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In side noise driving me cRaZy!

jwtrapper

jwtrapper

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Wetmore, CO
I just traded in my 95 YJ for a 99 XJ. Took it for a long test drive and it was great. Signed the check and paperwork, get 10 miles down the road and it starts making some funny noise. Its a 99 sport 117,000 miles 5 speed. It sounds like a low pitched knock when you are sitting inside the cab. When you are out side you cannot hear it. I have been under and over and around and can not pin point it. It goes with the rpm's also. The higher the rpm's the faster it ticks. It runs good and does not sound different from any other 4.0.

Any one have any ideas?

Thanks in advance!
 
Ok.... had to ask. It varies with engine RPM and not vehicle speed, correct? Can you notice it if you rev the engine while in neutral?

Piston slap? I would not expect to hear that going down the road.

Have you tried holding shifter handles? I have read that loose linkages make funny rattles in the cab.
 
Check to see if something is touching the firewall making a buzz or noise, like the fuel line or anything that is related to engine rpm. I had a similar noise in my S10 and it was the fuel line just barely resting on the firewall. I moved it away and my noise was gone.
 
Could it perhaps be related to the ticking noise the purge solenoid makes? Read THIS THREAD to read up more on the matter...

Ivan
 
Boris T said:
Ok.... had to ask. It varies with engine RPM and not vehicle speed, correct? Can you notice it if you rev the engine while in neutral?

Piston slap? I would not expect to hear that going down the road.

Have you tried holding shifter handles? I have read that loose linkages make funny rattles in the cab.
Click to expand...


Yep it goes with engine RPM and not the speed. Also I do notice it if I rev the engine while in neutral.

I have held the shifter and it makes no differnce.
 
island86xj said:
Check to see if something is touching the firewall making a buzz or noise, like the fuel line or anything that is related to engine rpm. I had a similar noise in my S10 and it was the fuel line just barely resting on the firewall. I moved it away and my noise was gone.
Click to expand...


I'll Give that a try too.
 
jwtrapper said:
Yep it goes with engine RPM and not the speed. Also I do notice it if I rev the engine while in neutral.

I have held the shifter and it makes no differnce.
Click to expand...

Let me think about this..... Side note: we went around and around with Nissan (10 trips to an incompetent dealer and a complaint to the BBB) on our 2k Maxima with a similar noise that varied with RPM but went away when the engine warmed up. Turned out it was a power steering hose on the back of the engine vibrating against an exhaust heat shield. We could not hear it outside the car but if you drove it (very quiet insided compared to the XJ) you would hear it until the hose got hot enough to flex away from the shield. What a pain in the ......

Anyway..... look for those types of things in the firewall area too. Check for hoses and cable (throttle) that might be vibrating in some crazy way.

I will get back to you later and check on the update. Gotta get to work on a paper that I am dreading.

Travis
 
Does the noise stop when you put your foot on the clutch? I have an nv3550 trans in my xj and it makes a bunch of noise when in nutural. I was told that was normal for that trans.

Ed
 
I've got a '99 XJ sport 110K, and have known a lot of people XJ's including my old roommate. His was a '97 Sport (seemed virtually identical), and when I was riding in it I noticed the same "ticking" sound that mine makes intermittently (generally at a stop, only when the automatic is in gear so I don’t know if it would be different with your manual trans). Anyway, he took his to the dealership and they diagn. the fan shroud as being loose and striking the primary (mech not elect) fan. I've heard that Cherokees have very tight tolerances between the fan, radiator and the shroud, and if yours was more loose or warped than my buddy’s then it might be constant and it would definitely vary with engine speed. Their solution was to pull out the fan shroud, and his problem went away. I don't know if I'd recommend it, as the shroud increases your airflow and cooling, but he never had any prob overheating. I just haven't gotten into it in mine to check into it firsthand. Hope it helps, and good luck troubleshooting. Personally, I wouldn't worry about the engine (knocking, piston prob, etc.) first off. I'd look for the little things like the other guys here are suggesting. The 4.0L seems pretty bulletproof for folks I've known.
 
jwtrapper said:
Well I messed around with all day yesterday with no luck yet. Its sounds fine when you first start it up but once it gets warm it starts. Im out of ideas. Could it be something in the engine?
Click to expand...

