I bought a 99 civic Ex coupe with a 1.6l d16y8 engine at an auction . On start you hear a low tick close to the distributor , when you give the car gas it smokes for a second then stops until you stop and give it gas again . So far i changed the oil , filter ,pcv valve/ grommet ,spark plugs , valve cover gasket , distributor and o2 sensors either for code related faults or no start conditions . The car has no misfires , hesitations and all cylinders compression test within 5 psi of each other at about 180. can anyone tell me what could cause the tick and smoke ?

 

leaky valves?

 

Not sure , i removed the timing cover and found the belt flapping around like crazy . i think i'm just gonna yank a head from the junk yard and swap that in and replace the belt . If that doesn't work i will come back crying and begging for suggestions.

 

if you pull the head why not check clearances first before getting another head?

 

Because i can get an entire working head from the yard for around $40 . I already did a valve lash adjustment ,pcv system replacement ,checked the oil level, cleaned all the deposits out of the throttle body , intake hoses and intake . The only options i can see left involve parts i can't source local or have the tools needed to replace them with.