I was out driving my s13 240 with sr20det around for the first time today I drove it almost a 100 miles I noticed after I stopped there was a tapping kinda noise coming from the valve cover sorta kinda getting a little loud, I think it is VCT rattle but not sure, I need a cheap fast way to fix this problem? and I was wondering if it would hurt to drive it around like that cause this is my everyday car?

 

make sure theres oil in the motor cuz mine did the same thing today so i add oil and it was all better , just my 2c

 

does the tapping get louder with rpm increase if so, that sounds like rod knock the motor might have been ran low on oil or taken a lot of abuse over the years. I theres really no quick fix to that type of problem other than a rebuild.If you have anymore questions just pm me

 

it didn't sound like rod knock, it kinda does get louder with rev but i was listening to the vct rattle and it sounds alot like those

 

If you hear tapping at idle and coming from the head then you have a hydraulic lifter that is stuck. Sometimes they go back to pivoting the rocker arm quietly just by putting a little more oil in the head. If not then you have to remove, coilpacks, valve cover, cams, and rocker arms to get to them to replace the lifter thats stuck. Usually nothing bad happens from driving on a couple noisy lifters.
Or maybe you have solid lifters and didn't know it. In that case the tapping sound is high revving music.

 

+1. there really is no way of knowing for sure weither it would be rod knock. you would be able to here it. its like beating a spoon on a cooking pan. also, check your timing chain. if you put your ear up to the valve cover, and you can tell that the noise is coming from the head and not the bottom end, then its not rod knock. but like punisher said, it could be valve tap. check for a stuck lifter.

 

a trick to tell if it is rod knock is to unplug one spark plug wire at a time. if the knock goes away, then its a rod knock on that cylinder... if the knock doesn't go away after you try all of them, then it is a valve/head issue

 

oil starved heads man...
i believe scored rockers tick too, not positive
but when i swapped my bottom end i also changed a couple stuck lifters,
and i have a couple fucked up rockers due to oil starvation,

ps...tim man i need those rockers, i went up there today to get my alignment and xat had NONE!