4.0L SOHC engine with 136K miles.

This morning I started my truck and noticed a slight ticking coming from the engine that I never heard before.

It doesn't sound like the marbles in a cab that would indicate the timing chain tensioners, but it might sound like a connecting rod?

I don't want to freak out and just hand it to a mechanic without knowing what I should ask about.

I really don't think it's the timing chain, but I did notice a leak coming from the valve cover area (hard to tell exactly when I looked, it seemed to be coming from valve cover though.

Any thoughts? I really don't want this to be something that will end costing a lot of money since I'm within a year of a V8 swap.

 

I noticed something similar in my engine at around the same mileage, maybe a little bit more. Usually it only happens when the engines cold, at least for me, i think its because the heads in these motors dont flow oil that great so it takes a sec for the oil to reach when u crank it.....i completely got rid of it by going to 10w. You might wanna try that, if it doesnt work, i used a quart of Marvel Mystery oil in my 300zx TT when it had a little bit of lifter tick, and it got rid of it completly. Hope this helps.

 

my 94 does it every morning when its cold... a second or two then she purrs fine

 

Mine does it sometimes too in the morning, I'm only at 73k, no idea what it is....

 

Its just cold oil not getting to the lifters yet.

Thats why we use a changing weight oil. Cold oil is super thick and takes a bit to get to the top of the engine. Warm oil slides real easy.

Synthetic enhances these effects. Syn oil will travel father and stay up in the lifters.

Which is a big benefit of switching