Rattling under the valve cover. Sounds like lifters spring is broke or something lose under the valve gasket. When I opened the valve cover I could see nothing. All 4 cylinders have compression, at least they are all 4 firing? Was even thinking is could have bee the water pump, AC or something through the maze on the belt, Nothing > .. ???? What do I do to look for problem further??

Most likely a lifter rattle. Possibly replacing lifters, or shimming them will rid your noise.

HI....
The cause of the engine come Overheat.
The WATER PUMP. on your car Is driven with the TIMING belt.
My solution is :
Don't drive more Because if the TIMING belt when Broken.
The HEAD VALVES can be damaged. Be careful.
Get the car to a Autorepair SHOP. or if you can do yourselft.
REPLACE the water pump and the Timing belt.
And check all the pulleys after you remove the covers and timing belt.
Inspect the SEALS replace if need.

If you need assistence to do yourselft.
I can give the info.

I hope this help on your problem.

If this all happened after pan gasket change, chances are you knocked the oil pump pickup and the pump is sucking air. You've lost oil pressure. Fix that. Do NOT add washers. That's not your problem.

Also- the rattle is most likely the valve lifters. The lifters on this engine and the model previous (I have owned both to 180k miles or more) lose pressure when the motor is off. They re-pressureize with engine oil after the motor starts and tap a little until they "pump up" to full size. Just don't drive until the rattle dies down and as long as it is under 30 seconds or so- you will be fine there.

if it was mine i would go to a car parts store and get a new valve cover gasket. then i would pull the valve cover off and see what is making the noise. if i saw nothing obviously broken i would clean the old gasket and surfaces off, put the new gasket on and reassemble. you could have a sticky lifter, most likely can be driven with no harm for a long time. if there is a broken spring then a deeper level of mechanical repair needed and a repair shop is the place to take it. head is most likely going to have to come off.

not a valve, but a lifter. I will paste procedure below. You judge if you can do it or not. Recommend you replace them all while you're in there. If you let this go, the lifter will wear out the camshaft. Lifters are $22 each, and you have 8 of them. You will also need a new valve cover gasket.
Please let me know if you have questions, and thanks for using FixYa.

2.0L Engine
SOHC engine
See Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9

1. Disconnect the engine air cleaner-to-valve cover hose from the cover by compressing the hose clamp with pliers and sliding the clamp back, then separate the hose from the cover.
2. Remove the spark plug wire separators from the valve cover and set the wire assemblies aside.
3. Unfasten the three valve cover retaining bolts.
4. Remove the valve cover and gasket from the cylinder head.
   

WARNING Do not use any abrasive grinding discs to remove gasket material. Use a plastic manual gasket scraper to remove the gasket residue. Be careful not to scratch or gouge the aluminum sealing surfaces when cleaning them.

1. Remove the old gasket material from the cylinder head and valve cover mating surfaces.

Fig. Fig. 6: Remove the spark plug wire separators from the valve cover

Fig. Fig. 7: Compress the engine air cleaner-to-valve cover hose clamp with pliers, and slide the clamp back ...

Fig. Fig. 8: ... then disconnect the hose from the valve cover

Fig. Fig. 9: Unfasten the valve cover retainers and remove the valve cover-2.0L SOHC engine

If removing more than one valve lifter (tappet), mark the lifters and their locations as they must be installed in their original bores.

1. Remove the rocker arm(s).
2. Unfasten the lifter guide plate retainer.
3. Remove the guide plate and the lifter.

To install:

1. The oil feed hole in the lifter must face away from the oil feed hole in the cylinder head.
2. Lubricate the lifter(s) with clean 5W-30 engine oil and install them in their original bores.

Make sure the lifter guide plate retainer tabs are towards the rear of the cylinder head, and the lifter guide plate tabs are towards the front of the cylinder head.

1. Install the lifter guide plate and tighten the retainer.
2. Install the rocker arms.
   

Do not use any sealer with a silicone type gasket.

1. Install a new gasket and the valve cover.
2. Install and tighten the valve cover retainers to 71-97 inch lbs. (8-11.5 Nm).
3. Attach the spark plug wire separators to the cylinder head.
4. Connect the engine air cleaner-to-valve cover hose and engage the hose clamp

what are you asking?If it is a lifter, valve cover will have to be removed to check it.It could be that rockers need adjusting but if lifter is bad you will have to remove the intake manifold and replace lifter.

Yes you will need the following:

Cam
Lifters
Assembly lube
Water pump gasket
Intake gasket
Timing cover gasket

Lifter removal tool
Puller for harmonic balancer
Cam installation tool/removal tool


I also would recommend replacing the timing chain and timing gears since you are going to have to take the timing chain off anyhow.

You will also need the associated tools to do the job, plenty off rachets, box wrenches and such.

If you are doing mechanical lifters you will also a feeler gauge to measure the valve clearance and make adjustments.

I cant think of anything else off the top of my head.

If you are doing a cam with more lift then I would recommend replacing your valve springs as well, it is easy and it will assure you do not incur valve float. You will have to take the rockers off when you install the new lifters because you have to remove the pushrods. I also recommend you replace the pushrods while you are at it, they are cheap. You will need a valve spring compressor and new valve springs and locks, they are pretty cheap.

You might have a bad hydraulic valve lifter (assuming this engine has them)... you could try an aftermarket product designed to unstick valve lifters.... any auto parts store carries them.

best thing to do is to take the intake and valve covers off, its possible you may have inadvertently sucked something up and it's in you intake. That is the best solution.

No telling what it is until you take things apart and take a look. It shouldn't be too hard, make sure you get new gaskets, gaskets are cheap anyways.