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POS XJ and noisy lifter

P

POSXJGuy

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lake Titticaca
So I have had this annoying tick as my xj has been warming up, only comes on after a minute of idling and then goes away before it reaches operating temp of 195. i replaced the header a little while ago and checked for any other exhaust leaks as well and found nothing. the noise was definitely mechanical as far as i could hear.

today i went to my local kragen and bought some marvel mystery oil. i put in about a quart and now am driving around with it in there. i will drive it for a few days and change the oil out. mileage will be like 200 max til then with the oil in it.

i'll let you folks know how it goes afterwards.

the noisy lifter sure is annoying, i'll let you know if this cures it! next thing on the list will be the quart of atf to clean it out more.

MMO has a nice color to it, reminds me of water wetter which i used when i was racing motorcycles.
 
could just be it needs a new lifter.
Sucks that you have to pull the head to get lifters out.
 
POSXJGuy said:
So I have had this annoying tick as my xj has been warming up, only comes on after a minute of idling and then goes away before it reaches operating temp of 195. i replaced the header a little while ago and checked for any other exhaust leaks as well and found nothing. the noise was definitely mechanical as far as i could hear.

today i went to my local kragen and bought some marvel mystery oil. i put in about a quart and now am driving around with it in there. i will drive it for a few days and change the oil out. mileage will be like 200 max til then with the oil in it.

i'll let you folks know how it goes afterwards.

the noisy lifter sure is annoying, i'll let you know if this cures it! next thing on the list will be the quart of atf to clean it out more.

MMO has a nice color to it, reminds me of water wetter which i used when i was racing motorcycles.
Click to expand...

I don't think you can be so sure that it's a bad lifter that's causing the ticking. Since you recently replaced the header, you could have loose header mounting bolts causing a leak around the manifold to cylinder head gasket. Check if they're tightened to the correct torque.
Another possibility is that you could simply have a case of cold start piston slap that's normal on most 4.0 engines. Some are worse than others depending on production tolerances.
 
Dr. Dyno said:
I don't think you can be so sure that it's a bad lifter that's causing the ticking. Since you recently replaced the header, you could have loose header mounting bolts causing a leak around the manifold to cylinder head gasket. Check if they're tightened to the correct torque.
Another possibility is that you could simply have a case of cold start piston slap that's normal on most 4.0 engines. Some are worse than others depending on production tolerances.
Click to expand...

I'm in agreement with the good Doctor - when my exhaust manifold cracked, I got a ticking noise that went away as the engine warmed up. If yours has come loose, you might get the same effect.

Rob
 
thanks for all of your advice. I will let you know what I find out. I spent last weekend checking the torque of the header bolts and they looked good. i also looked for soot around anywhere there would be a leak and found nothing yet. i tightened up where the header connects to the downpipe and made sure the flange gasket thingy was on there right. those bolts are a pain in the ass. i just tack welded the nut to the flange and tightned from bottom up so i didnt have to hold them. so easy to see but so damn hard to get at.

i'll check the engine again tonight and let you know what comes about.

oh yeah, this noise only happens in the mornings. after my car has been sitting at work all day unused it starts up nice and quiet. only in the mornings after its been sitting around 12 hours or so. maybe its like a baby, needs attention every few hours.

thanks!:D:D
 
Last edited:
i was watching a jeep show on TV and apparently these engines all ways acquire a valve tick. and the fact that it goes away when it gets to temp points to the lack of oil getting to the valves. how thick of an oil are you using?
 
That is good info. I am running 10-40 right now and a shot of mystery oil. i have always used 10-40 since in the sf bay area the temps are not all that extreme.

does that sound about right for the xj? or should i change to a different viscosity?
 
i think today's high is supposed to be like 76-78 degrees in san jose where i work and where i live in redwood city its like a few degrees higher. you guys can get bad winters from what i see. we have no idea what that is like here although i will be moving to my wife's country slovakia in a year or 2 and it gets like 15-18 below 0. that will kill me. i am headed there this xmas to see her family. freezin nuts!
 
