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Top of engine taps, then suddenly stops?

8

88XJSport

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Michigan
This all started this morning....

Leaving for school this afternoon, on a cold engine, I get about a quarter of a mile away from home, and my engine starts to tap, very noticeable, but not terribly loud. It increases with RPM, decreases with less RPM, but always would be noticeable. Pulled over, popped the hood, and it sounds like its right underneath the valve cover around cyl 2. Im assuming its lifter tap. Start down the road again, and i am idling at a light, and just like a switch, its gone. Never came back.

After class it was tapping, suddenly stop after 5 or so minutes like before, but now, it fades back in for a minute or so, and suddenly stop again. It did this about 3 cycles, and never came back for the rest of the 7 mile trip.

I have been searching for lifter tap, and nobody mentions it SUDDENLY stops ticking like mine does. It sounds like a common characteristic for lifter tap, but i am wondering why it suddenly goes away. If it is lifter tap, is it something a quart or 2 of MMO can't fix?

Thanks.
 
Ok, ill try some MMO, and post back the results. Kinda scary driving and idling like a ticking timebomb....:flame:


Thanks for the replies.
 
My 89 would do that occasionally. Sometimes it would tick on a cold start-up, and I would turn it off, then immediately restart and the ticking would be gone.

After a couple of oil changes, the ticking became less frequent, so maybe the oil detergent was cleaning the lifter..?

MMO should cure it.
 
88XJSport said:
Ok, ill try some MMO, and post back the results. Kinda scary driving and idling like a ticking timebomb....:flame:


Thanks for the replies.
Click to expand...


Please.............

A lifter tap on a 4.0l is so far from a ticking time bomb it isn't funny.
There used to be a joke running around that oil was a 'dealer installed' option in them.

I am not a huge fan of any kind of oil additives....
If you are going to do something like that, drain your oil out, put in a gallon of #2 diesel, warm the engine up. Drain the diesel, and do a normal six quart(including the filter) oil change.

The diesel works better for cleaning the sludge and gunk off the inside of the motor, and still has some lubricating properties to it.
 
I might suggest, at least as a first try, something even less than diesel: get the cheapest thinnest high detergent oil you can find (e.g. house brand 5w), the kind you would never trust in your vehicle normally, but "at least it's motor oil." At the same time, get a good fill of the best oil you can afford, and two filters, one premium and one cheap. Then do an oil change with the cheap thin oil and the cheap new filter and run the thing for something like 20 miles, good and hot and hard, and immediately change the oil and filter as soon and as hot as you can get the tools on without burning yourself. Then do the proper oil change.

This has worked for me in the past, at least on engines that were basically healthy but poorly maintained. The lifter tap on my old Scout stayed away for 13 years.
 
88XJSport said:
This all started this morning....

Leaving for school this afternoon, on a cold engine, I get about a quarter of a mile away from home, and my engine starts to tap, very noticeable, but not terribly loud. It increases with RPM, decreases with less RPM, but always would be noticeable. Pulled over, popped the hood, and it sounds like its right underneath the valve cover around cyl 2. Im assuming its lifter tap. Start down the road again, and i am idling at a light, and just like a switch, its gone. Never came back.

After class it was tapping, suddenly stop after 5 or so minutes like before, but now, it fades back in for a minute or so, and suddenly stop again. It did this about 3 cycles, and never came back for the rest of the 7 mile trip.

I have been searching for lifter tap, and nobody mentions it SUDDENLY stops ticking like mine does. It sounds like a common characteristic for lifter tap, but i am wondering why it suddenly goes away. If it is lifter tap, is it something a quart or 2 of MMO can't fix?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Is there a lot of sludge in the valve cover? If it does this then warm's up, maybe thinning out the thick stuff? Just a thought.
 
Well, I added a bottle of MMO to my crankcase, and it hasnt ticked since. I have the manifold sound, but unless you are trying to listen for that, you won'th hear it. My engine (and the valvetrain) is the quietest it has ever been (175,000) At times i think my engine is off, and i have to glance at my tach lol.

I am in need of an oil change tomorrow, and i will drain all of the old oil and MMO, and add 5 fresh quarts oil and another bottle of MMO. I may even throw a bottle in my gas tank, since ive heard it is good to do that. :roll:
 
Your lucky that it cleared up with MMO. I would suggest you use a good quality filter, like Napa Gold/WIX etc if you are not already. A poor filter like Fram can let oil bleed down overnight due to a flimsy anti-drainback valve causing dry starts, which will cause more wear on your valvetrain than you need.
 
I'm not sure on the quality of that filter, but if you arn't sure of the quality, I'd really suggest spending the extra few bucks on a Wix filter (often sold as Napa Gold). Most people notice better oil pressure by several PSI and fewer cold starts. I used to get lifter noise & piston slap at ever startup, now it's alot more occasional since switching from a Fram to a Wix filter.
 
MMO is less aggressive than adding diesel, you don't want to losen up a bunch of crud all at once. The diesel idea does works but I hate to have all that sludge dumped in an eng. all at once.
Run the quart of MMO you have in there now for a bit, then do a oil/filter change (NO FRAM) and add another Qt. of MMO.
 
My lifter tick will happen after start-up when warm if I let it go it will eventually cut out, normally I'll put it in gear and stall it out and if warmed up enough it will go away untill I cold start again. I've switched to synthetic (Mobil 1 10-30 High mileage) to slowly clean everything out. Just completed first oil change. Tick I think is dying want to look into BGK44 or Sea Foam since I need to replace a portion of my header anyway.
Are you saying to replace oil with diesel (sounds nuts, but...)
I have used MMO on a Honda before and seemed to help
 
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