Hey. I drive my car everyday and it makes this god awful ticking. at first i thought it was the tranny because my cousin did a neutral drop in it. I put it in neutral yesterday and revved it up a little and i could hear the ticking. not as loud as when in drive but i could still hear it. I think its my valves but im not sure. What are yalls views on this? I would really like to get that fixed. well thanx alot

Daniel

 

Open up your hood while the engine is running and use a car "stethoscope" (instead of a metal disc at the end, its just a metal pole) and see if you can hear distinctive ticking from the valve covers. If not search elsewhere. Valve ticking usually results from lack of care. I have some slight ticking in my 01, hopefully the synthetic will help quell the noise.

 

I would say its the "typical neon cold idle noise". It could be valve lash, but almost every neon has a "valve" noise, brand new ones have it as well as older ones, its normal. Its worse when its cold, but you can hear it with a fully warmed up engine.