ProDawg

I am new to the forum and new to the Protege. I have had my '03 LX for about 7 months now, and it is great. My engine is noisy with a lot of what I think is valve clatter (compared to Hondas I have owned before). Is this noise typical of this engine series, or is it a problem unique to mine? Sorry if this is something that has been discussed before, I looked but didn't see any threads addressing this.