609 miles on 2018 JK - Engine Startup Noise.

Krazzyk01

New member

I mentioned this issue in my Introduction Wave.

We bought a 2018 UJK Rubicon almost 3 weeks ago. The last week has been spent at the dealership with them trying to figure out what the noise is you hear in the video.
That noise has gotten steadily worse over the first two weeks/600 miles. I did a sound recording of it and took it to the dealership and played it for them and they instantly were like "Oh ya, something's not right"

So I dropped it off on Monday April 23rd 2018 with 609 miles on it. Yep, didn't even hit 1k miles and it's in for what could be major repair.

Tuesday roles around and the dealer returns my calls and they've not dug into it yet. WHAT? I asked, did you even listen to it with a tech to confirm there's an issue?
Yes sir. The tech and I both agreed there's definitely something very wrong. An engine with 600 miles on it shouldn't make all that noise.

Cutting to the meaty part....

Service guy ...I'll fight for a new engine if we find any metal in the engine...blah blah blah...

Wednesday.....Service guy...In a nutshell... Tech was just playing with it and couldn't make it make the noise...

Me...It makes that noise every single time you start it after its been sitting for more than an hour. How did he not hear it. Tell him to turn off the radio....Didn't say that but was sure thinking it.

So they went from yep something is wrong to not so sure. I'm hoping for the best but life's experiences with dealerships, and having worked at several in my youth tells me I've got an uphill battle coming.

Thoughts...?
 
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WJCO

Meme King
Sadly, This happens a lot. Here's my guess on what happened, again just a guess from working in service departments:

The guy that has to look at this is a heavy-line mechanic. Because most heavy line jobs take a day or two, he was probably backed up with work. When you called your dealer, they may not have even looked at it, but your service writer didn't want to tell you that. Instead he tried to convince you 'yeah, we heard it, not sure what it is, tech's still looking into....' That way it appears they're doing something and are trying to appease you with some kind of answer. By the time the tech actually got it, he either couldn't duplicate it or didn't want to spend time on it. Again, just an assumption from working in dealers for years.

As far as the noise, to me it sounds like either a lifter issue or a VVT on the camshaft. Being that it only does it on startup after sitting, likely the oil is draining out of one of those parts instead of staying 'pressured-up.' I agree it is not normal. Keep pushing at your dealer and if you have to, get the service manager involved. Good luck.
 

Krazzyk01

New member
Sadly, This happens a lot. Here's my guess on what happened, again just a guess from working in service departments:

The guy that has to look at this is a heavy-line mechanic. Because most heavy line jobs take a day or two, he was probably backed up with work. When you called your dealer, they may not have even looked at it, but your service writer didn't want to tell you that. Instead he tried to convince you 'yeah, we heard it, not sure what it is, tech's still looking into....' That way it appears they're doing something and are trying to appease you with some kind of answer. By the time the tech actually got it, he either couldn't duplicate it or didn't want to spend time on it. Again, just an assumption from working in dealers for years.

As far as the noise, to me it sounds like either a lifter issue or a VVT on the camshaft. Being that it only does it on startup after sitting, likely the oil is draining out of one of those parts instead of staying 'pressured-up.' I agree it is not normal. Keep pushing at your dealer and if you have to, get the service manager involved. Good luck.

Thanks,

As I indicated I worked in dealerships myself. I agree with everything you're saying.

I told the service writer I want it fixed right, not right now. So make sure we deal with this completely before you give it back.

I'm in another loaner car, Ram 1500 4 door so basic it doesn't even have bluetooth. I didn't know they sold cars without bluetooth. LOL

It sounds like leaky lifters to me. Lifters shouldn't be leaky out of the box.

Let's see how they deal with this. The last new car we bought was from the local Chevy dealer. Their service department was so inept we ended up with a new car in place of our new car. Took almost two months to get to that point but it happened.

I'm praying I don't have to go through all that again. Don't like making payments on vehicles I don't have.
 
J

JKDream

Guest
Maybe my headphones suck but that sounds normal to me?
Mine has always sounded like it almost dry starts for the first ~2 seconds.
 

VeruGE*144

Caught the Bug
I also don’t hear anything odd, my sounds the same and I have the ticking noise on top of that for like 2 sec or so. Just broke 60k miles on my Jeep. the sound and ticking has been there for as long as I remember.


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sipafz

Caught the Bug
^ this and same here. It’s a product of thin oil. Mine sounds the same and I’m not worried about it.
 

fusion_jeff

New member
I have a 2016 JK. Almost 50k miles on it now. It’s had that same noise since about a couple hundred miles after driving it off the lot brand new. Last oil change my local mechanic added some Lucas synthetic oil stabilizer to go with the Mobile1 full synth engine oil, and almost 3k miles later, that startup sound is gone. He said it’s a very common noise and complaint on the 3.6L and it has to do with the lighter weight oil bleeding back down to the pan, that the oil pump doesn’t stop gravity drain and has to re-prime the lines on startup, hence the couple second lag before metal on Metal is addressed and why you have to leave it sit for a while to replicate the problem. The Lucas oil stabilizer adheres to the metal surfaces longer so the metal on metal has at least something to start with. Good luck getting the dealership to do anything about it. I’m staying tuned just in case a more permanent fix is discovered. But my mechanic says he has see the same issue in the majority of the 3.6L, especially since the same engine is shared across a dozen different model vehicles now, and his explanation is logical and makes sense.


