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Bad Lifter Tick

J

JRWinnett

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Utah
Alright NAXJA, I am back again with another problem with my 1993 XJ. Today after driving around with some buddies we stopped and went into a store. I came out, started my Jeep and I had a bad lifter tick. Honestly thought my motor was knocking. Drove it home, and it would go away for a little while, or become so faint I couldn't tell it was there. Then sometimes at lights it would come back pretty noisily. At home, I let it sit for around 1/2 an hour, started it again and there was no tick. Revved it and everything and there was no noise. Turned it off and started it again and it was back pretty loud. I have no experience with a lifter tick so what do you guys think I should do next?

-JRW
 
Start with a oil flush(additives) and oil/filter change. How many miles on it and what weight oil do you run?
 
I'm normally not a fan of additives but a family member had a wj (4.0) with awful lifter tick. He used a quart of duralube every oil change and it made an impressive reduction in the noise. It went from obnoxious to barely noticeable. Just a warning though, it's about 15 bucks a quart. He has tried multiple other things including atf with no success.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
It could be as simple as MMO or Seafoam.
 
I was going to suggest swapping in a quart of oil for MMO for a short time, then do an oil change
 
So an update on my problem. While the Jeep was running I crawled under and did more research about how a loose flexplate can make a noise similar and when pushing on the flexplate cover I could feel the tick. Pulled the cover, all the bolts were loose. I’ve tightened them til I could turn the flexplate with the wrench but I’ve found a problem bolt. 1 of the 4 bolts is not tightened all the way, meaning it isn’t flush with the flex plate but it’s so tight I can turn the plate when I have my wrench on the bolt trying to tighten it. Any ideas what that could mean?
 
JRWinnett said:
So an update on my problem. While the Jeep was running I crawled under and did more research about how a loose flexplate can make a noise similar and when pushing on the flexplate cover I could feel the tick. Pulled the cover, all the bolts were loose. I’ve tightened them til I could turn the flexplate with the wrench but I’ve found a problem bolt. 1 of the 4 bolts is not tightened all the way, meaning it isn’t flush with the flex plate but it’s so tight I can turn the plate when I have my wrench on the bolt trying to tighten it. Any ideas what that could mean?
Click to expand...

It means that bolt has been torqued so much that the bolt is permanently deformed/streched or was just the wrong length to begin with. Could also be crud or what's left of a broken bolt, but I kinda doubt it. Remove and replace with new. Make sure to use Loctite on the new bolt. I believe the red stuff is the best for this application.
 
JeepNoob said:
It means that bolt has been torqued so much that the bolt is permanently deformed/streched or was just the wrong length to begin with. Could also be crud or what's left of a broken bolt, but I kinda doubt it. Remove and replace with new. Make sure to use Loctite on the new bolt. I believe the red stuff is the best for this application.
Click to expand...



See I probably should do that. I tried to remove the bolt but no matter how hard I yanked it just turned the flex plate. So, I just made sure everything was tight, put the cover back on and now I have no tick. Maybe in the future when I have more time and money I’ll fix the problem, but seeing as I gotta get to work in the morning I think it will be good for a little while. There’s no more tick so that’s awesome. I appreciate all the replies you guys leave, it’s more helpful than you think.

-JRW
 
JeepNoob said:
It means that bolt has been torqued so much that the bolt is permanently deformed/streched or was just the wrong length to begin with. Could also be crud or what's left of a broken bolt, but I kinda doubt it.
Click to expand...
Or the loose bolt has deformed threads close to the shoulder/head that keep it from tightening.

JRWinnett said:
I tried to remove the bolt but no matter how hard I yanked it just turned the flex plate...

Spray the bolt with penetrating oil and wedge a pry bar into the teeth of the flexplate/flywheel to keep it from turning. Gently tighten and loosen the bolt until you feel it free up.

Maybe in the future when I have more time and money I’ll fix the problem, but seeing as I gotta get to work in the morning I think it will be good for a little while...

I appreciate all the replies you guys leave, it’s more helpful than you think.

-JRW
Click to expand...
SOP is to wedge a pry bar into the teeth of the flexplate/flywheel to keep it from turning while you torque the fastener to its required torque.

The good news is that you have not snapped any bolts while trying to tighten them.

The bad news is that you need to spend another afternoon under the Jeep replacing the one that did not seat properly, and getting all 4 bolts torqued to spec.
 
Last edited:
Hypoid said:
SOP is to wedge a pry bar into the teeth of the flexplate/flywheel to keep it from turning while you torque the fastener to its required torque.
Click to expand...

Careful doing that so you don't damage the flexplate. A wrench on the front crank bolt is usually sufficient since the torque on it is much higher than you need to torque the t/c bolts. Use locktite on the t/c bolts.
 
Loose flex plate, one of four bolts possibly stretched and wont hold. So now you have only three bolts doing the job of four, and who knows the condition of these three bolts, perhaps damaged too. But even if these three are perfect, bolt four is useless. The flex plate is to be secured with four not three.

Id replace all four with new bolts . If that flex plate comes off, it will be a bad day. invest in four new bolts is my advice.
 
I would replace all the flex-to-t/c bolts as well if they've been loose. The set of 4 is Dorman part number 14040 for $6 on Amazon or at Autozone. They come with locktite already applied, and need 40 ft-lbs torque.
 
The bolts weren't stretched. They were under torqued. Remove, clean the threads of the bolt, apply LocTite and tighten the piss out of them. They're special hardened bolts. Ain't getting a torque wrench in there anyway.
 
When those bolts are loose enough the truck can sound terrifying to someone who doesn't recognize it - first time I heard it, I was standing by the front wheel of an MJ with loose bolts as it was just being started, and I all but dove to the ground away from the thing expecting pistons/rods to come blasting through the fender at any second.

Probably looked pretty funny from someone else's point of view (and does to me now), but I felt like I'd come within a whisker of needing clean shorts at the time.

Glad you found your problem, and good luck getting things tightened down properly.
 
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