Honda Civic Ticking Noise

[Reed Mann]

The car is a 2000 Honda Civic Si. Everytime that I am driving my car and it reaches operating temperature (almost instantaneously when the needle reaches the warm position) a ticking noise will begin when on throttle. It is hard to describe, but I know that it is not the sound of an exhaust leak. It is a more positive sound. It is not very loud and can be drowned out fairly easily by the radio. It used to only happen when under load (going up a hill or heavier than normal acceleration), but now it will happen whenever I am on throttle. The noise is not present when idling or revving the engine while sitting still at operating temp. There is no noticeable change in performance when the sounds occurs and it has been present for a little over 2000 miles now. My hunch is that the valves need to be adjusted. I have done basically all the other major maintenance on this engine sometime within the last 5000 miles (water pump, tensioner, timing belt, clutch, flywheel, ignition system, etc). This maintenance was not blind attempts at fixing the problem, but just scheduled maintenance. I have no check engine light codes. I know it is very hard for you to say without hearing the noise so if you don’t know what it is, I would like your advice. Should I take it to a local Honda dealer and have them adjust the valves to see if it fixes the noise or should I take it and ask them to diagnose the noise and risk paying extra for them to end up just adjusting the valves? Thanks for your help.

Topic

[David Roddick]

Could be valves. If sound comes when engine is working (pulling) makes me wonder about timing issue (knock). Since it’s a 2000 it probably is fairly high mileage. On an 02 Celica I had some ticking from valves and used a little Marvel Mystery oil and ticking was gone and has not come back. The Celica has 145,000 miles. But a little different than your situation because ticking on Celica was when engine was just warming up and usually at idle. I’m not a strong believer in MMO but it worked for me in this case. Eric will know more when he looks at this. Good luck.

[David Roddick]

I was just checking other references from Eric regarding Honda and the issue you are having and it appears valve adjustment may be the answer. But let a pro post to this thread before you act.

[Bill]

It sounds like spark knock (pinging) First you need to make sure the ignition timing is set to specifications. Filling the tank with 91 octane fuel might lessen it or even get rid of it. At least it would give you a clue to weather it is spark knock or something else.

[Reed Mann]

[quote=”wysetech” post=101451]It sounds like spark knock (pinging) First you need to make sure the ignition timing is set to specifications. Filling the tank with 91 octane fuel might lessen it or even get rid of it. At least it would give you a clue to weather it is spark knock or something else.[/quote]

I believe the factory calls for premium fuel, so that’s what I’ve always run. Would you be able to tell by looking at the plugs if it was spark knock? I pulled the plugs awhile ago, but I could pull them again this weekend to check them out.

[Bill]

Unless the spark knock was severe it’s not likely you can tell anything by the appearance of the plugs.

In severe cases the porcelain tip can be covered with tiny black spots and or have the appearance of being subjected to excessive heat or even melted.

[Reed Mann]

That makes sense. I’ll try to pull the plugs this weekend if I have time. If it were spark knock, what are the fixes?

[Bill]

Overly advanced ignition timing is the most likely cause of spark knock.

[David Roddick]

http://ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car?start=2#TickingEngineNoise

[Reed Mann]

@wysetech thanks for the advice.

@mustangroddick thanks for the link.

I’ll do some investigating this weekend and report back my findings.

[EricTheCarGuy]

I could swear I answered this question already. Well, here goes. Given that you recently did the timing belt, I would go back and check the marks. If the mechanical timing is off, it may start up and run fine, but act up under load. Based on your description I think this might be your problem. It’s worth looking into. All you’ll need to do is remove the valve cover and upper timing cover to check the timing marks. If they’re off, reset them and then recheck for the problem. DO NOT ADJUST THE IGNITION TIMING UNTIL YOU HAVE DONE THIS CHECK. If you do and the mechanical timing IS off, you’ll have to go back and adjust it again. In fact, you should never had to adjust ignition timing on a modern vehicle as it is computer controlled and not part of any maintenance procedure.

More info on noises here.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car

Good luck and keep us posted

[Reed Mann]

[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=101675]I could swear I answered this question already. Well, here goes. Given that you recently did the timing belt, I would go back and check the marks. If the mechanical timing is off, it may start up and run fine, but act up under load. Based on your description I think this might be your problem. It’s worth looking into. All you’ll need to do is remove the valve cover and upper timing cover to check the timing marks. If they’re off, reset them and then recheck for the problem. DO NOT ADJUST THE IGNITION TIMING UNTIL YOU HAVE DONE THIS CHECK. If you do and the mechanical timing IS off, you’ll have to go back and adjust it again. In fact, you should never had to adjust ignition timing on a modern vehicle as it is computer controlled and not part of any maintenance procedure.

More info on noises here.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car

Good luck and keep us posted[/quote]

Thanks for the advice Eric and I apologize if this is a repeated question. I pulled off the valve cover and timing cover today to check the timing. The mechanical timing is correct. As far as the ignition timing goes, I set this when I originally did the timing belt and checked it again when I replaced the distributor rotor and cap since I had to remove the distributor to do so. When I did it, I had the typical Honda idle issues. I was able to get the idle somewhat stabilized to set the timing, but it was not a perfect idle.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/o3TTDW], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/o3TTMS], on Flickr

I also pulled all the plugs. Taking pictures was hard with my phone, but I was able to get it to focus on the tip pretty well (click on the picture for full size).

[url=https://flic.kr/p/o1XArq], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/nLvE5L], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/o3ZXfH], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/nLwnfF], on Flickr

To me, they all look pretty good based on this:

http://ngksparkplugs.com/tech_support/spark_plugs/faqs/faqread.asp

I noticed that on two of the plugs, the ceramic part was a little more grey. I don’t know if this means anything, but just thought I’d mention it. This can be seen in pictures 2 and 4 above.

Any thoughts based on this information? Thanks.

[Reed Mann]

Any thoughts fellas?

[Reed Mann]

So I had the valve lash checked and adjusted by a local shop. Only 4 valves were out of spec. The noise persists.

I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I am trying to be as logical as possible about it. So hear goes…

The noise has to be coming from the power train (engine/transmission) for two reasons. One, the noise starts when the vehicle reaches operating temperature. Two, the noise matches the rpm of the engine. It speeds up as rpm build, so it must be rotating. I know that the valves are all within spec and that detonation is not occurring. Nearly every serviceable part on the engine has been replaced in the last 5000 miles. This includes, clutch, pressure plate, throw-out bearing, pilot bearing, flywheel, timing belt, water pump, tensioner, distributor cap, rotor, plug wires, plugs, and axles, alternator. This leads me to the transmission. The only part that I have not serviced. Since the noise matches the engine rpm and only occurs when under load and not at idle I think it could be a bearing in the transmission going bad. I have replaced the transmission fluid once in the last 5000 miles with Honda MTF and filled it to the correct level.

Couple questions:
Does this logic sound reasonable?
Could a bearing or another part inside the transmission that is going bad cause a noise like this?
Is there any way to check if the noise is coming from the transmission or the shape of the transmission’s internals?

Thanks for your help.

[F]

Have your checked catalytic converter? It can make clicking or rattle noise if it is bad

[Reed Mann]

[quote=”TankM” post=104725]Have your checked catalytic converter? It can make clicking or rattle noise if it is bad[/quote]

Thanks for the suggestion. The catalytic converter is a high-flow magnaflow unit that is relatively new. The noise is definitely coming from the engine compartment.

[Author]

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