Well as alot of you know my car has not been running right for the past 5 months or so. It has had an engine tick. I beat the crap out of my car and it ran fine, all the way up until I took it to Honda to have them adjust the valves. I get there around 3pm. They call me at 5pm and say the valves are done to come pick it up. 2 hours huh? I thought you were supposed to let the car cool down all the way. Well I have taken it back there 2 times for the noise. They said that its a normal honda tick. I got a stethescope (sp) checked where the noise was comming from and it sounds like #3 under the valve cover. Ever since I took it to them the tick has progressivly been getting louder and louder. They said if its not throwing a mis-fire code or throwing a code at all then nothing is wrong with it. Then 5 min later they check under the hood (last time I took it there, about 2 months ago) and said "You dont run an OEM Oil filter, thats why its ticking, its your fault." I had a mobile 1 filter for about 2 weeks before I changed it back out to OEM. The problem has started wayyyy before I changed the oil filter to mobile 1. Then I changed back to oem. Now they are saying I am liable for the tick noise because not running an OEM filter caused the oil pressure to drop and the valves start ticking. Last time I changed my oil it went away for about 150 or so miles then came right back. Car has a new TCT on it so I know that is not the problem. I already called the main office of Honda and filed a complaint. They are going to look into the dealer.

Yesterday I took it to my good friend, Previous s2k owner who works at another honda dealer in the area. He heard it for 2 min and said "your valves are ticking really bad, anyone adjust them recently?" I said "Yes honda did" So he pretty much told me that they probably adjusted them wrong and the valves are ticking and it pretty much needs a rebuild. I called honda, they were very rude and said im just paranoid about it. What should I do?

Symptoms:
Tick noise comming from head
Backfires really bad when cold
Slightly misses when driving (maybe 1 rpm every 100 or so)
Doesnt run smooth anymore
Puffs black smoke when I drive it hard

all of this happened about 2 days after the valve adjustment. They do not want to take responsibility for it. Im not sure what else to do. My friend who works at the other dealer said that I cannot take it to any other dealer for the same problem because its a liability reason now. If the first honda dealer doesnt think anything is wrong, then that will show up on there computer that it has already been checked for possible ticking problems...

 

You are always allowed to take it to another dealership. Even if that does pop up on their computer all you need to say is hey the other dealer wont recognize there is something wrong and I want a second opinion. Take it to the other dealer and see if that helps. You never know. Good luck man.

-Ian

 

Does that dealer have any proof that having a non-OEM filter caused this? If they are hinting at declining warranty work for somthing like that, go back there and tell them about the Magnuson-Moss act, and threaten legal action if they won't listen... check it out here:


http://www.club-tc.com/forums/general-auto...s-warranty.html

Also, tell them that if their OEM filter is needed to preserve warranty, then they should offer it for free. Most places that I've seen will back down this bullcrap once they see this... fight it!

 

awesome! keep the advice comming!

 

what dealer was this...? i'd like to avoid them.

 

Performance Honda on Rt4

 

dont mean to be a smartass but is this a actual honda dealer or a perfomance honda shop?

 

The valves on the S are very sensitive - I was told a mechanic shouldn't even start the car to pull it into the garage but should push the car in to ensure the engine is fully cold (six hours off time). Knowing this, and knowing dealership mechanics, I doubt this happened.

 

No. actual dealer.

http://www.performanceautoplex.com

 

[QUOTE=Saki GT,Sep 30 2008, 11:35 AM] The valves on the S are very sensitive - I was told a mechanic shouldn't even start the car to pull it into the garage but should push the car in to ensure the engine is fully cold (six hours off time).