After replacing the clutch on my 99 Si I noticed a pretty bag valvetrain noise. I just replaced the LMAs and did a valve lash adjustment, but it's still loud. Any ideas on what it could be? It's nice and quiet when idle, but once you start pushing the gas, it gets loud. Compared to my Miata is like night and day the difference.

 

they are normally loud.
but
timing can be off and make it louder too.
check to see if its dead on.

take your dizzy cap off and take a screwdriver and scratch the eletrodes on the inside of the cap.
did you get new plugs?

 

I think loud is a relative term. Everyone says Hondas are loud, but I don't consider my Honda loud... You should not hear tapping if the valve lash is correct. What tolerance did you use when adjusting the intake and exhaust?

 

Did you replace the Lma's with brand new ones?

 

check to make sure the clearance is right on your rocker arm to valves. you might just have them with too big a gap

 

They are kinda loud, even with good LMAs and a proper valve lash. Years ago a friend of mine got his hands on a B18C5 with ~20k miles and it as loud as any other B series VTEC I've been around.

 

I haven't checked timing, but I don't see how that would have been affected by the chaning of the clutch. The car has new plugs, wires, rotor, etc.

For the valve lash, I set to .006 intake and .007 exhaust. The noise literally appeared after the clutch for some reason and that's why I can hear the difference.

I replaced all LMAs with new improved ones from Honda.

Hmmm, rocker arm to valves, how difficult would that be, but still doesn't explain why all of a sudden after the clutch the noise appeared.

I know that the engine is loud, but for it to change in loudness right after the clutch is kinda crazy. The only other thing that I can think of is that I changed the oil at the same time and I used Castrol Synthec full synthetic 5w-30, where before I had been using Rotella T 10w-40.

I left the car at the dealer and they will look at it, hopefully it's something simple.

 

It started after the clutch? Is the noise still there when the clutch is depressed?

 

Yeah, it started after I did the clutch. The noise starts going away after I let go of the gas. The clutch can be pressed/depressed and the noise will be heard as long as the gas is being pressed brining the rpms up.

I drove my brother in law's 00 Si yesterday and it sounded fine. Regular drivetrain noise, but nothing like what mine sounds like.

The dealer called me today and they said that they can hear it louder, but that the only thing that they can see is the resonator missing, which has been missing since I got the car. So they are going to look at it some more and they might want me to go take a test drive with them.

 

All the dealer could say is that they can hear the noise, but that the only thing wrong they can see is the resonator missing. When I rev the car, almost sounds as if the injector solenoids are making the noise. I'm going to shoot a video and post it.

 

Here's a quick video that I took

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAdugvb1FKc

 

It does sound a little noisy. Since it started after the clutch it could be your throw out bearing, assuming you changed it, which I didn't really hear over the engine noise. But holding a camera to an engine is not the same as holding your ear to the engine How many miles are on the motor? It sounds like a Honda motor with 120k - 150k miles on it.

 

I installed a new throwout bearing, the bearing that goes in the flywheel, everything. The engine has 135k miles, good ear. I'm going to switch back to 10w40 Rotella T to see if it quiets it down.

 

The motor is stock right? I would keep 5W-30 in there and keep it to spec.

 

Did you lube the throw out bearing?

Don't just pour thicker oil in it so it quiter. Put what honda reccomends in it.

 

Motor is stock, I've only been using 10w40, this is the only time that I've used 10w30. Yes, lubed it up where the manual recommends, but don't see how it would be making the noise.

 

Changed the oil tonight with 10w40 and set the timing to 16 degrees, it was a little advanced, but it's still noisy. The only thing that I did when I did the clutch was that I cranked the engine without turning it on since I had drained all the oil and wanted to make sure it got a good amount before turning it fully on.

What else should I check?

 

How does the engine sound when it's fully warm? From what I heard before the engine sounds a little noisy, but on par for 135k mile motor. It should quiet up when the oil reaches normal operating temp.

My opinion, based on my limited experience, is maybe your engine is accustomed to 10W-40 at this point. My guess is not using the recommended oil probably caused unnecessary/premature wear, and hence your motor is a little more noisy then the rest in the crowd, or maybe the motor has had 135K of hard driving, or maybe its a combination of the two.

I do know that the engineers at Honda that toleranced and designed the motor decided 5W-30 based on their calculations, not conjecture from local shops...

 

I've given up on trying to find wth it is.

 

Was it warmed up when that video was made??

That f'er is loud! You put 10-40 in and it shuts it up?

I hadn't see the video untill now.

 

Yeah, it was warmed up. I put 10w40 and new LMAs and it's still like that. Weird thing is that the noise appeared after I did the clutch.

I'm going to get the intake silencer, don't see what good it will do, but the dealer thinks to get that first and I'll take it back to them. Fuc**n hate dealing with stupid issues like these, makes me want to throw the car down a cliff.

 

Put the old clutch back in

 

Don't bother with the intake silencer, the dealership just wants your money. Or if you it really matters to you get one from a junk yard. What kind of clutch did you install? Did it come with Japanese bearings?

 

I'm going to get the intake so I can take it to them and they can find the problem since I paid for the diagnostic fee. They only charged me 45 bucks since they thought the first thing needed is the intake.

I installed all OEM parts for the clutch, bearings, etc.

 

The intake positvitly will NOT do anything for that noise. Yes, it will make a tiny bit quieter when you rev it up, but not for the engine.

You paid 45 for noithing, you really did. A missing resinator/ intake silencer will not cause that noise.