Car Problems

[Wired2theT]

I've got a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Yesterday, when driving home I noticed a ticking noise. Sounds kinda like if you were to put a baseball card in your bike spokes as a kid. I checked the levels and I was about 2 quarts low on oil and a little low on coolant. I have topped these off since then.

Now when I start it up you can hear the ticking noise a little bit. As you accelerate the ticking gets louder. After driving for a few minutes the noise goes away, unless under heavy acceleration. Anybody have any suggestions as to what could be the problem. I've had one person suggest trying to replace the oil pump, which is something I can probably do myself. I'm not really knowledgeable about cars and engines but handy enough to figure out and fix more minor problems on past cars and hopefully this will be another one of those.

[Chugachjed]

Adjust valve lash.

[reynolds.trailrun]

^^^ That would be the first thing to check/have checked.

[NmbrdDays]

Add marvel mystery oil to you oil. You might have a stuck lifter in the valve cover. How many miles are on yours?

[RobertRS]

When I was a mechanic the boss had a phrase he used often: "Test, don't guess", which means just that, thru the process of elimination and testing to establish components that passed the test and those that were iffy and those that failed. I realize this is not the answer you are looking for but the two answers you have gotten are all a little different although they point to the same place.

Yes you can replace the oil pump, but why replace it if it is not at fault? Replacing the part is the easy part, deciding which part to replace, now that's the hard part.

Is your vehicle down on power, does it have a slight miss at idle or idle slightly rough?

[AdironRider]

Exhaust manifolds/gaskets can often have a tick esque noise to them and pretty common on domestics. V8?

[Skihuckster]

Have had exactly this problem. Needed valve lash adjusted due to normal wear on shims. Ticking gone

Mechanic told me wasn't a big deal to ignore though I had the repair done anyway since it annoyed me.

[Chugachjed]

Valve lash is easy to adjust if you've got feeler gauges.

[anddrivew]

Valve lash is easy to adjust if you've got feeler gauges.No doubt in it but you need to take some other safety measures like wearing hip protectors as well.Anyhow thanks for the updates.



patient care products

[PNWbrit]

I've had one person suggest trying to replace the oil pump

Also you could try replacing air in tires and install new headlight bulbs.

[Wired2theT]

Haha, thanks for the responses good and bad. So far I've been trying not to drive it and jumping on the bike to get around as I'm incredibly busy at the moment. I'm definitely going to look into adjusting the valve lash. For those who asked it is a V8, 4.7 I think and just over 100,000. It can be a little inconsistent when idling every so often, so I guess I would say a slight miss as somebody mentioned. It doesn't seem to be down on power, but I've been taking it a lot easier when driving.

Other updates when I did drive it I found three nails and no air in one of my tires, luckily I have much more experience changing tires.

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[Chugachjed]

I'll second the marvel mystery oil. That is some amazing stuff. If its missing you might need a tune up ie. plugs and wires that's another easy job.

[anddrivew]

No doubt Valve lash is easy to adjust but I had a great failure regarding this last year.

[Wired2theT]

I'm going to look into this marvel mystery oil but is this more of a bandaid fix. To me it sounds like just adding this to my oil seems a little too easy, making me a little skeptical. Either way I'll read some reviews. Someone recommended I add it to my oil, which I'm about due for a change anyway so that shouldn't be a problem. I read some people saying to use a different oil and "cut it" with marvel mystery oil. For instance I run 5W30 and they said use 10W40 and cut it with MMO to achieve similar viscosity. Other than that, most reviews seem to be talking about mixing this with my fuel. Would putting the recommended amount in when I fill up help or should I stick to adding it to oil, or both?

Looks like I'm gonna have to start watching some videos on adjusting valve lash too. Is this something I can do myself. Do I need special tools? I've got pretty much every tool you could need to work on a house or other project but nothing auto specific. I've got a neighbor kid into 4 wheeling and is always tooling on his stuff so he might have some tools and be willing to help for little compensation.

[jfost]

... I've got a neighbor kid into 4 wheeling and is always tooling on his stuff so he might have some tools and be willing to help for little compensation.

wait until his dad is out of earshot and ask to use his "feeler gauges"... if he's inot it, you're golden!

[El Chupacabra]

Marvel Mystery Oil can sometimes help by freeing up sticking lifters, but IDK if this is the problem with your engine.

Did you have that ticking noise before you ran the engine 2 qts. low on oil?

[Wired2theT]

No, the ticking noise just started and that is what made me realize I was low on oil. Never had a problem with it before. I've been paying attention when pulling out of parking spots or anywhere its been sitting to look for oil leaks but there is no evidence of that so it made me wonder if it was burning oil and if there were any issues there.

I haven't checked it in a couple days but the oil level seems to be staying the same. Last time I changed the oil was before taking a ski trip in mid February.

[The Reverend Floater]

Down 2 quarts, presumably out of 5 or 6? Multiple nails in your tire? Jesus, man!

Start taking care of your car or "feeler gauges" are going to turn into "engine hoists."

[grskier]

Looks like I'm gonna have to start watching some videos on adjusting valve lash too. Is this something I can do myself.

judge for thyself..

[Wired2theT]

Thanks for the input reverend. I'll have to stop intentionally driving over nails, should have known it would catch up to me.

As for the oil shortage, I'll take that one. I have the oil changed regularly and it has never been low so I don't check it often.

I already took a look at that video but thanks for posting. I could probably do it but would feel more comfortable with somebody more knowledgeable looking over my shoulder.

I'll have a couple free nights here in a week when schools over and I only have to worry about work (and car troubles) so I'll keep you updated. Thanks everybody for your input.

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[WestCoastPDR]

I had that same kinda noise once. Needless to say a buddy took two big ass zip ties and connected them around my drive shaft and they slapped the muffler

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[jgb@etree]

Exhaust manifolds/gaskets can often have a tick esque noise to them and pretty common on domestics. V8?

If he's got the 4.7L you could be on to something. Known issue with 2 of the bolts that hold the exhaust manifold on snapping.

[Todd Zander]

+1 for marvel mystery oil and high revs

[1080Rider]

Exhaust manifolds/gaskets can often have a tick esque noise to them and pretty common on domestics. V8?

+1.......

[Wired2theT]

Yep, it's the 4.7 V8. I take it that's as simple (or hard) as replacing the gasket?

KGB is it easy to see if these bolts are broken?