It sounds like it's engine related, as the engine warms up the oil gets much thinner, allowing the problem noise to be heard. Do you know what a rod knock sounds like? What viscosity oil are you using? You might try a thicker oil, if it goes away that might confirm a bearing problem.
 
No I realy dont know what a rod knock sounds like. A lifter tick yes but not a rod. I am not sure why oil is in it because I just got it a few days ago, but I will change it out here in a few days I guess. Any suggestion on what weight oil to try? Or should I just put in some realy thick oil treatment?
 
Before you go too crazy have you ruled out the throw-out bearing ?

Check to see if that clutch is adjusted correctly ... and you can feel the bearing disengage from the diaphragm.... fingers, or whatever a Jeep has.

I've had vehicles in the past emit different sounds from the throwout bearing due to improper adjustment, wear, etc. I had a brand new Porsche that would sit there a rattle at idle... I'd push in the clutch or tap the throttle and the rattle would go away, drove me nuts ... POS.

Good luck
 
Last edited:
I like a 40 weight. I use synthetic 5w-40 in the summer, but you could use anything from 0w-40 to 15w-40 as long as you keep the w number appropriate for the coldest temps you anticipate. If it is the bearings, a 40 weight probably isn't thick enough to mask the noise. You might buy a cheap 50 weight and put in it to see if the noise goes away, but if it were my XJ I wouldn't run it for long. If the bearings are toast I would replace them rather than running 50 weight. These engines are really durable but the rod bearings seem to be a weak link.

Does the oil light work? Usually when the bearings are bad the oil light will start to come on at hot idle. I ask if it works because used car dealers have been known to disable lights that may indicate a problem to a potential buyer. It should come on for a couple of seconds when you first start it. If you have access to a mechanical oil pressure gauge it might be helpful to measure hot idle oil pressure.

I am just running through the things to try for one potential source of the noise, there are certainly a lot of other possibilities.
 
Jeeppowr said:
I've got a '99 XJ sport 110K, and have known a lot of people XJ's including my old roommate. His was a '97 Sport (seemed virtually identical), and when I was riding in it I noticed the same "ticking" sound that mine makes intermittently (generally at a stop, only when the automatic is in gear so I don’t know if it would be different with your manual trans). Anyway, he took his to the dealership and they diagn. the fan shroud as being loose and striking the primary (mech not elect) fan. I've heard that Cherokees have very tight tolerances between the fan, radiator and the shroud, and if yours was more loose or warped than my buddy’s then it might be constant and it would definitely vary with engine speed. Their solution was to pull out the fan shroud, and his problem went away. I don't know if I'd recommend it, as the shroud increases your airflow and cooling, but he never had any prob overheating. I just haven't gotten into it in mine to check into it firsthand. Hope it helps, and good luck troubleshooting. Personally, I wouldn't worry about the engine (knocking, piston prob, etc.) first off. I'd look for the little things like the other guys here are suggesting. The 4.0L seems pretty bulletproof for folks I've known.
Click to expand...



That EXACTLY what mine does. Same year too. Only mine has 64K on the ticker. Sometimes sitting at idle, it will just start rattleing for no reason. Shift it into neutral (automatic) it goes away, or if I hold the brake down and give it a little gas while still in gear, it goes away too.

At first I thought maybe it was my connector for my hood light. I disconnected that sucker the day I got it and zip tied the wire around its self. I've still got the OEM battery in mine (6 years aint bad at all, and i'm the 3rd owner of the vehicle), and I didn't want that light to stick on and kill my battery. But anyways, thats not it. I've just learned to live with it. There's no way to predict when it's going to start, just when ever it begins, the engine is at normal running temp, and i'm sitting still, like at a light or something.
 
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