Topic: Still have lifter noise

[JFortner5]

 Still have my lifter noise on cold starts. I tried marvel mystery oil which I read a lot of people have had luck with. That didn't help, if anything it made it worse. I drained that crap out and now I'm running Chevron Delo 400 15w-40. The ticking doesn't last as long with it, but its still there. I guess I'm trying to find out what my next step is.  I'm thinking about pulling the valve cover and checking the torque on the rockers. What about replacing the lifters?  Do I absolutely have to replace the cam when doing them?  I'd rather not tear that far into it but I guess if I have to I will.

I know everybody says the 2.5L is a noisy engine, but I can hear this sound while driving. Then when the lifter finally pumps up its quiet the rest of the trip. Just for a little background on it, this only happens when the engine cold. I can start it up and it sounds okay for about 30 seconds. Then gradually the ticking starts and gets pretty loud. Then it will stop instantly. Usually after it stops it will gradually come back again. This usually happens a few times before it finally stops for good. It never takes more than 5 minutes for it to completely quit. 

I don't think its an exhaust leak, in fact I've pretty much ruled that out.  The way it instantly stops pretty much leads me to believe its a lifter.

Sorry this got a little long and thanks for reading,

Joey

[Torch_Ind]

could have a hydraulic lifter failing or rod knocking

[JFortner5]

I don't think its a rod but I hope you're wrong haha. If it were a rod I just don't think it would ever stop.

[Torch_Ind]

I don't think its a rod but I hope you're wrong haha. If it were a rod I just don't think it would ever stop.

could depend on oil pressure  and engine load

[sharpxmen]

you don't have to replace the cam when replacing the hydraulic lifters

[JFortner5]

I had a few minutes today at work to mess with the Jeep.  I went out and started it up, the noise appeared shortly after.  I pulled the oil fill cap off just to get a quick peek inside.  The two rockers I could see had great oiling, so I'm hoping the rest will too.  On the other hand, when I took the oil cap off there is a good bit of air blowing out of the hole.  Is that normal from the pumping of the pistons or is it blowby?  I've never done this on any other vehicles I have had so I wasn't sure if its normal or not.

I am having a hard time pin pointing where the sound is coming from.  I can hear it from the top, but I can hear it under the Jeep too.  I was trying to eliminate the possibility of a knocking rod so I pulled a couple plug wires until I shocked the shit out of myself.  Lesson of the day, wear rubber or thick leather gloves or something when doing this  .  After some more searching the internet it seems that a rod knock gets louder with acceleration and engine load, and does not ever stop while the engine is running.  It doesn't make sense that it ever would either.

I have thought of a new possibility though, is it possibly piston slap? 

So I think Ive narrowed it down to three things-

1) Lifter

2) Possibly piston slap?

3) Possible exhaust manifold leak?  I know the manifold can make a ticking sound, but would it instantly stop?  I understand that as metal heats it expands, but it seems like that would make the noise slowly go away instead of instantly stopping.  I do have an exhaust leak somewhere though, I can smell it while driving.  I wish it were that simple.

[grumpygy]

My Exhaust has leaked for years and yes it can stop reral quick.  As soon as the manifold heats up and expands to seal the area.  Mine is from a broken bolt the back one.  From what I've heard straight from the factory jeep did not use any gaskets on the exhaust side and from looking close I do not see any.

[Torch_Ind]

could be piston slap also.

but I have had a engine that didn't knock when idle it would only do it when rev up....

but with rod and especially main bearings you may notice lower then normal oil pressure but not always if it's just rod bearings

hydro lifters could be getting good oil flow and/or pressure and still just not hold the push-rod / rocker enough and cause noise.

exhaust noise should be easy to find.  engine may require disassembled and inspected and measured..

for a bad lifter I would try Lucas Oil additive to try and seal up the lifter if it goes away with that stuff it's prob a lifter

[JFortner5]

I'm sorry for posting so much about this and I really appreciate everyone's help. I'm just concerned about it because the Jeep is my daily driver. I probably worry about it more than I should I just want it to be right and hopefully get me to 200k.

[sharpxmen]

lifter noise is due to the filter bleeding fast or not holding pressure at all most of the time and in rare cases due to lack of oil pressure - if the latter is the concern you could install a $20 mechanical pressure gauge to make sure your's in not faulty and not giving you the right info.

[Torch_Ind]

lifter noise is due to the filter bleeding fast or not holding pressure at all most of the time and in rare cases due to lack of oil pressure - if the latter is the concern you could install a $20 mechanical pressure gauge to make sure your's in not faulty and not giving you the right info.

filter bleeding fast?  what! if the filter is bleeding fast that = low oil pressure and could damage much more then just the lifters!!


If you got low oil pressure you got bigger prob's then lifter noise.
when hydro lifters make noise it's because the seals are done in them and they aren't holding oil inside the lifter it's self.. when the cam pushes the lifter the oil squishes out of them and causes play between the rod and the rocker. causing the noise.

[sharpxmen]

filter bleeding fast?  what! if the filter is bleeding fast that = low oil pressure and could damage much more then just the lifters!!

i meant to type lifter not filter

[Torch_Ind]

i meant to type lifter not filter

  ok that makes way more sense lol

[Duck Dodgers]

I had the same thing a while back. Started getting a little knocking at start up then it would go away after it warmed up. As time progressed it started taking longer to go away so I figured it also was a bad rocker. I replaced all the rockers and push-rods. Seemed to help but knock was still there. after another month the knock progressively got worse. I too could not pin point noise. So I replaced all the lifters. Still no improvement. I thought must be Rod Bearings. Replaced those. Nope still had the noise. Turned out I had 2 cracked piston skirts. New pistons rings etc. and now the knock is gone. It was the #2 & #3  pistons, the interesting thing is that my exhaust manifold had cracks bay the 2 & 3 ports. Anyway all is good now.

[Torch_Ind]

I had the same thing a while back. Started getting a little knocking at start up then it would go away after it warmed up. As time progressed it started taking longer to go away so I figured it also was a bad rocker. I replaced all the rockers and push-rods. Seemed to help but knock was still there. after another month the knock progressively got worse. I too could not pin point noise. So I replaced all the lifters. Still no improvement. I thought must be Rod Bearings. Replaced those. Nope still had the noise. Turned out I had 2 cracked piston skirts. New pistons rings etc. and now the knock is gone. It was the #2 & #3  pistons, the interesting thing is that my exhaust manifold had cracks bay the 2 & 3 ports. Anyway all is good now.