My '00 is stock and has approx. 63,000 miles.

Just today I noticed a slight ticking which sounds like it is coming from the engine bay. I could hear the ticking from about 10 feet away as my car was warming up and i stepped out to get the newspaper. I opened the hood and it sounds like its coming from inside, so i'm wondering if it's time for a valve adjustment...

The other day i also noticed that the idling has been a lot rougher than normal, once in a while the idle drops to about 2-3 lines on the RPM gauge then bounces back up to normal, but that usually only happens during the first few minutes of driving. The car idles between 750-1000k RPM's but i can feel the car being rough while at a complete stop. The RPM's sit still and don't jump up or down while i feel the shaking, so i'm kind of confused on how the car idles rough but the RPM's aren't jumping around.

Do you think it sounds like i need a valve adjustment?

 

Try to pinpoint the noise to either the top of the engine or the front. If it's the top, then look into a valve adjustment. If it's from the front only, it could be the timing chain tensioner. At that mileage and with the noise, it's probably due for a valve adjustment anyway.

 

The ticking was coming from the back of the engine bay, almost sounded like it was coming from around the fuel rail/intake manifold, but i'll have to double check when i get home.

Xviper
Do you still have the DIY valve adjustment saved on your computer by chance? I would love to have that for reference when i try to adjust the valves myself. If not, thats okay i still have my helms manual.

Thanks

 

If it's coming from the back, it could still be valves but now I want to throw out another possibility ..................... Idle Air Control solenoid/valve. I've heard a few of these giving some problems. It too, makes a ticking noise and may have something to do with your odd idle.
The valve adjustment thread was not mine but I do have it bookmarked:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showt...0&#entry3684339

 

Interesting...where exactly is that located at? That wouldn't be that little black box thingy that all the vaccuum lines connect to for the intake, which is attached to the cross beam below the intake box, would it?

 

No, the IAC solenoid/valve is located on the side of the intake manifold just behind those "U" shaped tubes. When it's ticking, you should be able to put you hand on it and feel it, too.

 

^ yep, when the IAC went out on my pilot, it ran rough and the rpms jumped up and down like crazy
MAtt

 

Can you expand on the noise that the tensioner might make? Would it be RPM-sensitive? Would it be effected by heat/RPMs?

I have a sound that sounds like a little tick/flutter at about 1200 RPMs, but after I finished my runs at the autocross the other day it sounded really bad through the entire rev-range. I pulled the valve cover off to check clearances, but they were all in spec. I buttoned it back up and started it up again and it was quiet again (except for the tick/flutter at 1200 RPMs).

The thing that caught my attention from your post is that you mentioned that the sound would come from the front of the engine, which is exactly where my sound is coming from... right near cylinder one.

Is there a way to inspect the tensioner visually, or otherwise check it? Does the head have to come off to replace it?

My car only has 9500 miles on it, but it has had the head off before for headwork and new cams, if that might make a difference.

 

mxt_77, a bad tensioner can sound like almost anything ranging from a tinking to the sound of a bicycle chain with too much slop. The next sypmtom that would arise would be an unsmooth rpm at any rev range as this affects valve timing. It is located on the front of the engine and can be accessed from there. I don't know if it can be done without removing the head. I "think" it can.

Check out the post by "Turtle" to see a picture:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...c=224344&st=25

 

Hmmm....one of my customers had a ticking which we thought was valves. Did all 16 valves to custom spec, but the noise persists. Traking this one...