Engine developed a ticking noise this winter when engine was cold. It would go away when engine warmed up. This progressed to where it now ticks loudly all the time. My mechanic thought a valve adjustment would be the fix but it wasn't . He mentioned that there was something going on with the number 4 cylinder. It is not showing at the moment any form of burning excessive oil.

As a retired teacher I too was captivated by the idea that " It's a Honda and will run for years" I babied this truck. and replaced what parts were recommended. Now I am stuck with no trade in value other than someone purchasing it for parts. Money is tight now and I fear that I will have to go back to a one car family. Was happy with the truck but not with the dilemma I now face.

It irritates me to see that large companies [Honda et als] cannot fess up to production problems and come up with a remedy for the consumer.

I purchased this truck VERY used from Elgin Toyota Scion just a little outside of Chicago. I knew it had high miles and was prone to issues over the years, I figured I'd be okay since I'm a mechanic and hold 2 ASE's (one being for engines).

Well, when I looked the truck over at the dealership it did have a very, very, slight ticking, but I knew this was a common sound for the injectors for Honda. The light tapping didn't scare me and I purchased the truck for what I felt like was a reasonable price ($10,000 cash).

The truck was great on the drive back home ( I live in St louis ). no problems at all and for the most part (even today) I really like the truck.

The problem came when I changed the oil for the first time, I noticed that the dealership had last changed the oil in the truck and had used conventional 5w-30..... I thought this was odd since you are not supposed to deviate from what the manufacturer recommends, never the less I went ahead and changed it with 5W-20 full synthetic (I always use Mobil 1). The next day the light tapping that I have in the engine was considerably more noticeable and not just at startup, at all times. (less noticeable when I'm driving because of other engine noises).

Since I wasn't 100% sure the noise was due to the oil the truck has had the timing belt and all associated components changed (it wasn't due for another 50K miles) as well has had the valve adjustment done twice.

I'm to the point that I think I may try to put 5w-30 back in it to see if there is a difference, I'm just nervous that it will cause oiling issues at the top half of the engine... that's a sure good way to ruin the engine.

I've also debated on bring this up to Elgin Toyota but I'm sure they could care less. They told me the shop "spent money" on the truck and that it was in tip-top shape.

If you want any more information on what I think could be the issue or what I've tried, you can contact me at bogus919@gmail.com

We bought our Ridgeline about 4 years ago with low miles. Loved it until the engine started tapping. A mechanic said the noise was definitely in the engine itself. We started to research this noise & saw the #4 cylinder issue here. Called Honda to make an appointment to have it looked at. Told him what we had read about possible issues and he more or less indicated it could be this #4 cylinder or maybe valve adjustment. With timing belt coming due & the next big service we decided to not keep it. Thought about another Ridgeline but it appears this might happen in any year.

Very disappointed that Honda has not backed their product. Yes we did have an extended warranty but watch those as it extended from 2006 so we were over the 7 years even though it only had about 90,000 on it. We had always bragged that it was 5 star in safety & reviews but now I wonder about those "reviews" you see.