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Lifter Noise, I did a search...

Rock.Wgn

NAXJA Forum User
Location
San Diego
Hi All.
I searched "lifter noise" and found some info, but I want to ask the masses. Lately when I start the XJ, I will get a sound like I am not running all 6 cylinders, then it will flatten out and I have a loud ticking coming from beneath the valve cover. It will tick (loud) for about 5 minutes, then quite down, then go away, most of the time. To all of you, does that sound like a sticking lifter? Is there any way to loosen it up? I heard 1 QT of tranny fluid in the oil? Marvels Mystery oil? Or oh crap, pull the head and replace the set? Does the cam need to be replaced also? Any info will really help. Thanks, and keep wheeling.

Rock.Wgn
San Diego
 
I had an isuzu pickup before I got my xj, and a mechanic of chrysler for 13 years suggested that I do the tranny fluid thing in the crankcase. His instruction was to run a qt. of tranny fluid in the engine for 7-10 minutes before your oil change.(may have to drain a qt. of oil out to make room for the tranny fluid) After doing this on my isuzu I was amazed at all of the crap than drained out of the oil pan.He told me the reason it pulls dirt ou is because it is full of detergents.Some people here may disagree with doing this.I do know that all of the local shops that do the engine flush use a product that has alot of detergents in it. Your call though.
 
I would pull the head and replace the lifters, but that's only because I hate odd noises. If you don't want to pull the head, I would go with the tranny fluid.
 
Wanted to see what brand of oil filter you use. Fram filters should be illegal. If you take a fram filter apart and compare it to a purolator or wix you will notice that tr fram uses a cardboard end cap and is actually glued together. Most other brands use a metal cap. So with a fram it is easy to get cardboard in your engine after it has had a little use. A friend of mine had this happen to him. If you are cost conscience, Oreilly's atomotive has their own filter but purolator builds it.
 
I had the same lifter noise for 2 years, 25,000 miles with mine. I used a mixture of MMO, Lucas oil, plus recently some castrol syntech synthetic towards the end (I normally used Exxon 10W40, but switched to 20W50 Castrol Syntech my last oil change, then everything starting leaking like crazy, fixed the leaks, went back to mostly 20W50 dyno during the summer, but still has some, mayb e a quart left of Castrol syntech with a quart of Lucas and the rest 20w50 dyno oil) to quite the noise and free the lifter(s).

It is running about 90% quiter now that it did at its worst.

I would try some additives first, but no Tranny fluid right off. Try something gentler like MMO first. If you run dyno oil, maybe try a quart of Mobil one and the rest dyno oil.

What oil are you currently using. How many miles on it?
 
the pennzoil is horrible stuff--full of parrafin which seems to clog oil passages and lifters. I have some lifter noise, which has gotten alot worse in the last oil change. I was using a fram filter and pennzoil, and I attribute it in part to the crappy filter and crappier oil. I recently switched to a wix filter and valvoline oil, and while I still have some lifter noise, the engine runs alot smoother. I also substituted 1 qt. of risolene engine treatment with my last oil change, and it did make a big difference in my lifters as well--they used to tap away when cold, as well as warm. Now they make noise when it's warm. I finally pinpointed the noise with a mechanics stethescope. I think I'll drive with the risolene for another thousand km's or so and see what happens. If it doesn't completely unclog the stuck lifter I'll try a qt. of ATF in the crankcase before I change the oil. Since the lifter's got quieter with risolene, I think it may still be a little clogged. If this is the case, the ATF may completely unclog it. If it doesn't, I'll pull the head and replace the lifters.
 
Like many of us, I had the same problem. Drove it that way for 2 months before I did some searching on the board. I decided to use Marvel Mystery oil, and wouldn't you know it, at about 500 miles the lifter noise finally subsided. Now it runs smooth and quiet.

What I don't know is if I have to drain the oil. I thought I might just run it for the full 5k miles, then drain it on the next change.
 
rocknxj said:
Like many of us, I had the same problem. Drove it that way for 2 months before I did some searching on the board. I decided to use Marvel Mystery oil, and wouldn't you know it, at about 500 miles the lifter noise finally subsided. Now it runs smooth and quiet.

What I don't know is if I have to drain the oil. I thought I might just run it for the full 5k miles, then drain it on the next change.

Very interesting indeed!

"Bob the oil guy" says oil additives are a waste of money! Must have been a placebo effect, LOL.:rolleyes: :roflmao:

It was definately a Placebo effect in mine, LOL.:rolleyes: Either that or I was just hearing things that wern't really there.:rolleyes:

:cheers:
 
Re: Lifter Noise, FYI

FYI, I had a sticking lifter on cylinder number 3. (130,000 miles) VERY noisy, TAP,TAP,TAP until it warmed up, when it filled with oil. I had some options:
1. replace the single lifter,
2. replace all the lifters,
3. replace all the lifters, cam, bearings, timing gears, timing chain, harmonic balancer. OUCH
4. or, put a quart of ATF in the crank case.
Well, I went for the ATF in the crank case... Drained a quart of dino, poured in 1 quart ATF, drove 40 miles, street and freeway, drained hot oil/ATF.
What did I find? There was a bunch of crap and sludge in the oil pan, the oil looked almost black, with a red tint. I only had 1,000 miles on the oil. Dropped in 6qt of Castrol GTX, put on a WIX filter. I have driven it now for over 100 miles, "NO MORE TAPPING" very quite, and runs great...
Food for thought...
 
Rock.Wgn said:
Is there a gasket set I will need to replace the lifters?

you will need a full gasket set if you are going to do it right. I have one I tore down because some stuck lifters and am replacing everything in the process....I have replaced everything except the crank and cam which both looked good and the timing gears and chain, which looked like they had been recently replaced.

I lucked into a full gasket set on ebay (felpro) for $9.99. Otherwise look to spend somewhere between 80-100.
 
Glad you found the cause of the problem. Hope you weren't using a Fram filter on it before.

I'm all for sea-foam. I used it recently in my 93 XJ (only 48,000 miles but lots of hours as a police vehicle) and man did it quiet down the top half of my motor. It had a few nice rattles and taps and after sucking down an entire can down the intake thru a vacuum line my truck purrs. I'm not in any rush to add it to the crankcase but thru the intake and maybe in the gas tank seems to work wonders.
 
Never replace flat tappet lifters without replacing the cam. Cams and lifters come in sets, and need to be changed as a set. The cam lobes and the lifters wear into a pattern. Changing one with out changing the other will result in a ruined cam and lifters.
 
$50XJ said:
Glad you found the cause of the problem. Hope you weren't using a Fram filter on it before.

I'm all for sea-foam. I used it recently in my 93 XJ (only 48,000 miles but lots of hours as a police vehicle) and man did it quiet down the top half of my motor. It had a few nice rattles and taps and after sucking down an entire can down the intake thru a vacuum line my truck purrs. I'm not in any rush to add it to the crankcase but thru the intake and maybe in the gas tank seems to work wonders.

seafoam in your fuel system will do absolutely nothing for your lifters, lifter noise is caused by no oil, or not enough oil in the lifter
 
avnsteve said:
seafoam in your fuel system will do absolutely nothing for your lifters, lifter noise is caused by no oil, or not enough oil in the lifter
I'm aware of that. But it will do a nice job of cleaning any deposits in the fuel injectors. Just might as well do both at the same time so it quiets things down and restores power and improves drivablity.
 
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