"Clicking" noise from '94 Civic motor. Not quite a knock though.
 

Hey guys, I've owned my Civic for maybe 50 miles and I love it already. A little on the slow side ha, but definitely one of the best cars I've owned as far as MPG goes.

I instantly changed the spark plugs, oil, oil filter, and air filter shortly after my friend drove it home for me. We also Seafoamed it since it's just under 200k.

Today it was finally nice out, so I took the car for a ride with the windows down and noticed a clicking sound coming from the engine bay. My friend says his Civic makes the same noise, but just not as loud. I'm not sure if the car had the clicking before I bought it, but I definitely noticed it today with the windows down. Should I be concerned?

Here's a Youtube video I made from my phone. Somehow the video got out of sync from the audio, but you can still hear the audio fine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd18wPxbfT4

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

might wanna try adjusting valve lash, its a part of a 100k tune up and pretty easy to do if you buy a feeler gauge and dont break any valve cover bolts.

Not positive that it is the problem, but its a cheap fix-it attempt that can only make your car run better and have a little nicer acceleration.

make sure when you do it, that there is a decent drag on the gauge when you pull it out. you shouldnt have to yank with your whole upper body but it should be snugg. I had to adjust it twice before my valve tick went away cause the first time i was afraid of over tightening.

That doesn't sound like a knock to me. Does it go away after the engine is warm?

Things to check:
valve lash
drive belts
pulleys and associated bearings

Thank you guys. I'll have to look further into it when I get some time off from work. I think the noise isn't as bad when it warms up. Then again I may just be getting used to the sound :rolleyes:. I guess I have my upcoming weekend planned lol.

sounds def like it is valve ticking to me, it lasts from a few seconds to like 10 minutes after startup. the colder it is outside, the longer it lasts. if it was the drive belts, it would not go away after the car warmed up.

I have been told that D-series engines always have a little valve tick on a cold start, but after adjusting the valve lash my ticking went from like 5 minutes of driving down to a few seconds after start up. also, idles smoother and accelerates better.

I didn't listen to it but what you are describing is typical valve noise, especially because it gets quieter as the engine warms up. Adjusting the valves (a simple procedure) will minimize it but it never completely goes away. Unless way out of adjustment, it doesn't hurt anything.