drew.muzio

I've had lifter tick for a few months now and am now planning on replacing them. 3.8 liter pentastar V6 on a 2007 JK Unlimited X. Anybody got good step by step videos I can take notes on. And what tools I'm going to need, gaskets, and best brand lifter to buy.

Thanks,

JeepLiam

You dont have a pentastar. They started in 2012 for the wrangler, the pentastar is a 3.6 liter engine

JFish'n

The thread: JKU Lifter Tick - JK-Forum.com - The top destination for Jeep JK and JL Wrangler news, rumors, and discussion

Yeah, the 3.8 is different.
Important to share what year you have when asking questions.
It has pushrods and rockers under the valve cover.

What oil are you using?
if still the 20w oil, try 30w?

and to remove the lifters on the 3.8, it's upper and lower intake removal, and cylinder heads off.
If you do it, replace those valve stem steals and have the valves lapped?

Melling makes a good set of aftermarket lifters, they also make pushrods.

I'm running their lifters, pushrods, and their camshaft for this engine.
Runs great, 0 complaints.

and the 3.8 has a habit of spinning rod bearings, that's how I purchased mine (cheap!).
Pretty sure mine was overheated and possibly run low on oil due to the amount of sludge I found.

It's also part of why I'm not running the 20w they recommend.
I'm running 10w30, and it's doing great with some very questionable rockers.

Sixty4x4

Not good to replace lifters and not replace the camshaft. I know we are talking a lot more work but the lifters usually wear into the cam lobe uniquely. So in short, the lobe and bottom of the lifter are a matched pair. Sometimes you can get away with it though by just replacing lifters. I am not 100% but you may be able to get the lifters out without removing the heads. And if you are doing valve seals there is a method to do them with heads on using compressed air in the cylinders to hold the valves up. Then use a special valve spring compressor. I have done it on my old Challenger with Indy EZ heads on.

JFish'n

They do recommend they be replaced as a set.
but you can get away with just lifters in some instances.

On my JK the camshaft was worn, the lobes had discoloration, plus it pumped metal through the system.
On mine the camshaft bearings were totally shot due to the failed engine.

Side by side with the new camshaft, the issues were obvious.
I think it runs really well in part to a fresh camshaft.

You shouldn't have to touch the bearings but do look over them for gouges and do your best to not damage them when removing or installing.
On the 3.8 they have a stupid design,
they have to all be installed from the front, there is no way to do a skip like you would on an LS due to the oil passageways blocking access to the back of the bearing.
One Silly design IMO.

The issue I had with that, normally you use the cam bearing install tool to line things up on another bearing hole, but on the 3.8 you can't do that on the last bearing!
So, you have to just wing it and hope for the best.

I let someone else do mine, he did a great job but that front bearing was tight!!
I did my best to loosen it carefully and used some car polish after doing some careful sanding and lapping with that car polish.

3500 miles on that engine now, but I'm still using a zinc additive for the next 2 or 3k.

Moral of the story, avoid damaging those cam bearings!

Also do the cam chain and sprockets while you're in there.
Probably toss an oil pump set, (also by Melling) since the front cover has to come off!

Melling makes a timing kit, but i used a Cloyeds set,
Everything bought from summit racing, ebay, and some amazon...
Use Melling's website to source part numbers if needed.

Also priming the oil pump was a pita, I used an fluid/oil suction tool on the oil pressure sensor port by making an adapter for it.
It was an NPT fitting, IIIRC 3/8 npt or 1/4npt...
good luck!

If it were me, I would try some thicker oil before going that far.
IMO that 20w stuff is just for emissions and gas mileage ratings for the EPA.
try a nice 10w30 first, maybe even a 5w40w...