hey, i own a 2000 honda civic with around 130,000 miles on it. i recently noticed about a month ago that there was a ticking sound coming from , what it seemed was the headers. Over time it got really bad, I MEAN BAD. I was on my way home today when my car just dies. it will start but die. its something in the head i took off the valve cover and it was smoking. what seems to be the problem? theres a UGE decrease in POWER output coming from the engine. VTEC feels like nothing. and there is so much lag througout the hole RPM range? thanks everyone.