DC5R engine ticking at 3500-5000 rpm

[silverspoon]

Hi guys,

I just recently bought a DC5R with a tick over 80000km on the clock, driven it from Melbourne to Perth, with no VTECing on the way :( (story for another time). When I got to perth changed the coolant and gave her some fresh oil, OEM of course. I saw in the 80000 km service that the vavle clearances were to be checked, so I just recently got that done. However here in lies my problem. There is a ticking noise that comes on at ~3500rpm and goes right through to ~5000rpm then the noise subsides and everything is all ok to the redline. The noise is like someone holding a playing card up against a spinning bike tyre if you can imagine that. I originally thought it was a vavle clearance problem due to the fact that the car was neglected by its previous owner per se. There are other things to restore this beauty up to standard, so I was just wondering has anyone come across this problem and should I be concerned. Any thoughts on the issue would be much appreciated.

Turbos are cheating even though I've owened a RX7
Back to the thought of NA ftw all the way!!

[ld1chai]

Did you take regular breaks throughout your journey - checking water/oil levels? Long journeys may cause overheating to the engine. From experience, it sounds to me you may have an exhaust leak.

[trentd]

Had a friend with a similar problem and we found out it to be the tappets were off torque, we got the feeler gauge and did them back up and that got rid of his problem. The noise, is it a higher pitch noise?

[acurabot]

where is the noise coming from and can you feel any vibration? If you feel vibration under your seat and hear noise coming from what seems to be your exhaust, its probably a busted engine mount.

[ekay1]

it sounds like a leaking exhaust

[silverspoon]

A testament to Honda, they make very fine and nice cars, my ITR got me from Melbourne to Perth in 2 and bit days. Yes I stopped every 3-4 hrs, would never let my fuel tank drop below half and used nothing but 98 in her bar the outback where 95 was the only option. Never once had a problem with over heating or drop in oil pressure. Lets just leave it at the Honda Engineers knew what they where doing when they created this beast ;)

Anyways to my problem, I've done a bit more investigating the sound comes on closer to 4000rpm, initially I have heard that it may a VTEC pin that has rattled loose and hitting against the vavles. Since this is when VTEC comes on in a K20A2. Despite this noise the car sounds fine and is running well. From what I have read (thank you guys) it might just be a leaky and loose exhaust, hopefully the case. The noise I can hear is a distinct tapping that follows the RPM range and its not high pitched, once it comes on, its fairly mellow and distinct. I shall investigate it further at a latter stage but for now I think I can leave this problem and focus on getting everything else fixed up with her.

Btw would anyone know what I would go to a mechanic and ask to get this noise looked at? Don't want to spend a fortune for them to find the problem. Honda charges like $110ph for their work :(

[tinkerbell]

who did the valve clearances?

[DC5.Raven]

it sounds like a leaking exhaust
A leaking exhaust doesnt make a ticking noise btw.


There is a ticking noise that comes on at ~3500rpm and goes right through to ~5000rpm then the noise subsides and everything is all ok to the redline.
[QUOTE=silverspoon;2721778] Anyways to my problem, I've done a bit more investigating the sound comes on closer to 4000rpm, initially I have heard that it may a VTEC pin that has rattled loose and hitting against the vavles. Since this is when VTEC comes on in a K20A2.

Vtec on a K-Series is >5500rpm.


who did the valve clearances?

Tinkerbell is right. What you have been describing does sound alot like a valve clearance problem. Might be worthwhile looking into it?

Check out this thread:
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?120385-Does-DC5R-have-Lifters

[silverspoon]

Vtec on a K-Series is >5500rpm.

Doesn't VTEC kick in twice in a K series? Once lower in the rev range and then again at 5500rpm

Got the clearance done by Burswood Honda, been trying to get in contact with the mechanic but life's buzy. Checked out those youtube links, my case doesnt happen at idle but through a certain rev range. I think the problem may be a little more complex than a simple vavle clearance adjustment and hence costly exercise. For now though I'm trying to steer away from hitting that rev range and everything still runs fine.

