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

[Its me]

At this point, I don’t think you should rule out an exhaust leak… However unlikely you think it is… Hondas were known for cracked exhaust manifolds… Perhaps go at it with a stethoscope or electronic ear to try to pin it down…

Try blocking up the exhaust and see if the noise grows louder…

Also, A video with the sound may be helpful…

-Karl

[EricTheCarGuy]

With any noise issue it’s a process of elimination. Well done checking the timing both mechanical and ignition. Did you happen to check the belt tension while you were there. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a noisy Honda DOHC engine that was due to a loose belt.

As I said, it’s a process of elimination. Next, remove the drive belts one at a time and start the engine in between. Similar to this video.

If you still have a noise after that then check your oil level and condition. Make sure you’re using the correct viscosity. Using viscosities other than what is called for can result in engine noise and premature wear.

Lastly, check out this article. It shows how to pin down engine noises and may be helpful to you.

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

Keep us posted.

[Reed Mann]

[quote=”ToyotaKarl” post=104878]At this point, I don’t think you should rule out an exhaust leak… However unlikely you think it is… Hondas were known for cracked exhaust manifolds… Perhaps go at it with a stethoscope or electronic ear to try to pin it down…

Try blocking up the exhaust and see if the noise grows louder…

Also, A video with the sound may be helpful…

-Karl[/quote]

I know the exhaust manifold isn’t cracked. I’ll have to check for a leak when I get the chance.

I’ve been trying to get a good video. It’s hard to do because the noise is only present under load and since my car is kinda loud the mic has trouble picking up the noise.

Thanks

[Reed Mann]

[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=104976]With any noise issue it’s a process of elimination. Well done checking the timing both mechanical and ignition. Did you happen to check the belt tension while you were there. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a noisy Honda DOHC engine that was due to a loose belt.

As I said, it’s a process of elimination. Next, remove the drive belts one at a time and start the engine in between. Similar to this video.

If you still have a noise after that then check your oil level and condition. Make sure you’re using the correct viscosity. Using viscosities other than what is called for can result in engine noise and premature wear.

Lastly, check out this article. It shows how to pin down engine noises and may be helpful to you.

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

Keep us posted.[/quote]

I uploaded a video of my check on the timing belt. My Hayne’s manual doesn’t have any specs on how tight the belt should be. It only has the procedure to tension it when installing. Are you guys able to tell by the video if the belt is tight enough. I believe the tension is correct.

As far as drive belts go, I have no power-steering or A/C so the only belt is the alternator. I know its not the alternator because that was changed this spring and the noise was present with both the old and the new alternator.

I’ve always used Mobil 1 5W-30 synthetic. The level is correct and I change it regularly.

I’ve done some more research and found that DOHC VTEC Honda engines are know for their lost motion assemblies (LMAs) going bad. Apparently, the original design from the ’90s has been improved upon and the LMAs you buy new from the dealer are different and won’t fail as fast. This video shows the issue (note, I did not make this video).

I tried to do the same and push down on the VTEC rocker arm, but I wasn’t too successful with the camshaft in place. I didn’t have time to pull apart the head when I was checking this either.

That’s where I am on this. Thoughts?

Thanks again.

[EricTheCarGuy]

I didn’t see the video where you checked the timing belt tension. I can’t stress enough how this is often the cause of noises like yours.

As for the lost motion sensors. Let me know if that works out. I’ve gone there in the past myself to cure a similar noise and it was not the cause. I can’t remember what the cause ended up being, but I do remember the lost motion sensor replacement was a big waste of time.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Reed Mann]

Thanks for the info about the lost motion assemblies. They are rather expensive and require a significant portion of the head to be disassembled to be replaced so I will not be replacing them until I have ruled everything else out.

The video of the timing belt tension is the flickr link in my previous post. You can click here to watch:

[Mike Chose]

I have a SOHC but one thing that is important in the Turing the crank it must be turned CCW to set the marks, if turned CW can cause the timing belt to run loose.

[Author]

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