i have a rattle in my engine that could possibly be from under the valve cover, has anyone else had this problem? and if you have how do you fix it? my jeep also sounds like a diesel on start up and it revs up to about 3krpm before it drops to idle, is that normal? the engine has about 118,000 miles on it. tank you

The first thing I'd do is pull and clean the Idle Air Control and give your throttle body a good cleaning with your favorite Carb & Choke Cleaner.
When was your last oil change and what did you use?

Do you have good oil pressure? Frank is on the right track, so do what he suggested and when you change oil Please no FRAM filters. Get back with us when you have had a chance to do as Frank suggested.

the oil was changed in the past week, im pretty sure we used castrol and a bosch oil filter.

at idle the oil pressure is about 20 psi, and it jumps to about 40 when i give it gas. i refuse to use FRAM! before i got my oil change i looked and i did have a FRAM... i almost cried.

Good to hear. Try cleaning the IAC and the Throttle body see if that helps. Do you have good oil pressure. Best way to tell is to put a real gauge where the oil pressure sender is. Then look at it when you start it cold and again when at operating temp. Low oil pressure means your valvetrain is being starved and that can be an expensive fix not a simple fix. Lets cross that bridge when we get to it!

alright, i will definitely try to get all that done soon. i can't let my baby die!
my dad took off the valve cover and cranked the engine and there was oil getting to the valve train.

If you have as good a oil pressure as your dash gauge says then we have to look at loose valve train components. PO may have loosened up something and then got scared and sold you the XJ.
It has been awhile but I have seen a 258 6cyl. that the owner's son saw dad take the filler cap off and while dad wasn't looking dropped a handful of nuts and bolts in the hole. I bought that Jeep pretty cheap and had it fixed in a day.

my dad thought it could have been a loose rocker arm making the noise but we looked and they were all fine. what do you recommend for an aftermarket oil pressure gauge?

Well I don't really have a recomendation. I have one that was a motorcycle one and has the fluid filled face and thats what I use but any parts place can hook you up.

how much is one normally?

$15-$20 at the most I would think. Somebody else want to chime in here?

that's awesome. is installation hard? my dad's ASE certified so it shouldn't be too much of a trouble for him.

Unscrew the sender and screw the gauge in it's place. Use teflon tape. You may need an elbow to make it easier to read.
We need to stop posting as we are in the wrong area. This whole thread should be in Cherokee Chat area.

oh, my bad! see i told i was new. dang lol forum closed