I know this is not uncommon for most older vehicles, and the 95 Civic CX 1.5L engine has good ol' fashion manual lash adjustment. But...

I've adjusted the values 2x now and keep getting the same and/or now worse clatter on the valves when cold and into warm now too. I've checked and adjusted to spec (clearances) every time. I've done valve adjustment on many vehicles in the past and never has this difficulty before.

This is whats listed in my manual
intake: .008
exhaust .010
Engine was cold.

I do find getting the lash on the exhaust easy, but the intake side is awkward to get the gauge in.

Any tips? Am I missing something? Special feeler gauge?

Cheers
Colurz

 

My guess is that you have the valves adjusted correctly. This leads to me to question whether the noise is actually coming from the valves. Have you used an engine stethoscope, hose, or screw driver to help precisely localize the sound?

If the sound is definitely coming from the head/valves as opposed to the block or elsewhere, then check whether the engine oil or oil pressure is low.

 

hummm,

Well localizing the sound is non-conclusive due to fact that it only really make the noise at higher rpm (2-2.5) under a load (I have to be driving around, on a cold start) Sure sounds like valve noise rattle. If it wasn't for the "once it's warm" performance you would think the timing was off. It's running 5w30, perhaps its a bit too thin?

Engine oil level is perfect. I could be a oil pump, this oil pump is 45,000kms old, not too old. Do they often shows signs of failure during cold running conditions? Any easy way to test a oil pump? I'll look that up tonight.

Cheers,
Colourz

 

Noise when cold is also associated with piston slap. Of course, this noise would come from the upper block. You can see how important it is to pinpoint the noise to the head versus block.

Have you checked the ignition timing? Have you tried getting gas from a different station?

Here's how to measure oil pressure:

 

Valve noise, if it's really valve noise, will occur at idle and not change much under power.

Sounds like you're hearing spark knock. You need to check the timing. The computer changes the timing as the engine warms up, so it is conceivable it would only knock when warm. Timing is checked with the jumper in place to put the ECU in diagnostic mode so it doesn't advance it.