Knocking Noise At Low RPMs

My Car is an 99 Integra gsr. I take good care of it, but i also give it a nice run about once a week. My problem is a knocking or tapping noise comming from my cams at 500-1000 rpm. I took it to the dealership and they said all the valves were loose so they tightened them( by the way this was not covered under waranty... go figure?) Any way the knocking did not stop and i wondered if this is a normall sound of dohc or vtec engines... if anyone has the same problem or can help in any way i would appreciate it.
Thanx

When you are at idle speed, there will be a ticking sound coming from the engine. Something that has to do with how the Vtec engines are configured. They don't idle quietly like some other cars...

That puts my mind at ease thanx

So yeah you basically wasted your money on getting the valves tightened. They shouldn't be loose on a 99.

Im not sure if its the same type of rattle, but my engine on my GS-R rattles at idle also. It just started a few days ago, and started after my engine oil pressure light came on, which is only on at idle. I had my valves adjusted almost 5000miles ago. It's not a subtle tick, its definitely a rattle. Im going to visit my mechanic tomorrow. I'll let you know what it was.

Well yours was a knocking not a rattle, my bad:uhoh: If you want I could still let you know what was wrong with mine.

why is it not under warrenty? thats bs, you should complain about that. you dont have to take crap from dealers.

Did they just check and adjust lash?

Valve Clearance Adjustment is listed in your owner's manual under Vehicle Maintenance. Honda/Acura recommends having the valves checked and adjusted every 15,000 miles. It'd be a good idea to do it the first time at 15k, but after that you should be fine having them checked every 30k miles. Regardless, this is not a warranty item and is considered general maintenance.

Also you may want to check your ignition timing. Acura had a nasty habit of rolling the 98-01 integras off the lot with absurdly retarded timing (13-15 degrees, when their own spec recommends 16 +/- 2)... If this slipped a little too retarded, you could definitely get a rattle (exhaust valves tapping because they're cracking open a split-second before ignition).

You know i thought it might be my timming, since that is the only thing i diddnt have adjusted yet, ive been meaning to get a timming light, so i guess ill go get one, or maybe let someone else do it, thanks for the replies. And tartan let me know what your mechanic said.

Hey dbloduce, well my mechanic said that my rattling was comming from my oil pan. Apparently my oil strainer was clogged. Which was causing my low oil pressure light to come on also. I dont think you have this problem, but just a heads up if you ever do run into this problem. Later.