I had a 2004 Rancher and it ticked as well. Even after dealer valve adjustment. I have an 04 Rubicon and it ticks after adjustment as well. I have an 05 Rubicon and once it is broke in, I expect it will have a slight one too. It did concern me but, after some web research, it doesn't appear that a small tick is uncommon. The dealer mechanic says that with the proper valve lash (clearance), it is somwhat typical. The 05 Rubi is not ticking now but only has 50 miles on it. The new assembly grease they use might keep it quiet for the first several hours of use. Just a guess. Hope this helps.

 

http://www.themotorbookstore.com/hon...on-manual.html

 

i have done my vavles 4 times trying to get rid the noise, lol it just keeps coming back, sounds like the engine is going to blow up at high rpm, but it runs flawless, and outpulls my buddys 05. it has 3200m on odo, and runs better then the day i got it, will prolly be fine to 7k hopefully, that will be about 2 more years

 

It takes less than 30 minutes to do this job and no new parts are required.

Yes in my opinion you got screwed.

 

Yeah dealers are a rip off,the other day I took my rear wheel up to get the bearings replaced(didnt have the right tools at home)and they charged me $54! And I already had the dust seals out and brought my own bearings! They charge $50 an hour and theres no way it took them an hour just to change some bearings[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

 

That pretty good; around here labor is $60-$65/hr.

 

as far as the ticking, that's fine. COMPLETE SILENCE is bad. If you read the manual, they tell you to to the adjustment with the vehicle overnight cold, meaning it has sat not running at least overnight. Theres a reason for that, see the metal of the engine expands as it gets hot, and that clearance is for the metal to expand into without holding the valves open. If all that slack went away, the valve might not seat all the way, and the valve seat is what cools the valve down from the combustion temps. If the valve doesnt cool down, it turns red hot and acts as a spark plug on all the time and you get all sorts of pinging and crap. also, since the valves arent sealing, you lose power since you dont have full combustion pressure.

dealers want you to do this after break in, since the valve train components have to wear in. It's important, no doubt, but on the rancher which is a push-rod engine, it's a piece of cake, as long as you follow the directions. After you do that once, you probably dont neet to do it more than once a year at the most, you could probably get by every two years.

 

You will hear the tick. It's the valves opening and closing. The reason you can hear it is because the rest of the engine is so quiet. You didn't get screwed. You have to pay for quality. If you do it wrong, you can burn the valves and end up paying big $$ to fix that. Next time get the mechanic at the dealership to show you how to do it. If you ask, they will probably do it on the side and then you will know how to do it next time. This is not a place to experiment. I think one of the other posts says it's not your daily driver but if you wreck the valve train it will be your $1,500 valve lash adjustment.

 

Be careful of bad advice. Just because they sell solder and pipe at The Home Depot, it doesn't make you a plumber.

dirtbikeguy,

You got a deal. I can't get a mechanic to blow his nose in a hanky for $54. That means his time, expertise, and the bearing press are all worth something more than you with your hammer, cinderblock and the resulting cracked bearing and narled bearing seat.

 

if warranty does not cover it, then you best bet is to stay away from the dealer because they will surely screw you