I'd give the MMO than a few hundred miles to do its stuff. Run it 'til your next LOF and add another quart. I don't believe in a mechanis in a can but MMO has proved itself time and time again over the years, nice color,don't smell bad either.
 
Update: I used 1/2 quart of MMO to my "about to get changed" oil yesterday around 10am at kragen and drove back to work and parked til 430 when I went home. I drove appx 30 miles to my house and parked overnight.

this morning I started the xj up and the tapping noise was almost completely gone. I was expecting to hear it tapping loud again. I heard it a little but something seems to have loosened up in there. Its way quieter than what it had been doing the last month in the mornings. No temperature change whatsoever this morning from the others either.

I think the MMO stuff has helped quiet the motor down and freed up the lifter a lot. I will run it through the weekend and change it out with fresh oil and another 1/2 quart of MMO , run that for a month and then swap that oil out for only 10/40 and no MMO. I'll see if that gets it back on track.


i was blaming that noise on an exhaust leak in my new apn header but i think i was mistaken. i'll update again later after i swap out for fresh oil and run another handful of MMO through the motor.
 
Hey folks, well, i think i may have had a case of a mildly sticky lifter. it has been cleared up after i used 1/2 qt of MMO and i can't even hear the damn noise anymore in the mornings / afternoon or whenever. It had a habit of coming on a minute after startup and went away 3 minutes or so after that.
i don't think it was a really sticky lifter since it went away pretty fast, just a couple of days and about a total of 100 miles or so. i will do my oil change saturday and put in another 1/2 quart of mmo to lube it up a little more. then another oil change after that at 1000 miles to get any loose gunk out of the pan and refill with 10-40 only.

i guess that mystery oil sh*t it good stuff and I plan on always keeping a bottle of it around. if i get wind that they will not be making it anymore i will plan on stockpiling as much as i can fit in my little matchbox cottage for future use and to supply it for folks who need some.

thanks for all the good info on this board!

john
 
You can actually use a quart when you change your oil. You can run MMO in your vehicle all the time, you don't have to put it in and drian it right out.
I run a quart in mine all the time,you can also put it in your gas..instruction on the can.
I have never had a prob. due to MMO and have used it to free up many a seized motor.
Wish I knew what was in it. Some weird ingredients in some of the OTC stuff. ex. Porter Seal...used to be saw dust and fish glue..I used it once in a leaky heater core...boy what a mistake....lol
 
dizzymac said:
You can actually use a quart when you change your oil. You can run MMO in your vehicle all the time, you don't have to put it in and drian it right out.
I run a quart in mine all the time,you can also put it in your gas..instruction on the can.
I have never had a prob. due to MMO and have used it to free up many a seized motor.
Wish I knew what was in it. Some weird ingredients in some of the OTC stuff. ex. Porter Seal...used to be saw dust and fish glue..I used it once in a leaky heater core...boy what a mistake....lol
Click to expand...

dizzy, thanks for the advice. i think i shall do that just to make sure things stay well inside the engine. my wife's uncle uses MMO in his tractors and said tht even when things seem really bad there are times when MMO gets motors started after many years of storage.

thank you!
 
I put a can of engine restore to get that noise out of mine. I'm running 15W40 synthetic. (to cut blowby and eliminate exhaust smoke)
 
I've been experiencing the exact same noise for almost a couple of months now. I've really been meaning to take care of it, but I haven't had the time to deal with it lately.

Is it doing much damage to run the engine like this? How long can I put off this repair? Like Posxj, my noise appears to go away within five minutes of warming up.

thanks
 
the lifter pumps up with oil and that's what sets the vavle tension.
If it get's to the point where it ticks all the time then it can damage things.
Try and get it unstuck now, while oil is still getting in there hot.
MMO is good stuff. Some people use ATF but that's a bit scary for me.
 
I used to work on taxis (way back when ATF was cheaper than motor oil) and they ran the whole fleet on type F (which is about as thick as 5W30 oil now) for over 200,000 miles per car (mixture of Mopar, Chev and Fords) with no ill affects beyond normal wear and tear.
 
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