gets off work and hope he remembers, since he sold me that car the october of '08.


If I take the valve cover off is there anyway I can tell if they're aftermarket cams without removing them?

 

there is a difference between mechanical timing and ignition timing you guys know that right...

 

Yes, last time I checked the ignition timing with a timing light it was at around 23 while idling at 1.2-3k

 

Alright I called him, he said they're skunk2 pro series camshafts, he said that whole head has been done, none of it's stock.

 

There you go. You need to look up the valve lash recommended for those cams. And I don't think you can get an accurate timing reading at 1.2k rpm, the computer will add advance to it. I've never adjusted timing with aftermarket cams but the same principle applies. You need to lower the RPM low enough so the computer isn't adding advance. I guess my advice would be to have it tuned or do the research necessary to tune it yourself. Ask around and see what people with similar setups say.

 

I've looked around and everything I've seen said to use the stock valve lash numbers.

I was also looking around and I read that the higher the rpm the more advanced the timing is, so maybe since it's idling at 1.2-3k it's at 23 instead of stock numbers?


Gonna just throw this in here, I already did a compression test and got around 215 each cylinder.

 

Check the ignition timing again just to see what it was and it was at around 23 and I lowered it a bit to around 22.5. The engine was warm (to the touch, which brings me to my next question)

Would a stuck open thermostat still tell the ecu that the engine is cold despite it being warm when touching it?

But after lowering the timing a little bit, it idles at around 1150 (checked on the digital timing gun). I also noticed the injectors tick really loudly, but I heard that was normal for hondas.


Here is a video of what it sounds like now, most of the ticking seems to come from where the exhaust manifold is: http://www.viddler.com/Mario555/videos/4/

The video seems to make it sound like it's ticking more than it really is .

 

Sounds like valve adjustment time...

 

Well, I went to start it today after not starting it in a few days (didn't have to go anywhere) and I'm treated to a new noise. It's louder than the usual ticking I've heard, and when I slightly revved the engine (before I did it in the video) the engine sounded like it wanted to die but caught it self and idled again.

http://www.viddler.com/Mario555/videos/5/
and
http://www.viddler.com/Mario555/videos/6/

Anyone know? Hope it isn't anything serious, I don't have the money at the moment .