I've spent the better part of an hour combing over the various threads concerning piston slap and lifter noise, but I'd just like to post my situation and see what you all think:
93 Sport, 4.0L, I've owned it since 2002, when it had ~150K. Today it has ~192K. It has had the typical tapping noise since I've gotten it. I've done nothing special to the car aside from the regular tune up and oil change, and replacing things like the radiator, starter, battery, thermostat, but my growing curiosity towards cars and my desire to keep this thing running as long as possible has made me wonder if there is something I could do to stop this.
The tapping increases in frequency as engine RPM increases. I cannot notice the noise at typical highway RPM (~2000 for me), but that may be just because of wind noise, etc.
The tapping is apparent at a cold idle, and while it seems to go away somewhat as the engine warms up, it never goes completely away. I will be doing the poor-man's stethoscope test as soon as I get my hands on a piece of hose. Am I correct in that if I remove the oil filler cap and take a listen there, if the noise increases that this is a symptom of a lifter issue and not just normal piston slap?
The way I see it, I have a couple of options as to what to do once I pinpoint the noise (assuming it is a lifter issue for the time being):
1) Do nothing. Its worked this way for the 40K I've been running the Jeep, more than likely some time before I owned it, and it'll continue running as long as I change the oil regularly.
2) Try adding something like MMO and see if that quiets the lifter(s). My concern is this: at "best" it quiets the lifter and my Jeep no longer sounds like a diesel. at "medium", it does nothing and I still have the sound. at "worst", it cleans up the inside of the engine, producing god knows how many leaks in gaskets all over the place.
If you were in my position, what would you do?
93 Sport, 4.0L, I've owned it since 2002, when it had ~150K. Today it has ~192K. It has had the typical tapping noise since I've gotten it. I've done nothing special to the car aside from the regular tune up and oil change, and replacing things like the radiator, starter, battery, thermostat, but my growing curiosity towards cars and my desire to keep this thing running as long as possible has made me wonder if there is something I could do to stop this.
The tapping increases in frequency as engine RPM increases. I cannot notice the noise at typical highway RPM (~2000 for me), but that may be just because of wind noise, etc.
The tapping is apparent at a cold idle, and while it seems to go away somewhat as the engine warms up, it never goes completely away. I will be doing the poor-man's stethoscope test as soon as I get my hands on a piece of hose. Am I correct in that if I remove the oil filler cap and take a listen there, if the noise increases that this is a symptom of a lifter issue and not just normal piston slap?
The way I see it, I have a couple of options as to what to do once I pinpoint the noise (assuming it is a lifter issue for the time being):
1) Do nothing. Its worked this way for the 40K I've been running the Jeep, more than likely some time before I owned it, and it'll continue running as long as I change the oil regularly.
2) Try adding something like MMO and see if that quiets the lifter(s). My concern is this: at "best" it quiets the lifter and my Jeep no longer sounds like a diesel. at "medium", it does nothing and I still have the sound. at "worst", it cleans up the inside of the engine, producing god knows how many leaks in gaskets all over the place.
If you were in my position, what would you do?