952door4x4

Hi, I just bought my first XJ, 95 4.0 5-speed, and I still have it in the garage waiting for winter. I took it out the other day and out of nowhere it makes a weird clicking? sound. Something like a stick hitting the spokes of a bike wheel, very quick and even sounding. It only happens at 7+ mph and I havent taken it much faster than 20-25 mph and it's still there. It wounds like it's coming from the front passenger side. It's fine when it's not moving which makes me believe that its something with the driveline but I've never owned a 4x4 before. I dont think it's the clutch either because it's fine if I keep it slow in the driveway or just let the clutch out real slow, it works fine and engages smoothly and correctly. I'm pretty sure that the guy I bought it from said he replaced the transfer case, but then again I have no idea how to verify that. Any help would be appreciated, I work on mustangs and camaros, so this is all new to me. Thanks

TrekkerJmm

Hi, does it do it in 4 wheel or all the time? if its in 4 wheel it could be the T-case chain if it does it most/all the time not being in 4 wheel it could be a U-Joint in the drive shaft or the front axle. Jack it up (front) and in neutral spin the front wheels by hand (motor NOT running) and also the drive shaft and listen to see if you hear where its coming from...Tj
BTW Nice Color...lol

Parkian

I had a ticking sound in the area of my front passenger side about two years ago. You could hear the tick every rotation of the wheels. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I probably had a warped rotor. Shortly after buying the jeep four years ago I noticed that the previous owner had curbed the jeep pretty could, to the point of grinding off a chunk of the outside lip on my right front rim. I suspected this could be related to the warped rotor. I took the jeep to my usual mechanic and they couldn’t figure out (idiot), even after I told them what I thought it was.

I ended up taking it to the dealership my folks deal with because I figured if anybody wants to ensure I spend money on my vehicle it was the dealership. Later that day they called me up and said my jeep was ready. So I went down there and the guy who checked it out told me everything was fine. I said did you hear the ticking sound, he said no. So I took him for a drive and we both heard it. He then proceeded to tell me that brakes rub that’s normal, ok, whatever (idiot). So I went and talked to the service manager, who then proceeded to tell me, as he turned the rotor with his hands, that brakes rub. I said I understand that but if it's only rubbing/catching once every rotation (like it was) then the rotor must be warped. He insisted (in a real condescending way) that it was normal, essentially saying I knew nothing about the concept of rotation and friction (idiot).

My neighbour recommended I take it to the mechanic that they deal with, so I did. What do you know… a few hours after I dropped it off I got a call from the mechanic. Turns out I HAD A WARPED ROTOR just like I suspected from the start. I was happy to finally deal with someone who knew what they were doing and I now deal with them exclusively. So they replaced both front rotors and I didn’t hear a thing until about two months ago…..the ticking sound had returned coming from the front passenger side.

Does the sound stop when you are on the brakes??? Because mine did, which is how I diagnosed the problem initially. Do you hear the sound once every rotation??? Do you get a slight shake when you brake coming from the front end????

Maybe someone else can back me up here or maybe I’m way off base but I think my warped rotors might be related to a damaged spindle??? due to the likely impact with a curb from the previous owner. I’m thinking that the rotor is rotating slightly off centre now leading to the uneven wear.

This is extremely frustrating and the sound drives me nuts when my windows are down. I’m going to get the rotor machined as a band-aid fix until I can confirm the source of my problem before I go buying more rotors.

Please Please....someone correct me if you think I'm barking up the wrong tree here. Otherwise I hope this helps you out.

tampaviking

It could be the anti rattle clips for the brake pads. They are really cheap and a easy thing to just replace and see if it fixes your problem, Mine clicked and I tried alot of stuff first but the clips took the noise away

Parkian

thanks for the tip!!

952door4x4

Dang! I couldnt wait 3 more days to bring this bad boy back to like after a year lol. I was looking through my threads and wanted to give you guys some closure on this, and a fix if someone has the same problem. It was the broken fan shroud hitting on the fan.... super lame, nothing exciting. Just wanted to let you know what happened and maybe give someone searching a next place to look