So finally getting the jeep on the road, and I am getting a clicking noise when driving around. Specifically when pressing on the accelerator.


Any help figuring it out would be helpful. I've replaced like.... everything on this stupid jeep, and then it sat for a year, so I don't even know where to start.

Few thoughts:

1: Check your distributor for shaft wobble and look under the cap for unusual wear.

2: Check and see if your harmonic balance pulley has moved and letting the pulley make contact with the motor.

3: check your coil for a crack causing it to arc to the engine

It doesn't sound like an internal noise from the motor or transmission.

Hope this helps

I am not an expert...Just owned the same Jeep for over 25 years.

Have a great day

Looks like the bell crank is fixed. It is hard to hear over the wind noise being picked up by the mic, but it sounds like a small exhaust leak.

Check the exhaust manifold for cracks at the collector if you suspect an exhaust leak.

1) distributer is brand new.
2) checked it, looks good and no sign of wear around it.
3) Coil is brand new

You can hear the noise better starting about 30 seconds into the video.

Start listening at about 30 seconds in, and you can hear it better, it's almost a metallic click.

Yeah, I hear it. It is not regular like an exhaust leak. I've got nothing for you. It doesn't do it when in park or neutral? Just when you are moving?

It sounds like thin gauge metal. Two thoughts, if the motor mounts are worn, then maybe the fan is contacting the shroud or transmission cooling line contacting the harmonic balancer. The other though, you just had the flexplate replaced. Could the inspection plates be loose or making contact with something rotating? Are all the transmission to engine fasteners tight?

not even when moving, specifically when I am accelerating.

i’ll check the fan, great suggestion. It has new motor mounts, the inspection plate is missing (was when I bought it).

So only when accelerating could be mounts as the engine leans over from torque. Could be flex plate or distributor as described above when they load up in the power on direction. You get the idea here o items to think about.

Did it start out of the blue, or did it start when some work was done. If so, then you'll have to verify all that work. Parts sometimes fail beore "burn in" is complete, and fasteners sometimes come back loose after being touched.

On the new parts did you specifically check for shaft play or other defects? I've seen a lot of new parts in the last couple years that were worse than the parts I was taking off after 30 years of use.

I bought it not running and did a bunch of work to it. Flex plate was recently replaced at a shop, noise was there before and after. The noise was there before and after replacing the distributor as well. Motor mounts are new and are this style: https://amzn.to/3PqI1Ay

Is there any change to the sound if you are in 4WD modes?

Haven't tried. I'll see if that changes anything.

I was leaning towards a u-joint, I did replace all those, could they sound like this if I did a bad install?

I saw over on your "builds" forum that you had to remove a few inches from your tailpipe. Was that the source of the "clicking noise"? If so, I wish I would have thought of that, I had the same problem with the same solution.