valve noise

[WmWatt]

I'm wondering how much valve noise is acceptable. After doing a minor tuneup and spraying carb cleaner into the carb one of the exhaust valves started ticking when the engine warms up. Noticeable at idle but not under load. I took off the cover and using a feeler guage checked and reset the spacing (lash?). The ticking is less but not completely gone. The compression is fine. I could tighten the valve more but don't want to overdo it. Or can I just leave it? What happens when a valve is too tight or too loose? Not sure what to do.

[FestYboy]

Carb engines should sound like a singer sewing machine. Quiet but ever present at idle.

[ryanprins13]

So you do not have hla's? Its manually adjusted valve lash?
Could you mention what was involved in your tune-up?
Ive never heard a festiva with manual lash adjusters running before but the D17 in my 2002 civic is pretty loud before and after lash adjustment.
Sudden changes arent good though


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[fudge]

hey so i started up my protege (has the bp i plan on swapping into my festiva) today to move it and I noticed a ticking and thought my car was low on oil. I checked and the oil is good i even put more in just in case. the ticking is still there, i didn't drive it much but the ticking was always there and my dad said it was the valves. He says when i get my engine swapped i can replace the valves and it will be all good. is this something i should worry about?

[FestYboy]

Not the valves, but the lash adjusters in your case. Give the engine an oil change and drive it. Likely the adjuster(s) have blead down from sitting and need to fill back up with fresh oil.

[WmWatt]

I see this old thread has been resurrected. The valve noise eventually went away without having to tighten the clarance any more. The mechanic I go to for help sometimes said I could tighten it a bit more and recommeded an additive when I change oil so I put some in last time. Yes the carburetted engine does not have hydraulic valve lifters.

[FestYboy]

Sry, I was addressing fudge should have made that more clear.

WmWatt, as stated before, Singer sewing machine...

[WmWatt]

Back seeing if there is anything I can do about this valve. I saw a Youtube video where an engine is running with the valve cover off to listen to the valves. l was wondering if I can do that with the Festiva. Will it harm the engine?

There is still one noisy valve which I think I should fix to prolong the life of the engine? The compression is even so the valve appears to be closing and sealing. There is no exhaust smoke which indicates the valve guide is not leaking oil into the combustion chamber. Just noisy tapping above the normal engine noise. Recently tightened the screw 1/4 turn to reduce the valve clearance. The feeler gauge still moves in the space so figure that's okay. Didn't make any difference. Put some chemical into the crankcase to clean the valves and ran the car 5 min before changing oil and filter adding Lucas oil treatment recommended by my trusted mechanic. That quietened the valve for a week. Noise is back now. Engine sounds okay cold but taps when warmed up. Want to see if I can fix it before taking the engine to the mechanic. I'm not experienced enough to remove the head and replace the vale of anything exotic like that.

[ryanprins13]

You should be able to run yours with the valve cover off. You cant on fuel i jected festivas with the HLA's because they will shoot oil everywhere, about 15ft if i remember right.
However with the manual adjusted valve lash it should be just fine. Im not completely familiar with how the pcv system works on the carbed cars, you will likely just have to pinch off the hoses for the pcv system. But i could be wrong on that. Anyhow, should be fine to run, just dont get your fingers caught in anything

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[firebush357]

Back seeing if there is anything I can do about this valve. I saw a Youtube video where an engine is running with the valve cover off to listen to the valves. l was wondering if I can do that with the Festiva. Will it harm the engine?

There is still one noisy valve which I think I should fix to prolong the life of the engine? The compression is even so the valve appears to be closing and sealing. There is no exhaust smoke which indicates the valve guide is not leaking oil into the combustion chamber. Just noisy tapping above the normal engine noise. Recently tightened the screw 1/4 turn to reduce the valve clearance. The feeler gauge still moves in the space so figure that's okay. Didn't make any difference. Put some chemical into the crankcase to clean the valves and ran the car 5 min before changing oil and filter adding Lucas oil treatment recommended by my trusted mechanic. That quietened the valve for a week. Noise is back now. Engine sounds okay cold but taps when warmed up. Want to see if I can fix it before taking the engine to the mechanic. I'm not experienced enough to remove the head and replace the vale of anything exotic like that.

I turned my Festiva over with the Valve Cover off once and it sprayed a few jets of oil all over my garage and that was just the starter motor not actually running lol. I am not sure if that is the same case with the solid lifters though. With it being a solid lifter the cleaning additives shouldn't really do anything for the noise. Are you sure you are checking the lifter clearance at the correct position?

[WmWatt]

^^yes I follow the Haynes manual and have done it before. Thanks for asking.

When I had the valve cover off and plugs out I turned the engine over a few times with the starting motor to see if I could hear any tapping that way but the valves were quiet. No oil spray anywhere.

[Greywolf]

Tapping usually happens with a cold engine that has not thermally expanded yet. But that's V8 thinking - these just don't have a lot of metal like pushrods or anything between the cam lobes and valves, so there shouldn't be much rattle from gap.

It sounds more like the rattle happens after your oil thins out (!) after warming up. The best I could suggest is a HOT adjustment, as opposed to a cold one (a cold adjust should be tried first).

If you have run an oil system flush, and have fresh oil, the only other non-invasive way to try would be Lucas oil stabilizer, but I think it's better to go after the cause. WHatever it is, it's confined to the head and valves.

It sounds like the head needs to be redone, honestly. Don't these have small pucks in the heads that act like hydraulic lifters in a way? Or am I thinking of the shim covers on some other valves?

[WmWatt]

I only did a hot (warm?) adjustment as per the Haynes manual. In fact I took the car for a drive to warm it up, did the compression test, then put everything back together and went for another drive to warm it up again before checking the valve clearances (lash?). The noise is kind of intermittent, by which I mean, sometimes it's there when it warms up and sometimes not. I'm thinking a bent valve or weak spring which rotates a bit and is sometime noisy and sometimes not. At least it's a free wheeling engine so it's not contact between a valve and a piston. Some of the stuff I read elswhere mentions piston contact noise.

[Dex~]

From what I've gathered in this thread, some amount of valve noise in unavoidable on these motors, I just replaced the lifters in the Batstiva and after a day of driving they're noticeably quieter than the old lifters but still audible at idle (the developing exhaust leak isn't helping the noise either)

Should I just accept this as normal operating noise at this point?

[WmWatt]

^^ ... something akin to a lawn mower. I've had the car since 1989 and it's always been a noisy little beast at idle. Under load it quiets right down. From the driver's seat it normally purrs like a well-oiled kitten.

Last night when I got home from a 20-minute drive I lifted the hood and listened, as I tend to do now, and it sounded just fine. Another time that darned valve will be tapping.