97 4.0 starting to sound like Cummins....

[gptherezonlyone]

I am starting to get a little loud under the cover. I know that after a while they all start to sound loose but I can't stand it. Anyone got any upgrades/fixes. Can I do a cam with some rockers and lifters or should I just leave it all alone?

[Matthew Currie]

I doubt the cam would be a problem, since it's down low. And if it's piston slap rather than rocker noise, you won't get any help from new rockers/lifters. Have you taken a stethoscope to it to narrow it down? I had some noise issues with my 95 that were hard to trace at first because it has some piston slap normally, and a bad water pump kind of snuck into the same sound range.

Does the sound change with load, temperature, oil weight or any other predictable condition? Piston slap, for example, will decrease when the engine heats up.