Advice on possible bad lifter

MoiTai

MoiTai

TJ Nerd
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Jan 5, 2020
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Central Valley CA
I decided to tackle my taping noise on my 4.0. After removing the valve cover and inspecting I found some play in cylinder 2 rocker. Play is side by side and not up and down. I'm going with bad lifter. Wanted to get some thoughts before I start removing the intake and exhaust to replace. Thanks!
Edit: I checked and everything is torqued to spec.

https://imgur.com/a/3hocyj7
 
A lifter isn't going to cause the rocker lateral play. Just to be sure, you are rotating the crank when checking the rockets for play, right. Otherwise the cam will be pushing on the lifters causing varying results.
 
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Goatman said:
A lifter isn't going to cause the rocker lateral play. Just to be sure, you are rotating the crank when checking the rockets for play, right. Otherwise the cam will be pushing on the lifters causing varying results.
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Thanks for that tip! I did not do that and now that I did the play is gone. Hmm back to the drawing board. Any ideas on where to go from here?
 
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After the advice @Goatman gave I'll have to get a short clip of the tapping. I'm really trying to do this right and find the issue. Anyone have any advice or tips on this type of diag before I remove the oil pan and inspect from below? You can def hear some taping too end of engine with the cover off. Hmm.
 
There are a lot of posts saying exhaust leaks can sound remarkably like valve tapping. Check/re-torque the joint between the exhaust manifold and the down pipe. Also if your year is prone to manifold cracks, diagnose that as well.

I have tapping that started after doing exhaust work. My ears and my head do everything they can to tell me it’s mechanical engine noise and I was ready to start pulling covers. I was under the Jeep for something else the other day and decided to tug on the exhaust a little. Interestingly, the tapping subsided. I need to re-torque those bolts as well.
 
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Aloha Joe said:
There are a lot of posts saying exhaust leaks can sound remarkably like valve tapping. Check/re-torque the joint between the exhaust manifold and the down pipe. Also if your year is prone to manifold cracks, diagnose that as well.

I have tapping that started after doing exhaust work. My ears and my head do everything they can to tell me it’s mechanical engine noise and I was ready to start pulling covers. I was under the Jeep for something else the other day and decided to tug on the exhaust a little. Interestingly, the tapping subsided. I need to re-torque those bolts as well.
Click to expand...

I've fixed a few tapping issues over the years by fixing an exhaust leak, either changing the gasket, finding a broken stud, or finding a crack in the manifold.
 
I'll chime in with the exhaust leak too. I chased a tick for years. It sounded like preignition in the cab. When I was changing out an o2 sensor I saw the carbon leaking out the far side of the down pipe. Quick spray of Kroil, few turns of a wrench and nice and quiet.

Now, it could still be a lifter tick. I have had good luck with running Mystery Oil, or diesel in the crankcase for a bit to remove varnish (the usual cause for lifter tick that is curable). Add a quart of either (I prefer diesel) to the crankcase. No need to drain out any oil first. The length of a straight 6 oil pan means it will only raise the level by a fraction of an inch. Then drive it. Don't just idle and rev the engine a few times. Drive it for a good 10-15 minutes to force the pump to really push the oil all throughout the engine. While good and hot drain and do a oil/filter service. If the tick remains the same then it is likley from a different cause. If it still remains, just to a lesser degree then there is a good chance the lifter is going. If the noise is gone then it was just a varnish build up and is now good to go.
 
Does the tapping happen to randomly come and go and is sometimes silent, sometimes loud, whether warm or hot or driving or idling? I had a chunk of carbon on a valve that did this to me. Once I cleaned it off she purrs like a kitten.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. @Rubicon John that pretty much describes what I am going through. If I give it some throttle it gets faster not louder.

Last time I did an oil change it was incredibly loud. Shut the engine off and I haven't heard it that loud again.

Other than that the engine runs and feels great. Sounds like I will be removing the intake and exhaust to looks for leaks. I have looks around but can't find anything. Also gonna poke around with a stethoscope I just picked up on my day off Saturday and see if I can find anything that way.

Thank you everyone who has chimed in. What a great community. I'm no mechanic but have the aptitude and love to work on these things and look forward to passing the knowledge I get around!
 
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Don't forget to get one of those 'snake cameras'. Too brain-locked 😱to think of the right word. ~$20 on Amazon and bluetooth to your phone. You can snake it down the intake to check out the valves, and stick it in the sparkplug holes to check out the cylinders.
 
I spent the rest of the day trying to remember that word🤬! The harder I tried to think it the farther away I got. Blaming it on the sniffles pandemic. Only I don't have the sniffles. 🤔
 
Haha! I'm in CA and my company is not "essential" so I got a 14 day paid staycation so I have some free time to dig into this.
I used a mechanic's stethoscope I forgot I purchased some time back. When I start hearing the taping I can hear something banging inside from here and nowhere else. I'm just going to start removing the intake and exhaust as I think the manifold gasket has a small leak as well anyways.
IMG_20200321_163709.jpg
 
Before pulling everything just pull the pushrod and check if it is bent. Roll it on a glass plate from a window. Any bit of bend is bad. You may just get lucky.
 
So I recently developed a pretty bad tick and trying to figure out what it is. Here’s some videos of it, 02 4.0. Any advice?
 
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