Grrr...when I open the oil cap and listen inside with the motor running...I hear...fish, fish, fish, fish, fish. I guess a valve is leaking or really badly adjusted (did I miss one? hmmm, gettin sloppy in my old age?)...I think if you rebuild one part of an engine all the other parts get jealous. Now the waterpump is wanting to seep, fuel pump iffy, need a carb kit, master cylinder kit, etc., etc :bash:

really badly adjusted

Unlikely- you'd need less than zero clearance to hold the valve open a whisker, and I think if the locknut loosens off the gap gets larger.

 

Do a compression test and see how they read.

 

Mine has a rattle that sounds exactly like one tappet not adjusted but I'm dammed if I can find it.

My 5k sounds like a lifter is getting air off a cam lobe. Little ʞ©$ɟ won't shut up till I give it gusto!

with the valve cover off....the exhaust valve for the #2 cylinder (#4 valve from the front) makes a puff sound every time it opens...it seems to come from the carb when I cover it with my hand....is it blowing back somehow? ...clearance on intake and exhaust is correct....intake valve leaking?

.the exhaust valve for the #2 cylinder (#4 valve from the front) makes a puff sound every time it opens.

.intake valve leaking?

 

If either valve is leaking it should puff on the compression & firing stroke. I imagine it would be hard to pin down, but the intake should sound back in the carb & the exhaust .. maybe in the pipe, one cylinder sounding 'off' compared to the other three.

 

How about a compression test or a leakdown test on #1 and 2 cyls. We just modified a screw-in compression tester to fit a compressor and put 100psi into each cyl on its firing stroke. You could hear the air leaking into the exhaust pipe quite clearly. That was from carbon buildup on the valve seats in the Altezza, which I am convinced came from a lousy tank of gas on a trip home.

Well I have no tools to speak of, just my hand tools...so I'm just stuck right now wondering wtf?

Well...finally took the head off and took it to the shop. That valve guide on #4 was pretty shot, loose and burnt...valve seat gone....getting two new valves, all new guides and all valves reseated and a light resurface....gee, you'd think they would last a bit more than a half million miles. Oh, and I found out the old Haynes manual I have shows the exhaust valve guide to be longer than the intake valve guide, when the opposite is true.