Hello everybody. My sister has a 1999 GS Spyder with a 4G64 2.4l engine. She brought it by to me today, and I noticed that the engine had a ticking sound coming from it when she parked. I decided to take the car for a quick drive and see what I noticed. First off, the tick is noticeable even when the car is in neutral. During the drive, I noticed that the tick would get louder as the RPM increased, especially between 2500 and 3000 RPM or so. Once the transmission was shifted into 5th, it would be a bit itermittent at around 2000 RPM, but definitely increased at the 2500 to 3000 mark. I also noticed that it seemed that the variable timing kept activating, as the car would hesitate for a second, then immediately take off like nothing was wrong. However, there was a few times where this was happening consecutively.

When I returned, I asked her about oil changes, additives, and the like. She JUST had the oil changed (it was doing this beforehand) with a high mileage synthetic blend oil, as well as put about a cup or so of Marvel Mystery Oil in the oil and about a cup and a half in gas tank. She said it seemed to be quieter yesterday, but was back to its loud sound today. Also, she claims that today is the first time shes REALLY noticed the variable timing kicking in (she refers to it as hesitation, which I can see), especially during stop and go traffic.

I don't know a whole lot about these engines yet, but am doing what I can to learn, so any ideas/advice you guys might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Jason