KerryF

All was well until I had my valve stem seals replaced this week. I had them replaced because I was burning a lot of oil on power (Lots of blue smoke at WOT and incredible amounts in VTec) and the smoke would vanish when I lifted - I had been told by a number of mechanics that it would be because of the valve stem seals. I'm not sure I understand the reasoning there but that's besides the point.

When I picked up the car I immediately noticed a loud valve tick (Actually caused me to worry about rod knock) at idle and up to about 3000rpm. It vanishes above 3k and sometimes will not be there at idle. I think this might be due to an incorrect valve adjustment so I'm planning on checking everything tomorrow.

The thing that is really bothering me though is that I no longer feel any kick when VTec is supposed to engage. The car still pulls above 6k (I haven't brought it to 9) and feels quick but the noticeable VTec engagement is gone. I don't know why this is. My only guess is that one of the VTec pins may have fell out of the rocker when he was replacing the stem seals and he didn't notice. It would be unfortunate if this was also the banging I'm hearing.

I'm hoping that some of you may be able to point me in the right direction for what to look for when I pull the valve cover off. Check and adjust the valve play, and check that all the VTec pins are present. What else should I look for?

My car is an '01, completely stock.

ApWhat

if the valve adjustment is off then the entire band will be off, the valve steam seals were replaced? what kind of shop is this. did they do an actual leak down test, compression test, and give you the numbers?

sounds like your initial problem could be anything from valve adjustment to valve stems to bent valve/bad cylinder

S2k_fever

My car kind of went through this recently. The head got rebuilt. Car felt instantly smoother and drove like a champ but it still burned oil. Had my mechanic check the oil and he found some fine metal shavings that were blocking the vtec solenoid. Long story short the car is not at the shop awaiting a new bottom end since the cylinder wall is scored and one of the bearings is starting to go out. The head was checked and everything is fine.

Do a leak down test and a compression test and see what numbers you get. Also make sure the cams are installed properly and the rockers are all facing the same direction. Start there and see what you get. Also check your vtec solenoid and see if it's clogged. Make sure your car has adequate oil. What attributed to my
short block needing a replacement is that the car was burning oil like no other ( i mean a couple of quarts in 1 week) my oil got really low in two weeks (didn't notice the smoke until my fridnd got behing my car and told me) but I never got the low oil light to come on. I added about 4 qt of oil knowing that the damage had probably been done since the block has 140K+ miles on it already. For some reason there have been others where the oil was nearly zero and the low oil pressure light never came on.
Keep us posted

KerryF

Well I adjusted the valves this morning and they're all within spec now. But the noise remained unchanged. It's an inconsistent tapping. Not like a valve tick. A tap is the best way I can explain it. It would vanish above 3k and sometimes at low idle it would not make the noise (About 30% of the time).

Now the car is in limp mode, won't rev above 3k, and I have a CEL but haven't pulled the code yet. I'm frustrated and leaving it for a little bit.

No leak down or compression test was done. I can't imagine it being a bad cylinder, everything was fine until I picked it up.

S2k_fever

CEL could be the cam sensor??

KerryF

ok, the limp mode was my fault. Didn't plug the sensor at the back of the valve cover all the way in. It's fixed now and the car runs "normally". The tapping still exists though. I can't figure out what it is. The valves are all adjusted now.

The tapping varies in intensity. As in sometimes at idle it'll be very quiet and sometimes it sounds like one of those old Caravans with bad valves.

KerryF

Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nysLXqRR8gg

Gappa

TCT

KerryF

I'm not sure it's the TCT. I spent a little time listening to all of the other videos I could find where it was claimed to be the TCT and it seems like the TCT noise is more rapid or frequent at idle than this one is. This one sounds more like it's closer to a tap for every rev of the crank where the TCT seems more like it's several taps/ticks for every rev of the crank.

jaundice

That sounds exactly like mine did when it had the wrong lost motion sensor springs in it. The middle lobe of all of the cams is the VTEC lobe. There is a spring underneath it that keeps it taught when not in VTEC. I had 3 of the wrong size in there (thanks to the shop that rebuilt it) and it clattered just like that at idle and below VTEC. When in VTEC, the lobes are locked in and the tapping goes away. Also, after an oil change (which I assume you got after the repair work) a lot of times the VTEC kick goes away until the new oil is broken down a little. This is very common and frequently written about on the boards.

To check the LMA springs, try to lift the middle lobes and see if they are loose. If they are loose, then you have a problem with the springs. If they are all tight, then my thoughts are wrong. Also check to make sure all of the VTEC pins are in place. There was a thread where somebody had a similar sound and it was VTEC pin loose in the in top of the head....

I agree with you, this is not the TCT.

PM if you have more questions
Brandon