Greetings, 9 months I bought my daughter a 2000 Grand Cherokee for her 16th birthday. Jeep was a nice buy with only a small tick in the lifter when the engine was cold (230k miles), A project i was going to eventually do (sure)...Several days ago, the lifter noise got very loud, and ALL the time. So, time to schedule the repair. Today, something horribly failed. Still starts, but noise is extremely loud and shakes the whole engine so bad you you don't want to let the engine run. Is this still repairable under the typical lifter repair? Jeep is extremely clean on the inside, only a few minor dings/scratches on the body, and two small but growing spots of rust. We got the Jeep cheap due to a bad heater core the owner didn't want to deal with (it is now fixed). Our plan was for her to drive this and hopefully get 2/3 years from it. Anyone have experience with this issue? its just a daily commuter for her, school. job etc. would like to keep it going for awhile. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Jeff

Pull the valve cover off and check the rocker arms. It's possible a pushrod socket fractured and the rod pushed thru it. I saw it happen on a 5.2L V8.

You are talking about a 4.0L, right?

Update on Lifter but Different. Yes, 4.0. After some inspection work now that I got it back to my garage, I pulled valve cover off, no rods have pushed thru, BUT, I do have an engine block full of coolant! Not being familiar with these engines, anyone have experience with this issue? Is it worth spending the time to repair? Last time I dealt with something like this it was a bit more severe, I found the bottom half of a connecting rod laying in the bilge of my boat.

Sounds like the lifter tick you heard may have been the piston coming up against coolant in the combustion chamber. That engine is going to need rebuilding. Sounds like not just head gasket issues but if you ran it for any length of time with coolant in the oil the main and rod bearings are more than likely trashed also.