My 2.9 engine is knocking!!! i need some suggestions on how to stop it

[dieseldane]

ticking is within the valvetrain. kinda like a worn pushrod hitting the rocker arm because of increased clearance.

Knocking (also called knock, detonation, spark knock, pinging or pinking) in spark-ignition internal combustion engines occurs when combustion of the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder starts off correctly in response to ignition by the spark plug, but one or more pockets of air/fuel mixture explode outside the envelope of the normal combustion front.

Now to confuse ya even more, knocking and pinging (also called spark knock) are very different things as well. What he described above is pinging, and sounds kinda like that, a ping. Knocking is what you are hearing when there is a problem with the rotational assembly (crankshaft, rods, pistons, and all the bearings in those parts) and is caused by there being to much excessive play in one of those areas. It almost sounds like a hammer tapping on something.

 

[Ianjay]

Thicker oil doesn't do it

Thicker oil helps for a short, time. Lucas products do much the same. Auto tranny fluid cleans the gunk. Sea foam does what it does. The K&N just seems to keep the oil pressure steady. Both trucks indicate good oil pressure as per the gauges. That has always been the case. I've seen 2.9s that tick loudly and also show low oil pressure, yet they continue to run. So who knows?
Changing to the better filter is the only thing that has lasted oil change to oil change and especially after highway driving. It is nice to get off the highway and listen to the radio, not the valve train.

 

[Gacknar]

if a 2.9 doesn't tick...something is wrong IMO. its just one of those things...

Hi

My 2.9 has 200,000+ miles on it, 20psi at idle and 40psi cruising and does not tick with 10w30 oil. It is the Only Cologne engine I have ever encountered that did not tick, at least until it warmed up. I also am not afraid to wind it out to 5,000 rpm on a daily basis.

I often wonder why it "Doesn't" tick.

 

[Psychopete]

There's a lot that can cause ticking. The only way to solve it for sure is to find the cause why. Might be poor clearances, clogging oil pump pick up, clogged rocker shafts, etc. Even cam thrust plate has been blamed. New lifters will required the heads being removed, not a small job and you'd want to change cam also.

Mine only ticked for a couple seconds in the morning until it cracked a head. Water got in the oil and I kept driving it like that, eventually I developed the off-highway klacks and had to tear it down. My engine looked tired when I took it apart with only 98K on the clock.

 

[gribly]

Wow. 10 years ago the first reply to this thread would have been "Shell rotella T 15-40 oil or bust." It's wicked high detergent content and higher viscosity are the ticket for the 2.9. It'll make the engine run cleaner and the tick may or may not stop depending on what's really going on. Any OHV 4.0 and any 2.9 (other than the euro one) I would run this oil. It's what I ran in my Navajo, too.

 

[AllanD]

The problem with 2.9 lifters is in their design. There is no return hole for the oil, just the in hole. That means that dirt and air can't get back out either.

Lifters and cam bearings help, but the fix is to get a 4.0 and chamfer the oil passages through the rods so they don't gall the lifters.

Oil passages through the rods?

WTF are you talking about?

2.9 & 4.0 pushrods have Solid ends.

This is NOT a Small Block Chevy we are talking about here, the pushrods are NOT used as an "oil passage to feed the rockers" like an SBC.

The oiling hole in the top of the rocker needs to be champfered into a funnel
to try to catch more oil into the pushrod socket from the top on a 4.0

a 2.9 doesn't have this issue because the end of the pushrod is a socket which pushes up agains the ball tipped adjustment screw in the 2.9 rocker.

AD