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[Razorbill]

Hi all, have just joined (posted up an intro in the general section if of interest).....

Having headaches with a 3.7 v6 in a KJ at the moment....wonder if anyone has any ideas they'd be really appreciated!

The right hand bank (drivers side /rhd vehicle) of lifters developed a loud ticking /clacking..... Sounded like lifters, know these engines (and larger 4.7) are known for probs with these..... Brief search revealed several vids in US with exactly the same sound...all identified as lifters (i was certain my diagnosis was right, but you do begin to question sometimes....the old ones were certainly shot)..... I have heard of them throwing rockers too when they stop lifting more.... Incidentally most of the US vids had the probs on this same side /bank of the engine.

This is a 58K motor and has regular oil changes....I went in and found all the lifters jammed up as well as a fair bit of sludgey oil....which i wasnt expecting. Cleaned all thoroughly, inspected cam /rockers (no visual /obvious wear), swapped out all the lifters for new /genuine Mopar. For good measure, dropped sump and cleaned all oil ways as best I could.

New oils in... she still taps, added lifter additive, still taps, flush oiled, changed filter and oils (twice now).... driven over 200 miles....still taps..... Its driving me crazy! Not that noticeable unless on trailing throttle or at tickover....

Found threads online where people have replaced and they still tick /tap, but cant fin anyone whos posted up their resolution.....

Im reluctant to kep throwing oil at it.....have been driving it..... and am running out of ideas now.... 

Has anyone had this issue /have any further suggestions please??

Thanks in anticipation, Dan

[Razorbill]

Oh, if it helps.... exactly same sound on this vid (although to contradict my prev post, this ones on the other bank)....

[JamesH]

Weirdly there was a post recently about adding ATF to the engine oil to help clear all the crud out and help noise and misfires. I can't say I'd heard of it before but it doesn't sound too ridiculous to try.

[Razorbill]

Hi James... doesn't sound ridiculous does it!?! I've already run some good quality flush oil as well as three lots of new oil now.... am almost positive its still a blocked feed to the lifter....need to remove cover again and wath running i think. If the cams oiling and its just the lifter feed, then i'm also wondering if there's a solid state lifter to be had to replace the hydraulic one on the noisy cyl (like you have on race engines).... or am i overthinking this? its not the right answer i know.....

[Bishops Finger]

At the risk of pissing off LPG lovers on here has your truck been fitted with it a 3.7 should hit 200K miles plus no issue

[Bubba]

i agree with james there is reference to putting some atf in the engine oil for exactly this reason  not something i have heard a lot of so maybe someone can expand on it 

[Razorbill]

At the risk of pissing off LPG lovers on here has your truck been fitted with it a 3.7 should hit 200K miles plus no issue

No, no LPG on this one, never fancied it on this engine tbh....(have Had it in one of my 4.0's for 10 years, but they're solid old lumps off the ark).

[Dave69]

i agree with james there is reference to putting some atf in the engine oil for exactly this reason  not something i have heard a lot of so maybe someone can expand on it

Modern oils have cleaning agents which stop the old build up of crud as seen with old mineral oils or years gone by. the addition of ATF is to thin the lubrication oil and create a supposedly better degreasing ability. Personally i wouldn't use it.

worst case might be a worn follower which is the result of the seized roller, downside a partial strip maybe involved for replacement or inspection

[Mike Pavelin]

We used to put 50/50 diesel and engine oil in Pinto engined Transits to clear them out if they were eating camshafts.

[Dave69]

diesel is also good for degreasing gunked up motorbike chains

[isle of man]

Its FUBUR !!

[Razorbill]

Cheers all..... Another strip down is on the cards.... I agree.

 Fubur? You mean fubar IOM?? Nah, you're not even close.... Nothing a gallon of unleaded and a match wouldn't sort

[Bishops Finger]

Ignore IOM hes odd...

[ChrisS]

Probably a waste of time, but have you tried this:

http://www.4x4wire.com/mitsubishi/tech/minutemods/lifter_noise/


...and in the spirit of increasing my knowledge.....to BF, how does running on LPG mess up the oil feed to lifters? Potential for valve recession - perhaps, depending on materials used but one of the plus-points of LPG is cleaner oil.

[JamesH]

LPG is known to be a bad idea for this engine, it will work but there seems to be more frequent problems than when it is on a 4.0 lump. I think that is where BF is coming from, and the fact that he is anti LPG

[Bishops Finger]

Yup and I'm anti most things at the moment

[Dave69]

he's just got a negative outlook 

[Bishops Finger]

Karma and me arnt working...

[Panic mechanic!]

if we all took Bf's thoughts on lpg  and used the logic on other items , we would all be drinking water and not beer!

[Bishops Finger]

Drinking water and LPG that's preposterous