So I have a high pitched ticking going on,so I checked my oil and it waa bit low, was right at the bottom hole in the dipstick. I put more oil in, 10 -30 high mileage but the ticking is still persisting. So far what I have gathered is I could've spun a wheel bearing, I could need a valve adjustment, or a lifter could be sticking?
Little info about the car, the engine was tuned at RLZ in Concord NC, he put the turbo on it and tuned it up about a year and a half ago. It has 200k + miles on it, I drive it every single day usually between 15-30 miles a day. I regularly take trips to and from Charlotte to Columbia which is about 100 miles. I have put around 300-400 miles on the engine since I first noticed the ticking so I would imagine it isn't a spun bearing. The engine seems to be running flawlessly except for the ticking, no smoke, no over heating, no leaks at all.
The ticking is the most audible at 3k+ rpms. It should be noted that since the ticking started a few weeks ago I may have forgotten that my engine wasn't completely healthy and raced a mustang to 130+ mph.. so I am sure that didn't help the poor honda. So anyway I will attach two videos, what the heck is going on here? any help is much appreciated.

At idle----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXmk...ature=youtu.be


Starting off from 900-4k rpm in first gear, its not nearly as loud in person as it sounds on this video for whatever reason ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpU5...ature=youtu.be

 

No one has any ideas?

 

Adjust your valves to factory spec according to FSM procedures.

 

Im new to tuning engines and what not, everything ive owned before this has been offroad oriented. If i take it somewhere to adjust the valves back stock wont that screw everything up because its 'tuned'

 

no, tuning is adjusting fuel parameters(among many other things I won't get into) to achieve a pre determined A/F ratio(as I said, among many many other things). adjusting valves is general maintenance and something mechanical. Exhaust valves tend to tighten up over time. If you have basic experience in engine work you should be able to do this yourself for completely free, assuming you have feeler gauges a flat head screw driver, and a 10mm wrench.

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/tech-article-valve-lash-adjustment-1305086/

 

you guys are awesome, like I said I have to drive a lot for work, I will probably have to put around 40-60 miles on it before I can even attempt to adjust the valves, how detrimental will this be to the little engine?

 

If you need to drive it, please be sure the noise is coming from the head. This can also be done free. Grab a mechanics stethoscope(I use a long screw driver and cup my ear on the handle), with engine running place the other end of the stethoscope(long screw driver) on the block. Listen to the clacking sound you're hearing, is it loud? Then move it to the head, did it get louder or did it quiet down? If it got louder then it more than likely is coming from the top end. If it got quieter then it is probably your rotating assembly(spun bearing).

 

To answer your question, if it is the top end the noise is coming from, a valve lash adjustment will probably cure your problem. unless you have a bad lifter or something else. Driving on it minimally should be fine, don't be too hard on it.

 

You should have time. Depends on if it's tight or loose.

Tight can keep the exhaust valves open too long and cause them to burn. From what I understand it takes quite awhile for the valves to burn though.

If they are loose then you lose a little performance and fuel economy but isn't detrimental.

The key is to do the valve lash adjustment on a dead cold engine. Let it sit over night before getting started.

 

alright thanks for the replies guys. not sure if this helps or not but I have driven 3-400 miles since the ticking started, and I haven't noticed any performance issues or mpg loss or anything of the sort, the clicking didnt get any worse either. I would imagine if it was a spun bearing I wouldn't have been able to get that far would I?

 

Depends, when I spun a bearing in my y8. It started off as a ticking noise that would go away once warm. progressively got worse to where it was a constant tick, then seemed to taper off(seemed to sound the same for a while). I got a good 1,500 miles before the engine went.

 

Why do you need to put 40-60 miles on it to do a valve lash? Doing valve adjustments you need to do this when the engine has not been ran for 12 hrs, or overnight.

 

This is good to know. Thank you. One difference though is this should be the Z6 block so spinning a bearing isn't as common or as easy as the Y8 due to the dual oil holes per journal. Also he didn't mention any change in relation to engine temperature so doesn't seem to fit that scheme.

I think he is saying he has to drive back and forth to work a few times before he has time off to do the valve lash.

 

Cool beans, lets try the valve lash and go from there. Remember you have to do this with the engine not warmed up or ran. Start in the morning I guess.

 

He was asking if he would have been able to get 3-400 miles on a spun bearing. My response suits his inquiry perfectly if you ask me.

 

Good point, also it provides more information for him to evaluate his experience to either rule the bearing in or out of the equation.

The valve lash adjustment should also aid in that. If the tick is still there after the adjustment...... Even though the tick sounded to me like the typical sewing machine ticking sound I've come to know of normal Honda motor operation.

 

Or could be the injectors ticking.

 

Okay so my roommate happened to know a guy that knows how to adjust the valves, he adjusted them this morning to factory spec but the ticking persists. It isn't as loud as it was, but it is definitely still there, he says he thinks its just age and that most of his hondas end up sounding like that eventually. Is this legit? or do I need to keep searching for the problem here

 

doublepost sorry

 

The adjustment was done on the motor after it had not been run for 12 hours or more?

If you drove over to have it adjusted that won't work out right.

And Honda Motor valves have a ticking sound to them normally, a light tapping sound and have the reputation of being considered the sewing machine sounding motor. We aren't there to hear it in person so really I don't think any of use can make a solid judgement over the internet. You usually don't get the same quality of sound in video as you do in person.

 

Is it the "typewriter" sound? I too have heard that a "typewriter" sounding engine = perfectly healthy.

Is this true?

 

If you really wanted to, could do a compression OR leak-down test. To see if valves or lifters are sticking, or so... (do I have that right)

 

IV never seen a Honda motor thats more than a few years old that did not tick like a ****. Its probably a side effect of the design, all of the designs from A series to K series