Ttick, tick, tick from the engine

As pevious posted under: Hammering / knocking noise on 4.0L6 '99 Cherokee it seems, I am much closer to finding the source of the noise now. For the last hour, I have spent listening to the engine at idle, air-con and auxiliary fan off.. No mistake, the noise is coming from the engine, around cylinder 5 or 6. The noise is also clearly audible around the left wheel house. It cycles on and off. It goes like: tick, tick, tick....increasingly loud for about 10-15 seconds, stops completely with a few seconds silence in between, and starts again. The cycle lengths are not completely even, with variations of within a few seconds. Some cycles are louder, some cycles softer, and sometimes, there is a longer brake in between the cycles.

What could that be?

Thanks again. I feel, I am much closer to solving this riddle now.

Regards,

Robert

Reply to
Robert Goldpalm
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It sure sounds like you have a lifter that is not staying pumped up.

Chris

Reply to
c

I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but, do you have air conditioning?

=)

Rob

Reply to
Rob K.

conditioning?

I don't mean to insult yours, but he did say:

:-) n.

Reply to
Nathan Otis

Lifter tapping, that cycling on and off thing, with it sometimes being louder, sometimes softer; is a dead giveaway.

Reply to
Simon Juncal

Reply to
L.W.(ßill)

The diagnoses so far seem to be:

-lifter that is not staying pumped up

-Lifter tapping

I already did the "ATF in Engine Oil" trick without success.

What to do? Anybody had an identical problem and got rid of the ticking?

Reply to
Robert Goldpalm

Robert Goldpalm did pass the time by typing:

Might have to pull the head and replace the lifter. You did make sure it's not the distributor making that noise. Take the cap off and see if the rotor will move side-to-side. It shouldn't move at all.

Could try running synthetic oil, that seems to have make my lifters much more quiet, but they still tick a bit. But if the lifter has collapsed you have no option but to replace it.

Reply to
DougW

Reply to
Will Honea

Approximately 11/15/03 18:07, Will Honea uttered for posterity:

Claim is that they can be removed from the top, but needs removal of the: cylinder head cover rocker assemblies push rod intake and exhaust manifold.

Whether or not the Chrysler C-4129-A tool is available to buy and use is unknown, but with it on the 4.0 that is all the FSM claims is needed.

I still think checking the distributor as someone else noted is a good idea first...

SOMETIMES a ticking lifter can be convinced to quit leaking down by a shot of motor honey or other similar to stp oil treatment... as a diagnostic not a fix.

Reply to
Lon Stowell

Lon Stowell did pass the time by typing:

aka. Top cylinder lube. Marvelous Mystery Oil..

But to pull the lifters you have to take the head off and that does require removal of the rocker assembly and manifolds. .. it's not that hard to do ..

If you do this... First time you can re-use the head bolts. Second time you need to use new head bolts.

Always use a new gasket. Even if the book says otherwise.

Reply to
DougW

Today, I had the car for a 400-Miles drive. The engine works well. Power, oil pressure, gas consumption are all fine.

So far, the noise is only a cosmetic problem, but an annoying one. Checked on the distributor, but it seems ok.

Any way to fix a leaking lifter without replacing parts? Any snake oil or mystery additive out there, that kind of permanent cures this noise?

There are quit a few messages here saying, that all 4 L 6 make this noise, sooner or later, and that it is inherent to the design of this engine. Is that really so? Would it go away by itself?

Reply to
Robert Goldpalm

Robert,

Normally I don't recommend adding "miracle cures" to oil because most of them are useless. However, I did try some lifter and valve treatment made by PB Blaster one time. The stuff actually fixed some noisy lifters in an old beater car I had. I suspect this stuff was some type of detergent to clean the garbage out of the lifters and valve guides. Something like this may work IF the cause of your noise is a sticky lifter. If it is a lifter that is bleeding down and not holding pressure because it is worn, then I doubt that anything will help other than replacing the lifter(s).

Chris

Reply to
c

Approximately 11/16/03 00:18, DougW uttered for posterity:

Minor correction here. Marvel Mystery is a very thin oil claimed to be useful for helping remove crud, expanding loose seals, mixing with synth, curing warts, etc. However Marvel Mystery is not a substitute for Motor Honey or STP Oil treatment. Both Motor Honey and STP Oil Treatment are extremely thick and extremely slippery substances and both can be thick enough that they will not drain down from a marginal lifter. Unlike normal oil, both of these also remain lubricating even when thicker than cold honey, as the old trick of trying to hold a screwdriver in your fingers that has been coated with STP demonstrates. You can also, in an emergency, run an air cooled engine in the Baja with nothing but STP in the crankcase, as also was proven. The STP treatment was fairly common on old Corvair engines that had a bad habit of lifter collapse.

Reply to
Lon Stowell

Approximately 11/16/03 04:47, Robert Goldpalm uttered for posterity:

The permanent cure is to replace that lifter. Adding one of the really really thick oil additives [per instructions] like STP Oil Treatment or Motor Honey may help a bit.

Not sure whether or not the 4.0 can scrub the cam lobe with a collapsing lifter, I wouldn't take the chance in my own engine.

? Seen that same engine with well over 200K miles on it and no lifter click. It may be a common problem, but it isn't a guaranteed one. And it is more likely to slowly get worse than go away.

Reply to
Lon Stowell

This engine has only about 60 K. I had oil and filter (original Mopar) changed every 3000 miles. It was driven with care. I am living in the tropics, so the coldest cold start is from about 80F. Why this lifter tick, one could ask?

Reply to
Robert Goldpalm

Approximately 11/16/03 17:40, Robert Goldpalm uttered for posterity:

Best answer would be "sh*t happens". Presuming it *is* a lifter, with several diagnostic methods already posted.

Reply to
Lon Stowell

oops =/

Rob

Reply to
Rob K.

So why worry?

You might also want to check overheating which also makes the noise happen more. This happened to me especially if engine coolant was low.

Nope. Changed the oil in my 4.0L I6 with 190000 miles with Mobil1 Synthetic and it seems to have quieted down whatever lifter was lazy.

Yes and yes it can go away by itself. I added coolant and changed my oil to Mobil1 synth. 10W30. You can also try 15W50 synthetic. That's what I use in my VW in the summer but I don't see the need to use this for the Jeep since the oil pressure is good with the 10W30.

Reply to
Peter Parker

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