I noticed a clank/knocking sound after doing an oil change the other day.. you know the diesel/marble in a can sound. I had difficulty determining where it was coming from... I could hear it pretty equally from everywhere. I thought at first maybe it was an extra noisy injector. I remember a thread where one injector was a lot louder. I also thought I could hear it a little better from the intake side of the engine. I used a stethoscope to check the injectors and #1 injector sounded a little louder, but not clanky.

I used the screw driver method and stethoscope to listen to the timing chain tensioner and around the valves for each cylinder.. but I heard nothing out of the ordinary with either. So.. I stuck my ear ON the valve cover and I think the noise is coming from within the valve cover, and slightly louder over cylinder #1. I heard a clank that was similar to the noise I could hear with my ear further away.. I just couldn't locate it that way. This is NOT the "normal" valve train noise. I have listened to this engine a lot in the past, and this is a new noise.

So, this weekend I plan to pop off the valve cover and adjust the valves, which has never been done. While I'm in there, I would like suggestions on what else I should check and what I should look for, with pics if you have them .. I know there are pics of rocker damage and whatever else floating around, but search is down so I cannot find anything. thanks

retainers, keepers, rocker arms, cam scarring, what else

 

welp I finished the valve adjustment. I changed the clearance on 6 valves I think, but none were too far out of spec to begin with. All the retainers and keepers looked fine. no scarring on the rocker arms.. a few lines on some of the cam lobes but nothing that would catch my nail.

put everything back together, fired her up.. noise still there. adjusting the valves did absolutely nothing

The spark plugs looked ok. There was a slight bit of brown on the ceramic part. should they be completely white? They are the post recall plugs with the S. The tip was slightly brownish so thats good and there was no oil.

I'm out of ideas and I can't locate the noise. It doesn't sound like the tensioner. its not 3x faster than the valves and doesn't sound like a card in bike spokes. oil is down 1.5X so its fine. weight is 10w30 mobil 1, PCX 004 honda filter.

I think i might just take it to the dealer.. uhg

 

Slightly brown plugs is good. they should not be bright white.

The noise you are describing may be normal. Hard to say without hearing it. Does it come and go at random in any one minute idle period?

 

the noise wasn't there last time I listened to the engine maybe 1500 miles ago. it doesn't really come and go at random.

I did see one tiny piece of metal stuck to the valve cover when I had it apart yesterday.. I searched everywhere for more, and for damage, but I saw nothing. Engine has never been overreved, and all the valve train components looked great.

heres a link to a quick video I took.. you can hear the noise but of course not as well as in person.. sort of a clank clank

http://media.putfile.com/s2k_engine

 

anyone?.. anyone?.. Bueller?

 

It sounds normal. I do hear the noise in the clip, but it's impossible to tell without the car in front of me.

 

same noise on mine. regular valve ticking but in between theres a clank clank every now and then. 56k miles

 

I figured that would be the case billman, thanks for listening though. Its definitely not normal though since it just started happening.. 1st time I'm going to have to take a car to the dealer in yeeaars since I can't figure out what it is.

 

So come to the NorEaster in August. I'll be in Conn and have a listen

 

wow, thats how my sounds but mine is slightly louder, I too am worried about the valves etc. Its a ticking sound, or almost knocking sound. I might have to video tape it at different angles etc.