I have a 2012 JKU with a manufacture date of 08/20/2011....I have been hearing this ticking for at least the last 5-7k miles. This is my first time seeing this thread. Sounds like I will be making an appointment to have my Jeep looked at.

My only hope is that they don't give me the run around because of my Jeep being lifted on 35s...

 

My deal didn't go through on a 2012 I was looking at, but they want my truck.... Maybe it was an omen.

I do hope they resolve this problem soon though, I would like to know its actually safe to buy a new one.

 

I'm curious to see what they say. Please keep us posted.

 

Update

It's been ten days since "the call" and still waiting to hear from dealer when parts available for head replacement; I spoke with Jeep customer care rep and he said hopefully early this week after holiday but still no word...

Along with the ticking I'm hearing knocking in 2-4th gears at about 25-40mph, sounds like the old cheep gas knock on older engines not sure if related to bad head or otherwise

 

Not at this point. The dealer has my deposit and I have the VIN. My JKUR is mostly built, waiting in storage in OHIO for the katzkin seats. It was supposed to ship on 5/22, but has been delayed.

This weekend we went trail-riding (not rock crawling) with a friend of ours. We had to take our Tundra because I still don't have my JK. However, our friend took her '12 JK on it's first trails. Unfortunately, I heard the tic coming from her engine; she has 5k on hers. I have sent her the links to this forum so that she is fully armed when she goes to the dealer. She is going this week to listen to some other JK's on the lot.

 

Called the dealership a few minutes ago. Talked to the service guy and he said he hasn't heard a single thing about the "engine tick" in the pentastar and had no idea what I was talking about...
I have an appointment for my next day off, next Monday. We will see how this goes...

I foresee a large headache in my future...

 

Same here. Mine goes in Saturday.

 

i dropped mine off last night and spoke to service this morning. They said "well we didn't hear anything out of the ordinary when we moved it." I politely asked them to take another listen. I doubt they'll call me so i guess i'll be calling them in a couple of hours

 

My 2012 is ordered and the build start date is 5/17/2012. Does any body have an idea if this late build date will be free of the tic problem?

 

My CEL came on yesterday, and the "ECO" stopped lighting up at the same time. Just took my 12 Sport to the dealership during lunch. They had it for one hour and came out and told me it needed a new driver side head. I didn't notice a loud tick, but I did notice the CEL and "ECO". After reading this thread while in the waiting room, I made sure they had the heads in stock. Service adivsor assured me. The Service Advisor even told me "We've seen a few of these lately".

Good news, is that it should be ready tomorrow. I must be one of the lucky unlucky ones - not having to wait 1-4 weeks. The dealership set me up with a rental, and Enterprise rep said I was the 8th person in the last 4 weeks that needed a vehicle because of the same problem with the 2012 Wranglers.
FlameRedJK - I'm on 35s with 2.5 lift and it never even came up as an issue.
Bought my JKU in November 2011, not sure about the build date. 8,500 miles right now.
Hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow. More later.