Hey guys,
I have a 98 Accord 4 cyl Vtec, 159k miles, I have been concerned with a ticking sound I am hearing. Let me start off by saying the car runs great, no check engine lights, no hesitation, has good pickup. Everything is normal except for this ticking sound (See video link below) I have tried adjusting the valves twice and each time they have not been out of spec. A few were maybe .001 off and I adjusted them .012 exhaust and .010 intake. I have also ran seafoam through the intake, replace PCV, cleaned EGR, Throttle body, Upper intake and Egr passage. And I still have this annoying tick. It is more noticeable when the engine is cold and goes away quite a bit when it is warm. I have read that these engines are notorious for being loud and have been dubbed the sewing machine. So I was wondering if you could take a look at my video and let me know what you think. Should I be worried? Is there anything else I should check? Any ideas what might be causing the ticking? I am running Mobil One dino oil 5W30 and it is not low. Thanks guys..

Here is the video link:
http://www.amrcreative.com/ariff/video/98accord.wmv

 

Update.. I got an idea fron another forum to unplug plug wires one at a time whit the car running. Once I unplugged the No.1 plug wire the noise went away. I plugged it back in and the noise came back. unplugging 2, 3, and 4 the noise still remains. So now I am stumped, anyone have suggestions.

 

What did you unplug? Spark plug wire? Fuel injector wire?

 

Sprk plug wire..

 

So...
A loose valve adjustment would have kept on clicking.
A noisy injector would have kept on clicking.
hhhmmmm.....
Not sure!

What about a leaky exhaust manifold gasket? Sometimes they can be such a small leak that it kinda sounds like clicking. Right up near the valve the exhaust sound hasn't had a chance to travel through the pipes & become that familiar rumble sound.

I've never heard a distributor cap or plug wire or sparkplug make sounds like that. ??

 

have you changed out the plug wires you could have a torn wire going to ground. pull the wire goes away that's what I would start with it's the cheapest.

 

I would check plug wires, now that I've listened to the video. There's a sudden & intermittent quality about it; and also how it doesn't knock the same when you rev it. Sudden on-off rather than fading in & out.

Try this...
Cold engine, completely dark. Open the hood & turn off all the lights. Start the engine & go out to watch the plug wires for arcing. Dull blue glow? Old wires can allow the spark to "leak out" through the rubber insulation.

Honda factory plug wires are pretty pricey, but they seem to last forever. Or try NGK.

 

OK I tried your suggestion and I did not see any blue spark\haze around the plug wires. Now if I unplug the no. 1 spark plug cable I saw the blue spark you are talking about. I also tried a different cable with no luck. I also removed the exhaust manifold heat shroud and inspected for exhaust leaks by spraying soapy water on the gasket and manifold. I did not see any leaks. I did get the old mechanics stethoscope out and I seem to really hear the noise on the timing belt cover around the middle of it toward the intake side. Right on the little bolt that holds it on the engine.
I did change out the oil this evening with Valvoline 5W30 regular oil, and a Pureone filter. I also added a qt of Rislone in place of a qt of oil. It does seem to sound a little better now. I also cut open the old filter with a little over 600 miles on it since last oil change. It looked great I did not see any trace of metal shavings or anything. It has been making this noise for well over two years and it has never gotten worse. I still feel confident that the car is still very reliable and will be for many more miles. It is just annoying..

 

Well I'm not really good at listening to sounds on videos.....not directional enough to make judgements.
but you say the noise changes with engine temp AND when unpluging #1 spark.
so my first thought is piston slap....then to tell if it MIGHT be a rod bearing noise I would rev it to 2000 RPM and off and on the throttle lightly, if the noise gets louder going on and off I might suspect a rod bearing with some slack in it.

However, when someone posts up a video for noises; I always consider the cost of a good stethoscope $25 as opposed to the cost of a Video camera $250.
It seems that a stethoscope would be more helpful to locate the source of noises.

 

Not sure if oyu saw my post above or not..

"I did get the old mechanics stethoscope out and I seem to really hear the noise on the timing belt cover around the middle of it toward the intake side. Right on the little bolt that holds it on the engine."