m20 valve noise / tick

[42000]

Hey guys

I just did my timing belt. I was careful to make sure the timing was right.. But now I have a pretty loud valve tick.. My car def has not had a valve adjustment in a while as the previous owners neglected it... However this tick sounds pretty bad now and is makign me think maybe the timing is off... please check it out...

also header is open so obviously thats making some noise....

[Ether-D]

I think thats a valve hitting a piston. Did the old belt break or?

[jlevie]

That sounds like valves kissing pistons, which means the cam is not timed properly. Pull the covers and harmonic balancer off, rotate the engine until the mark on the crank hub aligns with the V notch in the lower cover, and check the cam/head marks.

[42000]

the old belt didn't snap...

I was careful to make sure the timing was right but maybe I was off by one tooth?? would one tooth off make this much noise? and I am guessing if the valve is just kissing the piston and its still running my valves are still okay... Or do you guys think valve damage has already been caused???

[Killacortes]

Did you make sure to rotate the engine before starting it? If the piston kisses the valve you will need to replace that valve

[42000]

yes i did rotate the engine several times... it seemed to rotate fine but honestly i didnt know how it should feel or how much (if any) resistance there should be...

[Killacortes]

There would be resistance mostly from compression. Check the timing marks. Also check the valve lash.

[42000]

I'm waiting on a coilover adjuster.... when I get back up to where my car is i will rotate the engine by hand and double check everything... my next question is if a valve is hitting how to i find which valve it is.... just try to feel for it as i rotate the motor? and then stop if i feel anything?

[cabriodster87]

Check rocker adjustment anyway, it starts and runs too good to be a tooth off. Have you left anything behind / loose?

[42000]

I don't think so but its worth double checking... I just did the belts, water pump, and got rid of ps and ac... so something could be a bit messed up... But yeah it did seem to run pretty damn well if the timing is off..

[42000]

Im looking into this and just finding so many threads about ticking etc... Obviously I am going to re check my timing... and order a spring tool from BAV so I can correctly adjust my valves... is there anything else i should really look for? any possibility of an injector tick?? I read that you use an auto stethoscope to check for that but can't exactly find any great info....

[Ether-D]

That's not an injector. I'm pretty sure. And if you are a tooth off, it shouldn't just be hitting one valve. Unless that one valve was waaay out of adjustment.

Pull your valve cover and rock the unloaded rockers with your hand, just back and forth a few times. Then rotate the engine by hand and check the remaining ones. compare them to each other. I bet one is really tight (valve touching piston) or really loose (rocker smacking the top of it's valve).

[jlevie]

That is too loud for valve adjustment or injectors if all that was done was what you have listed. The cam timing is wrong. After you fix that, run a leak down test to see if you bent any valves. Oh yeah, it takes more than one tooth off for valves to kiss pistons and that will happen sooner if the cam timing is retarded than advanced.

[42000]

Jlevie, thank you for all the advice! I appreciate your effort in replying on all these threads!!

thanks everyone else too... its supposed to be a high of 6˚ F here tomorrow but i might pull the front end stuff and have a look at that timing.. ill make sure to update!

[42000]

I checked the timing. It looked a little off so i moved the cam sprocket a little bit and put the belt back on and now it looks perfect... im going to start it again in a couple minutes and hopefully things sound better....

Its soooo cold here.. about -2 right now and I am working outside :puppy: