2000 XJ I6 sounds like a diesel.

During my commute this morning I noticed that my engine is louder than it usually is. As mentioned, it almost sounds like a diesel from the knocking. Taking a look under the hood it almost sounds like it is coming from the power steering pump.

Has anyone had a similar experience or have any ideas?

I did some researching and some have noted that it may be caused by the engine running rich due to a faulty o2 sensor.


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Noises can range from a fuel injector to a sticky lifter to a bit of piston slap just to name a few. Get a mechanics stethoscope and try to isolate it a little more. Noises are very hard to troubleshoot online. I don't see the correlation of the noise to a rich mixture/O2 sensor issue.

Sounds like an exhaust leak on the header or down pipe to me. Let it cool completely then start it up and get your hand under the intake manifold in the drivers side(keep clear of the front for moving belts, etc.!!!) and see if you feel a pulsating breeze of air... i ended up having a hole on the o2 bung of my banks headers and it sounded crazy loud and it was only on one bank of the cylinders firing so the rattling banging noise was spread out like the sound of a diesel vehicle... Just another of many possibilities.