I recently bought a 98 GSR with 152,000 miles. It's my 4th B-series VTEC engine, so I do know a bit about these things. Just haven't had this problem before.

The car was pretty well taken care of, and adult-owned, but it never had a valve lash adjustment, EVER. I heard some clacking when I test drove it, figured it was the valve lash. Sure enough, 12 out of 16 valves were loose and I adjusted everything well within spec (I've done quite a few of these in the past few years, so I've got it down and didn't do it incorrectly. everything was double-checked, engine was cold, etc).

So it still clacks. I can hear it most when taking off from idle, and when letting off the gas. It's not a high pitched tapping, more of a mid-frequency clackclackclack. I've been doing some research here on H-T and I'm thinking that the LMA's may have been worn out from the loose valve lash. Does that sound right?

I was thinking of replacing the LMA's, either with a low mileage used set ($80ish) or new ones ($200ish). I also picked up a set of good GSR cams from a JDM engine my friend bought from Hmotors, thining I might as well put some fresher cams in, in case mine are worn. Do I need to worry about the rockers being worn out, too? This is not a car I want to dump money into at all, but if I've got a VTEC engine I want to use it and not be afraid to rev it up. Might get back into autocross and track days as well.

Any input is appreciated.

 

pull the valve cover and check. when you push down on them, they should spring right back up.