Billman250

From what I've seen....

If you run the car to at least 150 degrees, shut it down, and do a compression test right away, #4 cylinder will show higher compression, due to excess oil on the top side of the rings.

This is due to, as Slows2k stated, a scuffed bore. Maybe a # 4 cyl failure.

BUT....the noise from a #4 cyl failure, in my experience, does not come and go. It will start up quiet when cold, and be a constant noise when hot.

Slows2k

I'd let it idle till 3 bars, which is right around 140-150ish.

You've allready had it on the track at close to redline, the idling shouldn't hurt it. (any worse than it may already be)

cthree

Ok, you are right, I've had it at redline several times with the ticking so a little idling isn't going to make it worse than it already is.

The bolt problem in question was a valve cover bolt at the very front of the engine valve cover. The sleeve was stripped from over torquing so I replaced the bolt/sleeve thingy (Bolt B 90012-PCX-004), the 5 bolts (90013-PCX-003) and a new valve cover gasket kit. The problem was that the bolt holding on the valve cover vanished one day and was replaced by a fountain is spewing oil. Once I replaced the bolts and bits and installed the new gaskets the problem was resolved.

The noise is constant but just low frequency (2-3 Hz at idle). It's there all the time when the engine is running and changes with revs. It's just as loud hot as cold.

cthree

I'll do a quick inspection tomorrow and see what I can find out. I'm just way to depressed and tired to do it now (besides it's almost midnight and the mosquitos are out for blood).

I'll start but checking the PCV valve and make sure it's working. Then I'll pull the plug and see what I see. Then I'll pull the plug on the coil packs one at a time and see if the sound changes. If that's all cool I'll do a leakdown and compression test. I'll report back with my finding.

Thanks everyone for your help and reassurances. It sucks to try to deal with things on your own and it's nice to have people more knowledgeable than yourself in your corner. If you have other suggestions of what I can try let me know. I've already got to make a trip to Canadian Tire (maybe the best store there ever was) so if you think of anything let me know.

Slows2k

The oil that leaked from the bolt hole was from the oil supplied to the rockers. Even more oil will leak in VTEC due to the amount of oil that bleeds past the rockers. Unless the oil loss was great enough to cause some damage while you where on the the track.

Have you been able to unplug the coils with the engine running? (I'm all for doing the easiest thing 1st, which may tell you the most)

cthree

I haven't done any diagnostics yet. I'll try unplugging the coils first thing. The valve cover bolt was fixed many months ago and I've done several track events since without any problem. It never leaked more than about 1/2 qt total.

PLYRS 3

erik, it's not a tick..."ticks" don't cause the entire engine to vibrate so badly.

your engine was vibrating like those paint-can mixer machines...in other words, badly/harshly.

it was more of a clank....

have you cranked the motor since yesterday?

BioBanker

the sound really does seem to be coming from close to the firewall, but maybe erik you can better locate it by using a hose. Ear at one end and move the other around till you pick up the sound....

i call it a knock.

RED MX5

Now I'm totally confused; Knock or tick?

According to the OP, the car was spewing oil, and that seems to point to more than a simple failure of the crankcase ventilation system. It sounds like excessive blowby to me, and that points to a sealing problem in at least one cylinder. Scuffed cylinder or broken rings?

I think I might run a bore scope through the sparkplug holes and take a look around. You have to pull the plugs to run compression and leak-down tests anyway, so before turning the motor over to run the tests I think I'd do a "visual" inspection to see if I could spot any obvious issues inside the cylinders.

RED MX5

Is the motor really rocking like a "paint-can mixer machine?"
That would seem to point to one or more cylinders misfiring, but I'd expect a misfire to throw a CEL.

If it's this bad then why aren't we seeing a CEL?