Hoenda

My 'S' seems to have a slight 'knocking' sound, predominantly at idle from cold and from the 'passenger' (or right side when facing the engine, best heard from under that wheel arch) side.
As I've mentioned before, I have v.limited tech knowledge, but it sounds pretty much like 'TAPPET' noise.
It only happens when, as I said above, I start the car up from cold and allow it to idle for a short while before driving. Incidentally my 'S' is a 2nd car and 'sits' a fair bit during an average week.

An opinions?
TIA

heffergm

Time for a valve adjustment most likely. How many miles on the car?

Hoenda

You think? The noise only occurs during the cold >>warm-up period.
Though having said that, there is a similar 'knocking' sound if I pull off in 2nd at a very, very slow speed.

My 'S' now has...20,000kms

Thanks for the help.

cdelena

Mine (@ 31K miles) has a similar noise, a cold tap that sounds like it may be piston slap in #2. It is worse when cold and quiets down when warm but sometimes sounds off again if the car has been driven hard.

I thought (hoped) it was just valves but a careful adjustment has no affect. I have concluded there is nothing I can do about it and worrying does not help so I just use the car like it is not there.

jeffbrig

My engine exhibits a slight tick as well. I have never been able to hear it at idle, listening at various places under the hood. However, if I drive with a fully warmed engine right next to a building or hedge on the right side (with the top down), I hear a slight ticking sound reflected back by the obstruction. It's only noticeable at about 3k rpms. I haven't even taken it to Honda to listen, since it's so hard to hear, they probably won't do anything about it.

xviper

Given this bit of information, I don't think you need to concern yourself. If it did this every time you started the car, especially if the engine is still warm, might compell you to look a little further (most likely not though). Sitting for days on end tends to thoroughly drain your oil back down into the pan. Even though you still have a film of oil covering all the moving parts of the engine (valve train), upon start up after some time of non-use, will take the oil some time to get properly distributed to all parts that need it. This may only be a few seconds to over a minute. Don't lose any sleep over it.

Jeff, I don't believe you should be all that concerned either but since you are quickly becoming an "at home" do it yourselfer , you might want to buy a mechanic's stethoscope. They only cost a few bucks and you might find it enjoyable and fun to try and "zero in" on that little tick. If it's in the upper part of the engine, it's probably just valve noise and not a real big deal from your current description. If you find it at the front face of the engine (CAREFUL, don't get your necktie caught in the spinning things), probably still no big deal, but that's where the timing chain tensioner is and on "RARE" occasions, has been known to be of some concern.

vapors2k

our valvetrains are noisy. At least they are quieter than a few of the e36 BMW's that after a hard auto-x run, tick and tap if they are half a quart low on oil. Not all exhibit this, but at the last auto-x, I heard 3 of them tick away like clocks.

slalom44

You don't say how many miles you have on your car Hoenda, but if it is broken in then I'd suggest you switch to synthetic motor oil. I can't give you recommendations, because I don't know which synthetics are available where you live. But they should give you lower viscosity when the engine is cold and protect your engine better at startup. This is especially important because you let the car sit a long time between starts.

Also, if you're not using a Honda oil filter, you may want to switch back to a Honda filter or switch to another oil filter with a silicone anti-drainback valve. Silicone ADBV's are orange, and you can see it in the outside holes on the filter's mounting surface. Nitrile ADBV's aren't as good at keeping the oil from draining out. Nitrile is black in color. Many people on other forums claim that the startup valvetrain noise went away when they went to a better oil filter. I'm sure that I'll get flamed by people that disagree since this claim is often disputed, but my experience in other cars tells me that the filter does make a difference.