3.6 ticking

[hjdca]

I had some problems with my Passenger side head intake cam and I learned a lot about these engines. On the intake cam only, At low lift, there are rollers that ride on two thin cam lobes. At high lift there is one thick cam lobe that rides on the "flat tappet" part of the rocker which is pumped up by oil pressure. There is no "roller rocker" at high lift. The Exhaust cam only has one lift, and it is all on rollers. I had no problem with my exhaust cam. Here is a great video that shows how the intake cam works with low lift and high lift. Watch the dark colored metal in the middle of the rocker - this is where you can see it pump up at high lift and de-pump at low lift and leave the work to the two rollers on the side of the rocker. Watch the first 18 seconds of this video.



There are a few things that can happen to the cams of the head:

1. The wide cam lobe for high lift that is not a roller can wear down the lobe. This happened in my truck. I believe this is mostly a 2020 Gladiator issue on the intake cam on the passenger side. I have not heard of the issue on later gladiators... I am adding pictures of my worn cam below.

2. The bearings in the rollers of the rockers wear out - intake or exhaust - ... This puts slop in the system - if intake cam, it gives you clicking at low rpm ; if on the exhaust cam, you get clicking at all rpm. The exhaust cam rockers have needle bearings in the rollers which was an issue on some JKs, but, not on our Gladiators. All the bearings in the rockers on my passenger side head for both cams were fine. I did not have this problem with my 2020 Gladiator with 68K miles. I actually had no clicking above the normal engine noise.

On my truck, P000A & P0300 meant bank 1 intake cam killed and maybe a dead phaser. All high lift lobes completely destroyed. All rockers destroyed. The OCV looked unclogged. I did not have any abnormal ticking or clicking because, Interestingly, the bearings in the low lift roller part of the rockers were fine. I mean there is no play in the roller part of the intake rockers, nor the roller exhaust rockers. The mating surfaces for the high lift lobes just wore out. The Exhaust cam is fine. I decided to change Bank 1 intake cam, phaser, oil control valve, rockers, & lash adjusters. I also changed the Exhaust cam roller rockers and lash adjusters, but, there was nothing wrong with the ones that were installed. I still do not know what caused this extensive wear. I have changed my oil 18 times, always around 3500 miles, using Pennzoil synthetic 0w20 and Mopar Oil filter... 68K miles.... I bought the JTR Oct. 2019, roughly a 2019 summer build... The truck is running great again. I changed to a different brand of oil and viscosity, but, I really do not think that had anything to do with it... There are thousands and thousands of these motors, and if you have a later Gladiator build, the chances that you have an issue are extremely low.... Here are the sad pictures of my passenger side intake cam and rockers...

One thing I would recommend is to download the JSCAN software and buy a license for your VIN - $30, buy the OBDLink MX+ OBD2 Bluetooth Scanner, buy the security bypass Cable Adaptor Fits for Chrysler 12+8 Programming Cable Connector cable, and you can monitor the live data for misfires and cam misbehavior. Note: you do not need the cable if you already have a Tazer. Here is what my data looked like when I figured out my intake cam was bad.... Misfires all at once, big cam error on the intake cam

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[Mr._Bill]

I'm willing to wager, its the injectors if you only hear it with the hood up.

Have someone run it up through the rpm range while you listen........"IF" said ticking gets louder........then it might be something else. Doing a diag vis a forum is kinda tough

I'm not worried about it right now. The 3/19 build Overland went 57k miles with no issues and the first oil change at 6k. I did the first oil change on this one at 3k. I expect it to last a long time and plan to do more regular changes on this one.

 

[PuddleJumper]

Yeah, I have no lights, mine is quite with the hood down, I only hear it when I'm next to another car at a light. It sounds about what my old 3.7 sounded like, nothing loud. I was next to another JT at a parking lot, it sounded the same. Nothing loud, you really have to be listening for it. Thanks all.

most likely what your hearing is Injectors firing.

 

[Banned]

Wha
Is it any worry if you hear what sounds like a steel drum band tapping our a Bob Marley tune ?..lol ok just kidding.

I think a week or so ago I was watching a rebuild on an overhead cam motor and the tech said failure to put assembly lube on those Cams prior to first start can result in damage from the get go that will just worsen as time marches in leading to a failure.
Also there are manufacturing defects that can happen in casting and grinding of the Cams or the lifters etc.. there are so many things that can happen it's hard to tell until it is tore down as to the plausible cause. My uncle who helped me put the lift on mine really wanted me to switch to a slightly thicker oil. He has been mechanic for many years. Even to this day has worked on 3.6liter in his van and his daughters Challenger. I told him well, I have had good success so far 79,000 (at that time) and I do change it often and prior to the oil minder kicking on..I usually change around 15-20% life. I run amsoil 0w-20 signature series. Have since the first oil change at about 4000. The Garage never changed mine not one single time in 95,000 miles.

Definitely run higher viscosity oil, that factory water-like oil is for EPA bullshit to try and increase fuel economy.

 

[Stan H]

Definitely run higher viscosity oil, that factory water-like oil is for EPA bullshit

I Definitely have placed plenty of thought into it. I think of tractor gear boxes,transfer cases etc.. a lot of stuff in there to grind on..
The oil sheer and film strength all play a part.

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