98 XJ 4.0L Engine tick

[XJJordan]

Cheers Adrian,

So this afternoon I started it up and it ran for about 5 minutes or so with no noise, then the tick began to grow loud again to the point it was the day before. I have done a Nulon engine oil flush and dropped the oil and replaced with 15w-40 to see if that would make any difference with flush clean and new, slightly thicker oil to help the lifters. The tick is still there however. Before and after the oil change I tried the metal pipe from engine block to ear trick to have a listen, which was pretty interesting. I listened all the way along to top of the block, at rocker cover, then along the head, then a bit below. For the most part all I could hear is what I assume is 'normal' engine noise and maybe the faintest tick (meanwhile the tick was just as loud as ever). I then happened to be trying to get a better listen to the head behind the distributor and rested the pipe against the distributor and the tick sound was very loud. I listened, with the pipe, all around the distributor. It seemed loudest at the base of the distributor just below the cap and the noise lessened towards the block including the point where it is mounted/bolted to the block. The distributor seems to be the source of the sound. This is not a normal quiet spark type tick, its seems to be causing the very loud ticking sound. Any ideas about this?

I took the distributor cap off and had a look at the rotor and there seems to be maybe a couple of millimetres play back and forth if that? I gave it a bit of a wiggle and the sound it made, I think, could replicate the ticking noise when the engine is running. Any ideas on what the deal is with this development at all? Have you heard of a loud tick coming from a distributor at all?

Thanks again for the help guys!

[awg]

a variety of metal rods and practice is a good way to locate noises

distributors wear in bushings, shafts and gears.

if you know an experienced mechanic or autoelec, he should be able to confirm (or deny) your suspicion fairly quick

reading jeep forum, replacing dizzy on older petrols is not unknown

a helpful old skool wrecker can be a godsend, as these guys can supply a 2nd hand unit, and maybe listen to yours first, they know a fkd engine when they hear it

[XJJordan]

Cheers mate,

I was able to get a mechanic mate to swing by and have a look at it for me and after having a listen and a quick feel/inspection of the dizzy he was thinking along a similar line that the dizzy was the source of the noise. He helped take the dizzy out for me, while also explaining how to ensure everything goes back in so timing is not disrupted, and he had a good look at it. There looks to be a bit of play in the unit, certainly what would be enough to be causing the sound while the engine is running. So I'll change it out for a new one, hopefully Jeeepart has one in stock, and I'll repost with the results. Fingers crossed that's all it is. Replacing the dizzy sure beats taking off the head to replace lifters!

Thanks again for all the help guys! I'll let you know how it goes.
Cheers,
Peter

[It'sBigAl]

Hi Peter, I hope that's the source of your tick and it resolves itself nicely.

I'd still be keen to see a short video of what it sounds like as mine also has a tick and I'm trying to identify the exact source. I hadn't even thought of distributors, I must confess this is my first car to have a dizzy (if that doesn't give my age away I don't know what will)

I found a new distributor cap, rotor and coil all on eBay if you hit a brick wall elsewhere.

[LuluBelle]

your close to the wreckers at Harvey bay hope it solves the issue
_____ooooo
/__l_l_,\____\,___
l_---l_l__l---[ ]llllll[ ]
_.(o)_)__(o)_)--o-)_)

[Goneagain]

Good luck sounds like a good plan.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[XJJordan]

Hi all,

Seems like I might have had a win with the dizzy replacement. Got one from Jeeepart and a mate helped me put it in without messing up the timing. I took it to work today and no ticking noise which I'm pretty pumped about! Sure beats lifters!

I'm having issues getting my YouTube account to work properly so I can upload videos but I'll get them up ASAP. I've got one of before and after and also one showing the play in the dizzy which was causing the sound. Hopefully it might help someone out there. BigAl, best thing I can say in the meantime is to try the metal tube trick to listen around on the block. On mine the ticking was really loud on the dizzy, not just 'normal' rotational/spark type noises and the block itself just sounded normal like its moving parts were behaving. Best to have a good listen around to see what you can hear. With mine it was the whole distributor assembly that had to be replaced as there must have been a bearing or something in it that was stuffed. Just be very careful if you try to take it out of the block to inspect it that you make sure is goes back exactly right so the timing stays right. I just watched a few youtube vids to see how it was done but lucky I had a mate who knows more about these things then me so I could make sure it was done right haha.

Thanks again for all the help guys, very much appreciated!