spjohnson1031

Hello all!

I recently purchased a stock 2001 Cherokee Sport 4.0L. Since I've gotten it, there's been a substantial engine tick. This tick is particularly bad when cold, but subsides when warmed. Even when warmed however, the tick is still audible, just much quieter. I know a lot of the 4.0L's have this problem. Can anyone diagnose this issue?

I initially thought it might just be piston slap but it seems too substantial to be just that. I'm thinking lifters now. What does anyone else think? Can the lifters be replaced by removing the push-rods and just pulling them with a lifter removal tool?

Is whatever's going on damaging my engine? Think it's safe to continue driving? Thanks guys!

Video of it running cold:
Video of it after being warmed:

riderjay253

pull the valve cover and push on the cups
they will wiggle back and forth
but shouldn't front to back
you can change the bad lifters with a magnet, look for the utube videos about it , you can try running a valve cleaning product if no push rods are bent you can take them out with out a valve spring tool and roll them on a flat surface.

NM-XJ

Yup, sounds like lifters to me. How and if you need to proceed, though, is beyond my knowledge.

spjohnson1031

Thanks for the input. Has anyone had any experience with replacing just the lifters and not the cam?

penny is all i have left

Mines making same noises, has since I get her 2 years ago, and 20 some odd thousand miles later still pullin strong.

BruceB

Check distributor for side to side play be removing cap and moving the rotor side to side. Bearing goes bad and ticking sound reverberates through entire engine.

hope this helps

rdr8887

Yes. You can replace the lifters by themselves. However, I'm pretty sure you're pulling the head to do this. Not a bad job and it gives you an excuse to check it and replace the gasket before it fails and ruins your motor.

Basically you're looking for loose rockers and inspecting the oil delivery to the rockers under normal operation. A few things can cause this. Mine happened to be a bent pushrod. Watch the videos and follow the steps in my below post.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/eng...shrods-213335/

Jooman07

Not saying this will fix your issue but mine was doing this for a while, I recently switched to Rotella T5 and i no longer does it. Been a bout a week now and still no sound of sticky lifters. If you don't want to tear into it right away you might can try some Marvel Mystery Oil with your next oil change if you don't want to switch oil brands.

bryanintowson

Mine has this problem too - 186K on the motor. It comes and goes which tells me it's probably a bad lifter. It's not the end of the world but using a different oil as suggested here could help alleviate some of the noise.

bryanintowson

Update: Lifter can be replaced without removing the head:

Jooman07

I should've thought to check mine like he did in that video when I changed my valve cover gasket a while back. I still had the noise then. That's what happens when you do things in a hurry.

bigbadon

Lifters on a 4.0 CAN NOT be removed without pulling head!

rdr8887

I would recommend looking to see what the cause is. Follow the steps in the link I posted and you will determine the cause. Mine happened to be a severely bent pushrod. These kinds of problems are not good and kill these motors.

It only takes 15 minutes to pull the valve cover off. You can re-use the gasket. In the time it takes you to put in some magic juice you could have determined the real source of your problems. The quickest way to kill a motor is to overheat it or starve it of oil.

spjohnson1031

Agreed, I'm planning on pulling the valve cover this weekend to scout around. Any advice on what to look for? I haven't had it off on my Jeep yet.

Are loose rockers indications of a bad lifter?

Can you pull the push-rods straight out by hand or do you need a tool?

I appreciate all your help

Jooman07

Should be able to take the rockers off then the push rods come right out. Don't get them mixed up though. Take them out in order and put them back in the same order.