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Krazzyk01

New member
Thank you everyone for your thoughts.

I picked up my Jeep yesterday after work. Dealer couldn't replicate the issue.

At first I started thinking here we go again with the lame dealer BS we all hear about all the time.
My service writer told me it's normal and I responded with, If it's normal when I get there let's you and I grab several sets of keys to new Jeeps on the lot and see if they make the same noise.
I've done this in the past and they are never willing to do it. To his credit, without hesitation he agreed and that's exactly what we did.
We started up three brand new Jeeps and all three made the same noise. Long story made a little shorter, I must have had the "gotta have it" lust kicking when we were buying the Jeep.
But more than the want it lust, I realized why I didn't hear it in the begging. The dealership is located at the corner of two busy toll roads that are elevated with surface traffic as well.
I had to listen to hear it from the other Jeeps, but it was there. My wife has the habit of leaving EVERYTHING on when she gets out of a vehicle so I didn't start hearing it until I started driving the Jeep more and there wasn't a radio playing, A/C blowing and me moving the seat back just so I can get in. LOL

It bothers me every time I hear the noise because there's a simple solution for it. BMW and several other manufactures have the inverted oil filter mounted at the top of their engines as well and those vehicles don't make any noise on startup. I've worked on them and sold them in the past, so yes, I've got first hand knowledge. It could have been avoided is all I'm getting at.

I've been doing some more reading on this subject and I'm basically going to have to learn to deal with it. I'm just amazed I've never picked up on it from my time in my brother's Jeep. Maybe that's what's bothering me more than the noise itself? Na, that noise is like fingernails down a chalkboard to my ears. I'm a guy that has worked as a mechanic, worked on every single vehicle I've ever owned, and now I'm an engineer and that noise bothers me. There's no getting around it.

All of that said and off my chest.....I've got a big pile of parts to install sitting in my garage and I've spent a week looking at them waiting to get my Jeep back to install them. It's time to get out there and install and move forward.

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I'm looking forward to continuing to learn about: JEEP
 

jdofmemi

Active Member
I have used either DuraLube or Slick 50 in many of my engines over the years. It seems to quiet the start up noise.
I have not done it on my Jeep yet, but it is nearly due for the first oil change since I bought it, so I will try it out.

Has anyone else had success with oil treatments like those?
 

fusion_jeff

New member
I have used either DuraLube or Slick 50 in many of my engines over the years. It seems to quiet the start up noise.
I have not done it on my Jeep yet, but it is nearly due for the first oil change since I bought it, so I will try it out.

Has anyone else had success with oil treatments like those?

Lucas Oil Stabilizer worked on mine.


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srbell0585

New member
My 2013 had always sound like that after it sits..goes away after a couple seconds like yours. I think it just takes a second for the oil pressure to get to the top of the motor.

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shilo1465

New member
I’m agreeing with the others. I think it sounds normal. I’ve got 2300 miles on my Rubi and it sounds like yours. Has always sounded that way after it’s been sitting. It did until I put ZMax in it. Now it’s hardly noticeable. I think it’s B.S. A guy pays $50,000 for a vehicle it could at least sound like it’s worth that much. Good luck.


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Krazzyk01

New member
I’m agreeing with the others. I think it sounds normal. I’ve got 2300 miles on my Rubi and it sounds like yours. Has always sounded that way after it’s been sitting. It did until I put ZMax in it. Now it’s hardly noticeable. I think it’s B.S. A guy pays $50,000 for a vehicle it could at least sound like it’s worth that much. Good luck.


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Thank you everyone for commenting.

I couldn't agree with you more shilo. It boils down to poor engineering. As I pointed out before. Other manufactures have used the inverted filter housing and they don't have this kind of noise.

I've never been a fan of magic can fixes however several of you have mentioned Zmax so I'll take a look.

Thanks
 

Mcollins443

New member
I personally don’t like putting oil stabilizer in newer engines. I’ve used it in older engines to quiet them down but they had a lot of wear on them. Oil stabilizers are thick like gear oil. There’s a reason newer engines use 5w-20 oil. They have tighter clearances and they need thinner oil. Pushing thick oil is hard on the oil pump and makes the engine work harder to get the oil through the engine. The engine is designed to run on 5w-20. If they wanted you to run whatever you want they wouldn’t have specified an oil viscosity. I’ve also had engines apart where the person used Lucas for a long period of time with each oil change and there was a sludge buildup in the oil pan.


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OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
Just looked at this thread for the first time and that startup sounds perfectly normal to me. Don't know if I've heard it on other vehicles before but sounds normal for a jeep.
 

Zstairlessone

New member
If it bothers you you may be able build a pre-lube system with an electric pump, a couple of check valves, a timer and a modified oil filter housing to run for maybe 5 seconds before starting the Jeep.


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