ok so heres the scoop. i went out and bought some Valvoline 5w30 durablend synthetic blend oil for my car(2001 integra GSR) along with a fram filter. now, this is the first time i changed my oil ( on this car, i have changed oil on others before), since i just got the car 3 months ago. well, everything went fine with the whole oil change, but when i loaded the new oil in i was wowed by how clear the oil looked (you almost cant see it on the dipstick untill you get it just right on the light). well, after all taht, i start my car and take it home ( iwas at a buddies house) and i was like, OH SHIT, my oil cap is off. so i pulled over, and poped my hood. everything looked A ok. so i continued driving home, and i noticed that i could hear the motor much louder 1-4K rpms range (like, alomst a raspy, old engine sounding car). so i took it home (3 miles) and looked at my engine again, and i noticed at idle, it sounds like a really really quited diesel motor. im pretty pissed about it, but im not sure whats the problem.

I have a feeling the oil is complete shit and i need to change it, which is waht ima do reguardless, but i dunno, has this ever happened to you guys? i mean, its noticalby louder. a couple people have heard it and said it sounds fine, but i drive my car daily, and i know exaclty how it should sound.

so if you guys have any info, let me know
and oh yeah, if my engine is fucked up, valvoline is gonna hear about me for a WHILE.

 

What's the mileage on that engine? What kind of oil was in it before? Could it be time to have your valves adjusted?

 

It may be thinner than what was in there before (10W40) and it doesn't coat the rocker arms well enough to cover up the ticking noise. Get the valves adjusted regardless of what you do. Out of spec valve lash will greatly accelerate wear on your rocker arms and cause much more damage than any oil made by valvoline.

 

65,500 miles on it

again, not sure waht kind of oil i had in there before, but i know it was valvoline, cause it said so on the little "time to cahnge your oil" sticker

 

I get a lot of noise from the head since I adjusted the valves which were loose before. What could be the cause of it?

 

It could be the injectors. Honda injectors are just loud, so make sure it isn't them.

Usually ticking is caused by valve lash that is too tight, so maybe your clearances are a little tight?

 

It was after the adjustment only. We set them towards the loose end of the tolerance. Maybe it was just more noise than before because they are tighter now than they were before.

 

Possibly. How did your rocker arms look?

 

What do I look for?

 

When you did the valve lash, did you notice any scratches or uneven wear on the rocker arms? Did you also check the cams for any scratches or uneven wear?

I have never had a problem with more noise after a valve lash adjustment, so there may be a problem with worn out rocker arms or cams.

I don't know if a B16a has lost motion assemblies like the B18C does, but if it does, check those too. Just press down on the plunger and if it doesn't move smoothly, it could be a source of the problem and it needs to be replaced.