Civic makes a loud ticking noise when cold

[mike (archive)]

Hi All,
I have a 1995 Honda Civic GLi (D15) and when I start it in the morning the engine is quite noisy. It produces a ticking noise and goes away after 5 minuets then the car is fine. It only happens when the car is cold, once it has been driven it will not do it again during the course of the day. I have adjusted the tappets and it has made no difference. I also notice the car lacks in power between 3k rpm and 4k rpm then it comes back at 4.5k rpm. Any suggestions on this problem? Regards, Michael.

 

[Michael Pardee]

Hi All,
I have a 1995 Honda Civic GLi (D15) and when I start it in the morning the engine is quite noisy. It produces a ticking noise and goes away after 5 minuets then the car is fine. It only happens when the car is cold, once it has been driven it will not do it again during the course of the day. I have adjusted the tappets and it has made no difference. I also notice the car lacks in power between 3k rpm and 4k rpm then it comes back at
4.5k rpm. Any suggestions on this problem?
Regards,
Michael.

The ticking noise might be a broken exhaust manifold stud or bad exhaust manifold gasket. As the engine and manifold heat up, the gap closes and you don't hear the exhaust leak any more. The telling clue if it is indeed a manifold leak is that the ticking gets louder as you open the throttle. It is a ticking instead of a roar because it is a tiny leak of the raw exhaust from one cylinder.

If that fits your symptoms, my favorite way of looking for exhaust leaks is to connect a shop vac to blow air, run it a minute or so to blow the loose dust out of the hose, then duct tape the hose to the tail pipe. This will let you feel for the leak around the manifold gasket when the engine is cold.

For the power problem I will hazard a guess the ignition timing may be the culprit - only a guess.

Mike

 

[halo2 guy]

I like that exhaust leak tester idea... I wish I had used that when I worked on cars a few years ago.

 

[Remco]

If that fits your symptoms, my favorite way of looking for exhaust leaks is to connect a shop vac to blow air, run it a minute or so to blow the loose dust out of the hose, then duct tape the hose to the tail pipe. This will let you feel for the leak around the manifold gasket when the engine is cold.

Cool trick, Mike!
Thanks - Remco

 

[mike (archive)]

The ticking noise might be a broken exhaust manifold stud or bad exhaust manifold gasket. As the engine and manifold heat up, the gap closes and you don't hear the exhaust leak any more. The telling clue if it is indeed a manifold leak is that the ticking gets louder as you open the throttle. It is a ticking instead of a roar because it is a tiny leak of the raw exhaust from one cylinder.

If that fits your symptoms, my favorite way of looking for exhaust leaks is to connect a shop vac to blow air, run it a minute or so to blow the loose dust out of the hose, then duct tape the hose to the tail pipe. This will let you feel for the leak around the manifold gasket when the engine is cold.

For the power problem I will hazard a guess the ignition timing may be the culprit - only a guess.

Mike

Hi Mike,
The answer you gave me sounds like it could be the problem, When I first start the car you do not notice it as much but once I take off and the car is under load it is more noticeable. This problem is common in 1986 holden commodores (Nissan rb30 motor) where they snap manifold bolts. I have been told that you can also check for these symptoms by spraying some oil on the exhaust manifold and looking for smoke at the tail pipe as the oil should burn and come out the other end. Do you think this will work as I do not have a shop vac. As for the power problem I have not checked the ignition timing yet, but I did notice that my distributor cap had heaps of corrosion on it so I cleaned it and it made a small difference, I will check the timing next and see how I go. Thanks for the help, Mike.