Need Help Diagnosing Ticking Noise

Hey everyone! This is my first post but I’ve been a long time lurker on the forum. I have a 1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport with a 4.0L engine, AW-4 transmission and 231 transfer case. I have about 302,000 miles. My parents were the original owners and it was given to me about 50,000 miles ago. I know the history of the vehicle and it has been very well taken care of and runs like a Champ.

Which brings me to why I am making this thread. For the longest time the XJ would make a slight ticking noise under load when the engine was cold and would disappear when at operating temperature. Recently, however, the ticking has gotten much louder and is persistent. The ticking is there when cold and at operating temp. I don’t know if it’s a lifter tick (stuck lifter) or a rod knock. I’m pretty sure its not an exhaust manifold leak. It sound like it is coming from the back end of the engine and the sound can be hear very clearly from inside the cabin.

I made a recording of the ticking sound. Please have a listen and let me know what you’all think. I really love my XJ and want it to last as long as possible.

I recently began running Shell Rotella T6 5W40, which may be a contributor to the tick. I put in 6oz of Sea Foam into the crank case (engine has never been flushed before) and will change out the oil for Shell Rotella T5 10W30.

I am hoping this will quiet things down.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you and have a wonderful day!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V-h_nNJGNQ

That’s a sound I won’t ever forget. Stuck lifter. For me after the lifter stuck I drove it around for about a week and the stuck lifter ate up the intake lobe on the camshaft and I lost cly #1. Ended up having to do a new camshaft, new lifter, new pushrods, obviously new head gasket, and I went ahead and did a timing chain and gaskets while I was in there. Honestly was an easy job just very time consuming


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