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Hi Everyone,

This is my first post on the forum. I'm considering purchasing this 2008 Honda Element, but I'm concerned about the Ticking sound the engine is making. Is this normal for Elements, or could this be a major problem with the engine? The car has about 98,000 miles on it. Any opinions would be appreciated. Link to the sound is below:

Tappy Valves are Happy Valves

Ticking is NORMAL.
Be THANKFUL that it is ticking!
When the valves get too tight (they lengthen over time) then they stay open more/longer, reducing ticking and resulting in BURNT VALVES.
When your valves are adjusted properly, it will make a nice ticking sound.
When your engine goes silent, you are in for a nasty repair bill.
This has been covered in many threads here.
Go watch Eric the Car Guy's video on it. That explains it. My valves are perfectly adjusted (I did it) and it makes a nice ticking sound (and runs great!).

 

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When the valves get too tight (they lengthen over time) then they stay open more/longer, reducing ticking and resulting in BURNT VALVES.

Fixed my typo!

 

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Sounds like the valves are a little loose. If no one else but you notices the noise, I wouldnt do a thing. But if its annoying to you why not check the valve clearances its very easy to do with the tutorial given on this website. I have 160k on my 04 and i just did it and it doesnt sound loud. Another thing to check is turn it on without the belt and if the noise goes away then its one of the pulleys. This happened to me with the belt tensioner making the noise.

Doesn't the water pump use the belt? Can you do that without damaging the engine?

 

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For a minute or two on a cool engine, it won't hurt it.

The valves don't actually get longer over time. In the short term, the exhaust valves lengthen as they heat up; that's why their clearance is set a bit higher than the intakes. In the long term, the valves will tend to get shorter overall (wear at the rocker end). As the exhaust valve seats in the head and the face of the valves wear; it decreases the clearance between the top of the valve and the rocker. If this clearance goes to zero at operating temperature, the valve can leak hot exhaust gases which can potentially burn the valve or cylinder head. Similar on the intake, but I suppose they may be a little less prone to wear because they are not (not supposed to be anyway) exposed to hot exhaust gases flowing through them and over the seats.

Thanks for the correction. Always learning!