Anyone know a good Honda technician in Perth other than factory??

[mattyd]

There is no 2 vtecs......... there is the low lobe on the cam and the high lobe same as your usual vtec engine

The difference is from about 3500rm the cam will advance to up to 45 degrees on the low lobe, before swtching to the high lobe (which is your vtec) this is called i-vtec and is all done via the computer and throttle input.

I say it is a valve clearance/ tappets not adjusted correctly, They probably arent smashing the pistons as you would have known about it by now, however they might be doing something like slightly touching the valve seats. Get it looked at again =)

[90KUU]

any updates?? mine seems to be doing the same. grrrr

[ekay1]

i think im having the same problem as you but sometimes i dont hear it, but yesterday i had a ticking sound around 3500-4000 rpm range and it goes away before and after that it gets worse if im turning a corner between those revs or if im going up hill do you have that problem as well? i hope theres a solution to this i dont know if its bad for hte car or not...

[90KUU]

i think im having the same problem as you but sometimes i dont hear it, but yesterday i had a ticking sound around 3500-4000 rpm range and it goes away before and after that it gets worse if im turning a corner between those revs or if im going up hill do you have that problem as well? i hope theres a solution to this i dont know if its bad for hte car or not...

that's exactly what's happening to mine, you can only hear it between 3500 - 4500, and its quiet for the rest. =[ *ultra mega sad face*

[silverspoon]

mine is about the same it seems to happen around ~3900 right through to 5000, and I've had the vavle clearance adjusted by Honda themselves, my only thought is that when it was done the mechanic didn't realise that my car was a typeR and so has the k20A2 in it. Is the clearance numbers the same for all K series engine? I would imagine so. But anyways going to get it checked again cause the noise is less worse than before so I'm thinking it has something to do with the camshaft, possibly the lower lobe has warped and causing the clearances to be out...

[FR33K]

ive got this problem and apparently its my exhaust flange gasket... sounds about right.. i get it when i step on the gas in the mid range revs and gets worse as the car heats up..

[ekay1]

hey i got the problem checked out! i dont know if its the same for you guys but for me its because i got my exhaust rewelded and the hanger holding the exhaust up is restricting the exhaust from moving freeely with the engine and as you know when you rev the engine it tilts back and the exhaust is meant to move with it, but my hanger is not letting the exhaust moving cause this leak! i hope its the same problem with you guys!!!! good luck1

[silverspoon]

Important!!

Since many of you are having the same problems as I am. I am going to start to document my work in order to find and eliminate this problem before it gets worse and blows up an engine :(

Let me start this story by saying I bought my car fully aware that it had this problem, I'm a restorer of somewhat who takes pride in his ride and I saw this car need some much loved tlc. Anyways to start my story.

I have had the valve clearance adjustment done at the scheduled 80 000km service by Honda themselves. Still the noise... :mad:

Today I went to an exhaust mechanic after you guys advice it might be a leaking exhaust. It turns out there was a slight leak in the exhaust.

Important note to those who have modified there stock exhaust in any way. What ekay1 has said is true the exhaust flange connected to the engine is on a movable connection. (see photo below) What I had was my connection was closer on one side than the other due to the aftermarket exhaust system being put in and tighten the wrong way. After my exhaust was modified to seat a little better on the undercarriage, the gap in the flange became roughly even and I was hoping that was the end of my problems. However on testing the new found modification still the noise... :mad:

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/3389/dsc00212re.jpg

After speaking with the exhaust guy he said the problem was definitely in the engine somewhere, most like the lifters or a bearing thats out. But my car has only done 86000km...

Stay tuned for further investigation. I will also post a video of the noise and at what range it happens. Hope this helps...

[jixar91]

Yeh Ive had the problem since I bought my car round bout a year ago. Got it fixed, and opened up again round about last week. The problem lies In the exhaust flange, the best way to fix this is get it replaced altogether. Mine happens at 2.5rpm to 3rpm