KD3NE

Thats sounds like my 1996 XJ, but it quiets down once warmed up.

Mine is a 5 speed, manual tranny.

I'm shopping for another motor!


EDIT: I was told a quick way to diagnose bearings .....

Remove #6 plug wire ...... restart and check for noise. If noise goes away, or changes look to that bearing.
Remove #5 plug wire ...... restart and check for noise. If noise goes away, or changes look to that bearing.
Remove #4 plug wire ...... restart and check for noise. If noise goes away, or changes look to that bearing.
Remove #3 plug wire ...... restart and check for noise. If noise goes away, or changes look to that bearing.
Remove #2 plug wire ...... restart and check for noise. If noise goes away, or changes look to that bearing.
Remove #1 plug wire ...... restart and check for noise. If noise goes away, or changes look to that bearing.

crbnfibr

x2 bump

BurninBridges

I finally have a day off tomorrow. I got to check these bolts, then change the belt, and finally change my oil. I am also gonna take of the fenders and bumper caps (they are lookin ugly) and start my build thread with tons of picks. But first things first, I gotta get my xj running good and make sure its even worth building this one.

Another note on the sound, it does not increase in loudness or get faster with throttle either. It is constant, in both volume and frequency.

BurninBridges

Ok. Well, my mechanic friend and I removed the inspection plate today and took a look. I did the work at my friend's house and forgot my camera, but the pictures on here pretty much show all there is to show. There was a bolt slightly loose and my friend tightened it up. The sound dropped significantly, but still remains. I inspected the flexplate for cracks and found none fortunately, yet this ticking/clicking noise still remains. I am done worrying about it. My XJ has 193,000 miles on it anyway, so I am sure there is gonna be noises here and there. As far as my mechanic friend is concerned, the noise is nothing to worry to much about unless it gets worse. He said that for the year and mileage I have, it sounds pretty damn good. He checked it out under the hood and was surprised how clean it looked and how well everything was maintained. He said the same about underneath the Jeep. It seems that the previous owner never did any modifications, nor took it off-road from the looks of things. So, I conclusion, I am ready to begin my build with a cherokee that seems to be in good working order. I thank you all for your help. Take care.

eastonarcher1993

had mine making an identical sound...your torque converter bolts are loose and your first cylinder is misfiring..its just clinking in there..new ignition wires, spark plugs, dist cap, rotor, and tightening those bolts will shut it up for good

larryftmfw

Where are these bolts located on an 04 v8 4.7l ho?

cruiser54

There are 3 more bolts to tighten!!! You only tightened one. Remove loose bolts, clean the threads, add LocTite 242 to the threads and reinstall. Rotate the engine around til you see the next bolt. Repeat til 4 are done.

BurninBridges

I did tighten all 4. There was only 1 that was slightly loose, the rest were tight. For some reason, there is a 18mm bolt on the driver side that cannot be full removed without moving the exhaust out of the way. So I was only able to tighten the bolts because I could not get the inspection plate fully removed, thus I was only able to tighten the bolts. I could not remove the bolts with the inspection plate in the way. I will try to lower the exhaust pipe on my next day off and then I will be able to fully remove the bolts, clean them, then add some red locktite. Do you think throttle body cleaner would be good to clean the bolts with?

crbnfibr

we use brake parts cleaner at the shop...

BotakBeng

Just loosen the bolt and bent the inspection plate, no need to drop the down pipe.

BurninBridges

I finally had some time to get back under the jeep again today. This time I did it in my driveway at home, so I got a chance to take plenty of pictures, and some more video. So here is what I did:

First, I gathered the basic stuff i would need for this. 18mm socket, 18mm box-end wrench, 13mm socket, 13mm box-end wrench, 15mm box-end wrench, brake parts cleaner, and some red loc-tite. (Not everything is pictured here):




Next, I grabbed the 18mm and 13mm sockets and wrenchs, climbed under the jeep, and removed the flexplate inspection cover, pictured here:




Here is the inpection cover after I removed it. you can see that it is filthy, covered in oily gunck, and i had to bend it a bit to get the thing off:







Then I cleaned the cover and mounting bolts, using brake parts cleaner, a toothbrush, a rag, and some elbow grease (you can see it is still bent so I could put it back the way it came out):





Now I could finally begin the work on the flexplate to torque converter bolts. For this I used a 15mm box-end wrench, brake parts cleaner, and red loc-tite.







I lucked out and the first bolt came out quite easy. Probably the main problem. I cleaned it with brake parts cleaner, added some loc-tite (yeah I know the stuff I have isn't really loc-tite, but works the same), then put it back. Getting that bolt back in was a huge PITA, due to the oil pan restricting the work space. It was also very hard to get it fully tightened again because the flexplate wanted to keep moving. Doe anyone have an easy solution that will keep the flexplate from moving while tightening the bolts? Anyways, here is the flexplate to torque converter bolt:




After that bolt was reinstalled, it was off to the other 3 left. The only problem I had was that I couldn't get the other 3 loose! They were on there so tight, and again, I could not hold the flexplate tight enough to keep it from moving. I hope someone has an easy solution for this they can add to this thread. Anyways, I decided to just make sure that all the bolts were as tight as possible, then fired up the jeep (without the flexplate inspection cover on, just in case I needed to tighten the problem bolt some more). Problem soved!

You can watch this video after I did this and compare it to the first video on this thread. HUGE difference (now you can clearly hear my exhaust leak that is before the catalytic converter, lol, which my friend will be fixing with a weld next week lol):



I then put the clean inspection cover and clean bolts back into place, of course having turned the engine off again lol. (I know that cleaning these parts wasn't completely necessary, but I like things to be clean lol):




Well, thank you all for your help and advise!!! I hope this thread will help others fix this problem, without having to pay a shop to do it. Thanks again!!!

BotakBeng

Thank you!

Pics does help alot.

Good job!

cruiser54

I'm saving a link to this!!

A 3/4" socket on a breaker bar to hold the front crank bolt BTW. I've also wedged a screwdriver into the ring gear teeth to hold it from turning.

BurninBridges

Thanks for your help cruiser. You were right all along. I thought about using a screwdriver in the teeth, but I was afraid I might put burrs in the teeth. Now that the inspection plate cover and its mounting bolts are clean, It will be easy to access if that noise starts happening again. I checked the plate for cracks and it looks like its in pretty good shape. I am going to write up a new thread with the original video and my step by step photos and instructions titled "Flexplate to Torque Converter Knocking: How to Fix It," mainly because my title of this thread is misleading (not the lifters at all) and hopefully it will be easier for people on CF to find it by searching. I will make sure you get credit for the help too cruiser (and botakbeng) lol.

Cherry_key

I guess you better go back for 10 more years cause all the first 5 years gave you is a big head and a bad attitude...