robertpel9

Hi,
Not my vette but it would pertain to one anyway. I have a 99 Acura CL. i had a ring and valve job done under warranty this week and got the car back today. It was consuming oil and failed a leakdown test. Anyway they deliver the car to me at work and all i can hear is tap,tap,tap. I almost sent the guy back with the car. I called the Acura dealership and spoke to the head mechanic who did the job as well as the service manager and their story is that i need to drive the car a few hundred miles to allow things to seat and then bring it in monday to have the lifters adjusted. They said this is normal procedure. This sounds fishy to me. They seem on the up and up and defintely did this job free of charge. Does this make any sense to anyone. BTW i had NO lifter noise pre valve and ring job. You guys are always so informative i know some of you will know what is fact from fiction. I want to believe them but it does not seem right. Its a 2.3L VTEC. Please save the rice jokes. If you have seen on my other posts my vette is on life support having the tranny rebuilt for the 2nd time in a week and the Acura is not helping any matters. Please reply with any info you have. I really hope there is some truth to what they said.

Bob :mad

MinnesotaWhite

I've never pulled that particular engine apart...but I did do it to a Z and did re-adjust lifters...but mine didn't do it initially...but I had to re-adjust them about a month...then another 6 months or so later and then all was good.

Pain in the butt too...

I wouldn't feel all that warm and fuzzy to have metal slapping together like that...but in your Acura I can't say...sorry!

robertpel9

anyone else with their thoughts???

keekster

Honda's tend to hae a noisey valvetrain. It could be normal but seeing as that it is under warranty I would not worry about it. If it is doing it still in a couple hundred miles after you take it back get it fixed again.

robertpel9

this is a noise that was not there before the valve and ring job and after looking at it myself i can her it coming for the passenger side of the engine. Is is very pronouced and you can hear it audibly when the hood is shut let along open. They say i need to drive it to lets everything seat itself considering the work they did before they can make adjustments. Does this make any sense. I don't want to do long term damage to my engine if this is BS. I want to believe them. The mechanic excplicitly stated that it was set to facotory spec and he knew it was making the noise and would need to be adjusted but that we need to do the break in first. Please give me your thoughts.

Thanks,
Bob

robertpel9

no one else has any thoughts:( i know its not my vetter but its still a basic engine. Any ideas, please.

bob

red-y

Go back and let the dealer advise you. It may pay off if there is something wrong to catch it now. Your lifters may need adjusting now and later, but if they are as bad as you are indicating I would go back now. :seeya

Aggravated4life

Hey Bob,
Sorry to hear of the car problems but they WILL get all fixed soon...it may take some returns but thats always the norm today eh?It will get better soon!

Btw,I dont have any experience with the VTEC motors,but it sounds like complete BS to me...simply because as you stated,it DID NOT make this noise before.WHy is it now? Oh,they say its YOUR job Now to drive and get them seated or adjusted?That doesnt sound right.

Also,when you buy a new Vtec Acura,does it tick that loud?NO,because its been set up properly.Them telling YOU to bring it BACK already tells me they need to readjust the lifters.Its either adjusted or its not,as far as I can always gather.

The dealer will always BS you and never admit fault...I worked at a few dealers myself over the years and Ive seen all the BS stories the service writer/manager and techs give the customers to calm them down or try and take worry away when the jobs were screwed up.

If im wrong and you needed to drive the car around some miles first,.thats a new one for me to remember!!

But if only you knew the stories I did about what customers have been told to keep them calm and quiet,youd see why I repsonded with this.

But for now,take the car back when its time and let them KNOW you dont accept that noise you never had.
You can also do a search on http://www.google.com or something and find an acura board that may be able to explain/tell you the fixes alot better.

Good Luck!!
:)

wake

I did a 140K mile tuneup on my old roomate's Acura Integra before she had left on a long trip... I was really amazed at the import's tolerance for lack of maintenance that we need to stay on the road...

Anyway, she had some valve tick noise and I ended up doing a valve lash adjustment on her car... It was very easy to do and I did find quite a bit of play between the weird looking rocker arms and the valve stems... Once I tightened it to specs it ran perfectly and smoothly in the higher RPM range again... I wouldn't think that you need to wear yours in or anything... They should be able to adjust it right from the start...

Did they replace the lifters also??? I don't think those need to wear in, but with an imports I couldn't tell you for sure...

robertpel9

I took it down there and they adjusted them while i watched. I purrs like it's brand new now. They also swapped the tranny fluid and antifreeze as a gesture of goodwill. The whole experience was a pain in the @ ss but i have to say the dealer has stood behind their car. I wish more places were like this. If you are near CT and want a reliable daily driver (which Acuras almost invariable are) it's Antonino Acura in groton. The general manager Lou seems like a stand-up guy.