replaced lifters, now makes funny noise?

my lifters in my 92 cherokee 4.0l were getting pretty noisy, so a couple of weeks ago i replaced them. at the same time i replaced the pushrods, thermostat, serpintine belt and of course all the gaskets. everything runs great, but when i turn the car off, the engine proceeds to make a fast pace clicking sound, anywhere from 10 secs up to a minute long. i have no clue what it could be, but it sounds like its coming from inside the valve cover. any thoughts would be great.

You sure it's not oil dripping back down into the pan ?

One of the new lifters bleeding down?

Could be, next time have a long handled screw driver handy, with the engine OFF put the screw drive metal end against the block and put your ear against the handle, acts as a stetiscope. May take a few tries to isolate the spot...

low&slow said:

my lifters in my 92 cherokee 4.0l were getting pretty noisy, so a couple of weeks ago i replaced them. at the same time i replaced the pushrods, thermostat, serpintine belt and of course all the gaskets. everything runs great, but when i turn the car off, the engine proceeds to make a fast pace clicking sound, anywhere from 10 secs up to a minute long. i have no clue what it could be, but it sounds like its coming from inside the valve cover. any thoughts would be great.

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My MJ does that too. I don't even have to start it, just crank it enough to get oil pressure and it sounds like a popcorn popper for a bit.

What brand lifters did you use? Mine never made that noise until I replaced OEM with Sealed Power. Iritating but it seems to be just an audio annoyance. I have around 6K on the lifters/with the noise and I have not had any negative side effects.

low&slow said:

....when i turn the car off, the engine proceeds to make a fast pace clicking sound, anywhere from 10 secs up to a minute long. i have no clue what it could be...

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I do. It's the normal sound of hot metal cooling down so don't worry about it. The sound is probably coming from the hottest part of the engine which is the exhaust manifold.

Do you have a heat shield over the exhaust manifold? Those heat and cool down quickly and they bend and warp as the expand/contract from the heat/cooling.

The heat shield, even some exhaust pipes near the super hot exhaust manifold, tend to sound like a bowl of rice crispies just after shutting down the engine.

Dr. Dyno said:

I do. It's the normal sound of hot metal cooling down so don't worry about it. The sound is probably coming from the hottest part of the engine which is the exhaust manifold.

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Oddly, mine makes this sound even if I never start the engine but just crank it for a few seconds. Makes me think it's a lifter leaking down and nothing heat related.

lawsoncl said:

Oddly, mine makes this sound even if I never start the engine but just crank it for a few seconds. Makes me think it's a lifter leaking down and nothing heat related.

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In your case the Ticking is the computer resetting it IAC to -0- the ECU stays on for a few seconds after the key is turned of to return the IAC to 0 so it knows where it is for startup.

langer1 said:

In your case the Ticking is the computer resetting it IAC to -0- the ECU stays on for a few seconds after the key is turned of to return the IAC to 0 so it knows where it is for startup.

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I've spent time with a long screwdriver. The noise is in the block, about where the lifters are. It goes on for about a minute. It's definitely not computer related as it did it when I was cranking the engine with a breaker bar during the tranny swap (rotating to get the tc bolts tightened).

Still very wierd. But no wierder than Nissan claiming the squealing noise on my wifes truck was the oil filter. I would have sworn it was the wobbly idler pulley, but they did an oil change for free so I didn't complain.

On many cars, the evaporative emmissions control system has a soldenoid that can create a clicking sound, like the IAC, the PCM/ECU may operate that valve during start up and shut down to clear the fumes from the fuel system.

You could call the manufacturer of the Lifters you bought and see what they say about them ticking after oil pressure is cut off.

The hydrualic lifters usually bleed down after shutdown, it seems one of your lifters is clicking while it does that.

You don't have any evidence of the oil foaming, do you? The oil level is between add and full, its not overfilled right? Overfilled oil level can cause the oil to foam. The bubbles can get into the lifters, that could cause the lifter to click on the bleed down.