I've been doing a lot of researching on the K24 motors being loud but I struggle with believing my issue is a known issue.

I recently purchased a 2004 Honda Accord with 200k miles on it. Car was purchased from its original owner and he gave me every receipt of every oil change, brake job, maintenance, tire purchase etc, since Day 1. When purchasing the car it was snowing hard in Ohio so I thought the issue was just the cold weather and the fact the car had been sitting for 2 weeks without running (it was -5 deg).

We get the car home and not a single issue, we drive it around a couple days and the weather finally broke. Yesterday it was 60deg and I heard my wife come down the road and I could hear the motor ticking from a far. So that ruled out the cold weather situation. So I check the oil (keep in mind we had put close to 1500 miles on it) and no oil usage at all. Oil was spot on and clean as new.

I don't show any records for the serpentine belt being changed, nor any valve adjusting, or mechanical issues. So I'm thinking first I'm going to pull off the S-Belt and start the car to see if the noise goes away, and then replace since it has 200k. Then if no luck adjust the valves. Now I know these K's have loud direct injectors, but this thing is so loud its unbelievable. When I say it sounds like a diesel I mean its like a diesel at startup in the winter 24/7... Very strange.

Why I struggle with it being a known issue: I've already owned a 2004 and a 2003 Honda Accord with K motors and neither of them sounded like this in the past. I currently own a 2007 TSX and it does not sound like this. My best friend drives a 2004 Honda Element and it does not sound like this. Its seriously the loudest thing ever.

My questions: Any suggestions on what else to look for, known issues, etc? I plan to video it and post it so others can hear it and add more suggestions. Lastly anyone have a walk through on a valve adjustment? I've found a few YT videos that I've saved.

Any suggestions, tips, explanations, etc I've also thought about doing some SeaFoam to search for a manifold crack/leak.

Someone help before I go crazy!

 

Anyone?

 

Does the engine seem like it's low on power? I hear these engines have a problem with bad cams, which could lead to valve not opening fully. I'm sure that would make more noise than normal too. If you take the valve covers off, to adjust the valves, check the cam lobes for wear.

 

Motec system exhaust?

 

Car is absolutely bone stock and nope it doesn't appear to be low on power. It runs amazing just loud as heck

 

Pull the valve cover. Inspect the valve clearance, and look at the exhaust cam. They were known to have issues.

 

Ok, we got a little snow today after 70deg weather yesterday. I'll check it out as soon as I can and follow up.

Thanks everyone.

 

maybe the cylinder bearings are gone or header gasket leak, but check the exhoust and see if theres any holes

 

Exhaust manifold leak is my guess at this point.

 

I plan to tackle it this weekend and hope to figure it out. I'm leaning to either the exhaust cam issue or exhaust manifold crack. No exhaust fumes though... hmmm

 

Bump from the dead but I found out what I believe is the issue. I took off the auxiliary belt today and the motor got quiet. The AC compressor seems to have bearings going out, so looks like its time to replace that. Fun Fun...