my friend and i are working on his 1990 CRX HF (1.5 liter sohc). its all stock and he plans on doing a B16a swap down the road, but right now he's got another month till he graduates and needs his car to behave untill he gets a job so he can afford to do the swap.

new valve springs cost $10 each.. so 80$ to do replace.

anyway.. here's the problem..
we've adjusted the valve clearances, getting them exact.
timing belt is on good, etc..

when we rev to about 2800 we get a nasty rattle

its almost like the springs are weak and at higher rpm (2800 and above) they seem like they are floating and the rockers are slapping on the valve stem from the cam

another interesting thing is this... as my friend was learning how to adjust the valve clearances, the rattle change rpm where it started in at.. (he was doing it wrong the first time, then the next the rattle came lower rpm)

because of this, i think the rattle is valve train related.. another thing, i'm able to press the valve springs in with my thumbs.. these springs are puny in compaireson to my b18a springs, but i dont think they should be that easy to press in.

does anyone have any experience with this? is it possible that the springs are actually too old/weak and are floating at higher rpm?

thanks in advance.

 

Some shops have meters to guage how much presure the springs can hold. You may want to have them checked or just replace them. I could only find the length for my springs in Helms. I know some American engines use pounds (like 80 lbs) to rate a good spring.

 

thanks MattG..

does the rattling that we are getting sound like the valve springs are weak and floating?