I have a 94 yj with the fuel injected 2.5L engine. The problem Im having is that there is a loud ticking sound that eminates from the timing cover off and on while the jeep is warming up.
I took the jeep to a shop where they flushed the oil system and replaced the timing chain and gears stating that the noise was made by the cam hitting the timing cover because rather than using a thrust plate for the cam, jeep uses a helical cut gear on the cam and distibuter gear as well as oil pressure to hold the cam in place against the block.
About a month after this the jeep started making the same sound again and its getting worse, so I changed out the distributer gear and flushed the oil system and it didnt help.
Has anyone else dealt with this problem before and solved it? or have any ideas how?
The only thing I have heard is to replace the cam, timing, and distributer gear all at once to fix the problem. This hower will cost over $300 just in parts.
Any info or ideas would be helpful due to this being my daily driver as well as a trail rig.
Thanks
Andrew

Does this happen all the time? Change with engine speed? I have seen a few 4.0s and 2.5s where the cam gear wore into the block, but this usually does not cause a ticking sound. You sure its not a lifter?

Im sure its not a lifter, I already checked them. The sound from the timing cover goes away after the engine has warmed up and it also stops usually when I have it running above idle....
Its starting to look like Im just going to have to tear it apart and replace everything.
If anyone else has any info or comments I would appreciate it..
Andrew

don't rule out piston noise-GM also had 2.5 's with piston noise on start up cold also with the 2.0 and 2.2 liter motors.it don't hurt anything-just noise.

um, im selling my 2.5L. I was going to part out most of the stuff but you can have the block and heads for 75 bucks plus shipping. you can swap the parts you need. email me if your interested...thenodnarb@aol.com