97 Xj Engine Knock, looking for opinions?

hello guys,

i have"nt posted here in some time, but i need some fellow jeepers opinions. my own Xj is a '97 SE 4dr 4.0 5spd 3:55 swap, pretty stock really. she is really clean has always ran wonderfully since ive owned it at 173k, she now has 219k, i run 10w30 castrol with hastings filters every 2500-3k miles. 2k miles ago she started a mild definate defined quite knock upon the first start up of the day while cold basically. a few months ago it started taking alot longer to go away upon cold start, it was louder at first and could still be heard for 5-10 min after hitting running temp, as well as also knocking upon other cold starts in the same day, not just upon the first cold start of the day like previous. well the last few weeks its been pretty cold in new york on and off and in its pretty damn loud in the morning and really does it all the way to work which is a half hour drive and does it every time i start it pretty much and really does"nt seem to ever totally go away at this point, it may get faint but you can always here it, ive heard sticky lifters in these 4.0"s, i've had flexplate bolts loosen up on me on my fiance"s '96 Xj country, ive had 6 xj"s i love them, they have all been great to me high mileage and all but i dunno, i think this one is about to blow up on me what does it sound like to you guys?

thanx for anyone's opinion

Pull the oil and filter out and replace with a Mopar oil filter and Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w40 oil...

My 1991 4.0L HO runs very quiet with this combination.. no dry starts and you can't hear the lifters at 178K miles.

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Sounds more like a sticking lifter that taps rather than a knock. Try this. When you start it and it taps/knocks, immediately shut it off. Re-start it in 20 seconds. See if the noise goes away. Let us know.

bchulett said:

Pull the oil and filter out and replace with a Mopar oil filter and Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w40 oil...

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No, Hastings is a quality filter

I'd go for lifter tick as well. If you want to pull the valve cover you can find which one is ticking and tap the rocker end over the pushrod a bit to try to free it up. You could also try a quart of MMO in your oil (drain correct amount first). Drive it for a bit then run it at 2500 for about 15 minutes and see if that frees it up.

Talyn said:

No, Hastings is a quality filter

I'd go for lifter tick as well. If you want to pull the valve cover you can find which one is ticking and tap the rocker end over the pushrod a bit to try to free it up. You could also try a quart of MMO in your oil (drain correct amount first). Drive it for a bit then run it at 2500 for about 15 minutes and see if that frees it up.

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I like that advice^^.

On the 2500 RPM part I would do it while driving and get it nice and hot.

i'm going to do like you said this weekend. and yeah i thought hastings were a quality filter. a few days ago i drained it again and put back 5.5 qts of castrol again and .5 qt of sea foam in the can. i saw a seat of the pants power impovement which totally shocked me but no less noise. ill drain this this weekend and try again which the marvel and cross my fingers . ill keep ya posted. thanx so far guys

It might take a while for seafoam to clean the lifters.