Was not ticking this morning. Son drove 1 mi to school this morning & 1 mi home this afternoon. Heard it when he was pulling up the driveway. 156,620 mi.
Loud engine ticking from 03 Wrangler X 4.0
- Thread starter JABCAT
- Start date
That sounds like a stuck lifter.
Does it sound the same in drive as in park?
Another possiblity would be a cracked piston skirt.
Does it sound the same in drive as in park?
Another possiblity would be a cracked piston skirt.
I had a cracked skirt on my last motor and it sounded much worst than that. I’d bet it’s just a lifter.
Stuck lifter.
Run some high mileage oil through it.
Or, the new Valvoline restore and protect is supposed to do a great job of cleaning out engines.
Run some high mileage oil through it.
Or, the new Valvoline restore and protect is supposed to do a great job of cleaning out engines.
Horizontal video will make the tick go away... 
When it does this , shut it off wait 15 seconds and restart , most of the time it will be quiet. Our 04 will do this time to time , our 99 with 30000 more miles on it never has .
It wouldn't go away when you shut it off and restart the engine.
Heard him coming home down the street today with the loud ticking. Asked him about it and he said it started half way home (about 20 min into his drive). Shut the Jeep off & waited a couple min. Upon re-start it was still there but quieter, then went away after about 30 seconds.
Separate note. Replaced the exhaust manifolds this weekend with Hooker Blackheart headers. Both original exhaust manifolds were cracked. So that was probably some of the other noise we were hearing.
Separate note. Replaced the exhaust manifolds this weekend with Hooker Blackheart headers. Both original exhaust manifolds were cracked. So that was probably some of the other noise we were hearing.
Check out Dex Jeeps on you tube. He has some great videos on 4.0 noises and how to fix them. More than likely it's 1 or more cracked piston skirts. The noise can get better after warm up as materials have expanded enough to quiet things down.
Bammo68
TJ Enthusiast
+1 to Topfuel83's recommendation. Its almost always a cracked piston skirt not a lifter that makes the ticking sound.
Thanks for the suggestion. Checked out a couple of his vids & see he's selling piston pkgs and conveniently always diagnoses pistons as the cause. They might be, but does add a little skepticism. In one video he showed how lack of oil pressure would cause the noise to get louder & proper oil pressure would make it go away.
Changed the oil & only 2 qts of black oil came out. We changed the oil just 1,700 mi ago. So there's another issue I need to figure out. There are no leaks anywhere, no spots on the driveway.
Bammo68
TJ Enthusiast
Dex may not be the most polished presenter on Youtube (ADHD anyone?) but he isn't the guy to BS about that stuff to sell pistons...
I agree with Bammo68. I don't believe Dex is trying to just sell pistons. He has worked hard trying to prove the common culprit of 4.0 noise is in fact not lifters, but pistons. And he has made some videos and has piston and rods available to try and make it easier for the average guy to repair their engine without having to replace, rebuild, or send stuff out to machine shops (which good ones are hard to find, and when you do find them they are expensive and usually backed up on work). Yes, You Tube is making him some money, but if you look at what he charges for the pistons, there really isn't much profit in there.
Bammo68
TJ Enthusiast
Well, there is no way on this earth that a dodgy lifter can eat that much oil (any oil?) but a cracked piston that's also hurt the oil control ring? Yep, that will do it. Might not be the only issue but its a darned easy one to fix in your driveway with only a basic set of tools and a bit of effort.
<edited> you don't need to splurge on a full set of rods and pistons from Dex either. Pull your rods and pistons - push out the old wrist pins and spend maybe $200 on a new set of pistons and rings from Rock Auto. Another $200 for fresh bearings, head gasket and an oil pan gasket and you've got a nearly complete rebuild. Will it be as good as a fully rebuilt motor? Maybe not, but the damned things are bullet proof anyway and for $400 and a sunday afternoon what have you got to lose?
Does it matter which brand? Rock Auto has Enginetech @ $118 or Sealed Power at $167 (set of 6 pistons). Same thing with the rings, prices vary between $39 - $89.
Sealed Power has a great track record . They came from the old TRW company and had a huge line of forged pistons that most hot rodders used.
I would use name brand rings also and pay close attention to end gap measurements . Also it wouldn't hurt to have good measuring tools for piston / bore clearances .
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