Lately ive noticed a clicking sound from my engine, it speeds up when i rev the engine. I havent noticed any change in performance though. About a week ago i got my oil changed and the noise went away for about two days, but now its back. I took it to the shop, they said its coming from under the valve cover, and it will take 4.4 hours just to get the cover off! That is going to cost me $450. He said it could be many things, he said my cam could be broken. Can anyone help me?

 

yes - do not ever go back to that shop again.

what year car and what motor do you have?

 

yeah i wasent planning on it, just as an update, honda said it would take them 3 hours for $350.

it is a 2003 honda accord coupe with the 3.0 v6

 

yes the V6 is much harder to work on than the 4 cyl.

Hondas tend to make a good amount of ticking.

It is most likely from the valves needing adjusting.

However out of adjustment valves will not hurt the motor

Performance and MPH gains are very minimal if you have the valves adjusted

My 4 cyl makes a lot of ticking and I can do the work myself.

However, when I looked at amount of work vs. improvements it did not seem very worth it to me.

Also the fuel injectors on Hondas are loud as well.

So the valves and injectors all clicking makes a good bit of noise and is not going to cause any problems.

So I would say you need to think of how long you plan on keeping the car.
If you plan on keeping it another 5 years it may be worth it to pay someone to adjust the valves, if you plan on keeping it 2 years I say leave it alone.

IMHO - YMMV

 

This is my first car and i would like to keep it even longer than 5 years. Any idea how much it would cost to get the valves adjusted? Also would it be beneficial for you if i posted a video of the sound, just to make sure?

 

How many miles are on the car? When is your timing belt due for a change?

 

138 km's. Timing belt has been changed

 

The valves can be adjusted when the timing belt is changed, because they remove the valve covers when doing this work. If the timing belt was due, then you could ask to have the valves adjusted.

You could post a video on the noise. Is the noise coming from under one valve cover, or both valve covers?

 

Instruction for a new owner, maybe you know this?: valves have a spec'd clearance range. like maybe .005 - .007 inches.
exhaust vales have wider clearance than intake, but it's still 'small.'

Tight valves. as the clearance gets to the low side - or below - they become quiet(er). this is the worse of two scenarios because if clearance goes to zero the valves don't close all the way (which is when they get cooled) and the metal edges slowly erode away from the extra high temps - called 'burning the valves.' To fix it you have to do 'a valve job.'

Loose valves. as the clearance gets to the high side of the range they become noisier. If valves are making your clicking noises this is the situation - a valve that has more clearance. The good news is there is no practical downside here; the valves aren't going to break, burn or morph into flying objects.

I'd put $25/month into a jar and let it build up. no rush. $.02

 

Well thats good news! I almost had a heart attack today when the mechanic said a new cam would be a couple grand, and asked me if i would think about a new car. Thanks a lot guys.