I have and 86 Cherokee with a 2.8 liter motor. We think that it might be a cam bearing but we aren't sure exactly what it is. Any thoughts?

 

do you really think with the info we provided we can figure out what is wrong with your engine? seriously, it could be anything from a stuck lifter to an exhaust leak


my thoughts are you should ditch the turd 2.8 for a 4.0 powered XJ

 

GM's don't normally have cam bearings go out w/o bending the cam (as far as I know) so you may have a valve train problem, but need more info than 2.8 and a tick........ just so you know the 2.8 was a great motor in buick, pontiac, and olds cars but when it was put into trucks and the like it had lots of issues.

 

There isn't a whole lot more info that I have unfortunately. I know that we first thought it was a thrown rod but I don't have any power loss. The more I put on the gas the faster and louder the tick gets. We have replaced pretty much everything on my jeep or tinkered on everything but the motor and this is the last bit of the project to finish up.

 

How much does it cost to get a new 4.0?

 

I've seen running motors on craigslist for $300. of course "running" means different things to different people, lol. With any used motor I plan for the worst until it proves otherwise.
I've never shopped for a new or remanufactured 4.0 so I can't offer much there.


Is the tick an actual "tick", like a marble dropped into a metal can, or more of a dull thump? Anything that makes it go away or get worse?

 

It is more of a tick and the only thing that makes it get worse is putting on the gas and driving it.

 

it'd be much cheaper to just sell your rig and buy a 4.0 XJ. swapping one into your current XJ would take more work than its worth

 

Certain there isn't an exhaust leak?

 

At this point anything is possible. I will post a video of the engine to show you the noise and about where it is coming from. Thank you for the help and ideas!

 

get a video up and we could probly help more..
if you having a tough time pinpointing the place the tick is coming from try listening with a really long screwdriver like a stethoscope or heck, just buy a "mechanics stethoscope". they sell them at harbor freight for like 15 bucks. its one of my most used diagnostic tools!

 

not sure about your specific "tick" sorry..as for the engine swap though I agree that it would probably be better in the long (and maybe short lol) run to just look for a 4.0 XJ as opposed to an engine swap..and thats of course not knowing your specific situation...maybe you have people that could do it for you on the cheap, good deal on a motor, etc...I look on Craigs quite often for deals on parts and ALWAYS see XJ's on there for under 2g's...alot of them are 1000-1500 and some are in decent shape..I picked mine up for 15 and runs like a champ!! Good luck to ya..