nineTHRTY

Hello all,

I have an '01 XJ with a 4.6L Golen stroker. And I do a lot of the work myself and have adequate knowledge of these XJs. I had a shop install it for me since I couldn't bear to do another engine swap with "friends". One thing that initially caught my eye was that the camshaft position sensor was "backwards" facing towards the front of the engine bay. Wasn't no big deal but it did bother me because the harness is only so long but the shop managed to plug them in which made the cables were tight and stressed. I really did not like this because I had a feeling over time it would damaged the cables or a wire would get pulled from the sensor. So I opted to change it back myself to where it would be facing the rear of the engine bay. I had done this plenty of times. I took out the synchronizer/oil pump driver, turned over my engine to TDC on Cyl #1 on the compression stroke. Plopped the driver back in and tightened everything up. Naturally I cranked her over to see if all was well. It was until I started hearing a noticeable ticking sound that turned into an almost really bad grinding sound really fast. I shut her off as quick as I could and reexamined my work. Nothing looked broken on the oil pump driver or camshaft. So I just did the whole process again and it was fine, but now when I accelerate there is a very strange feeling under my feet in the drivers seat and it will occasionally make that gear grinding sound. I really can't tell where it is coming from because I can only get it to make the sound while driving but it does sound/feel like it is coming from the bottom end of the engine.

If anyone has any kind of idea or needs any more information, it would be appreciated. I spent a lot of my hard earned money on this engine and I ain't tryna kill it.

Corky

Pull the oil filter off and see what's in there...If something is misaligned. stripping out. or just plain giving it up, there will be metal in the filter.. And you're sure you've got the CPS phasing correct ??

nineTHRTY

I am actually unsure what CPS phasing is, but I am assuming what you are referring to is what FSM says about aligning the oil pump driver with a toothpick or something similar as you drop it in. In that context yes. I was also told some metal shavings (very minor small shavings) would be normal after a few oil changes. I saw some after my first 500 before I did my adjustment of the oil pump driver.

Wrongholefool

If its an automatic check the flexplate bolts. They are commonly left loose during engine swaps and can cause lower end noises like you described.

nineTHRTY

Welp, after nearly of week of recording whenever I drive it hasn't done it again. So oh well I guess. Ż\_(ツ)_/Ż

nineTHRTY

Finally caught it on recording. I'm not an audio wiz so it may be a little hard to pick up but you can definitely hear it. The link expires in 24hours so if you want to hear it and it's expired to just let me know.
https://whyp.it/tracks/158822/2024-0...40?token=lCjDI

Edit: This is just a website to share audio recordings via a stream since the forum only supports photos.

nineTHRTY

Welp, for what it's worth if anyone cares. I took out the synchcro and gear and cam look fine. But I did notice the little flat driver for the oil pump has chunks of metal missing. Odd. Again retimed it, TDC compression stroke on Cyl #1. Dropped the synchro in with the two holes aligned and now it sounds even worse. Will try again tomorrow. May be I need to reset PCM?

Wrongholefool

You check them flexplate bolts yet?