I’m hearing ticking and clanking type sounds when the car is cold but then for the most part goes away when warm. I removed moved my valve cover and found sludge/grime/carbon covering the valve cover and the engine. The inside of the engine wall is black. I didn’t touch any of it. I cleaned the valve cover with carb cleaner.

In the 2-1/2 years since I’ve had the car I’ve only used Mobile1 oil with Honda oil filters. In that time I’ve driven the car very, very few miles mostly in the city. I used Resoline once and recently tried Marvel Mystry Oil. I used a small bottle and poured about 2/3 into the crankcase. I noticed after the MMO that sound lasts a little longer sometimes but my fuel economy has improved.

Based on the amount of sludge in the pics what engine damage could be present?

Thank you for your comments and advice.

 

its normal to hear valvetrain noise when the engine is cold. as the engine warms, it expands and allows less loose movement.

as for the carbon build up and oil sludge.

what kind of fuel do you fill up with?

upgrade to a high mileage full synthetic oil. mobil 1 offers this. it will help clean up the oil sludge.

it looks like the oil was over filled on occasion and foamed up.

what weight of oil are you using? also i dont recommend using oil treatments. just change your oil like your supposed to. a lot of times the additives those treatments add, deteriorate the oil properties

 

The valve train looks a little dry, depending on how long it drained before photos were taken. I would suggest starting briefly w/ valve cover off and inspect for oil being delivered up through the cylinder head. That could be part of reason you have lots of cold valve noise; poor oil delivery.

If you're not getting a good oil flow up through the cylinder head, you may need to pull the valve train and check the oil control orifice (near center of head) on F22B1. The cylinder head lubrication scheme is not described in the manual, but I believe it's primarily a splash lube system, not pressurized bearings.

You may want to do some reading on bobistheoilguy.com. There are some examples of engine cleanup using a product the forum recommends. If you read enough you can see positive and negative examples. I tried the stuff and was not terribly impressed.

good luck

 

I've put about 5K miles on the car since I've purchased it. That's very few miles considering. Yes, I use Mobile1 5 w30 high mileage oil and change the oil about every 4 months. I use regular unleaded from Shell and Walmart. I've always checked the oil and for the most part stay within the two marks on the dipstick though it once went to the bottom mark. I can't say what the previous owner did but it looks as they did not change he oil often enough.

Resoline has been around for a long time. I used it in my previous American made car but it didn't have any valve train sound. I've read the information on the can of Resoline and MMO and both say safe to use with all oils.

Thanks

 

Probably a combination of poor service history and challenging driving conditions; short frequent trips never fully warming the engine to get rid of condensed water.

I have a 94 EX w/ 240K and valve train is a nice, light tan-brown color. No grime or sludge at all.

good luck

 

The photos were taken in the morning after the car sat through the night. I only took the front valve cover off. After changing the oil several times I saw through the crankcase filler hole and I could see the side of the valve cover wall where before I could only see black. This shows oil was getting up there. Though there were some areas of the cover were more covered in sludge. I check my photos. When I use throttle body cleaner in the vacuum line the car runs smother and with less noise.

I’ve asked for opinions because after taking my car to 2 mechanics they both said well the engine may need to be rebuilt based soley on the sound after the car was warmed up. Neither mechanic took the car for a test drive.

Thanks