ALL TICKED OFF

After reading the Tech Tips in MVM #125, I was surprised to read of a person who has the same problem as me. “Keeps On Ticking” hit home, as I too have a 1953 M38A1 that made a ticking noise. I pulled the motor thinking something went south, but to no avail. However, when I was reassembling the engine, I came across the generator mount bushings, which are rubber with a metal sleeve, and found them worn beyond use. After paying $22.50 each for two new bushings, the noise went away. About six months later, it came back. Pulling the generator and seeing that the rubber was deteriorating again, I turned the new bushings on my lathe and now the noise is gone.

Some other areas that I checked were the hood hinges. They are metal-to-metal, but if you clean the pin part of the hinge you can get tool rubber coating and dip the pin... and, walla, it wont vibrate! If it starts to make noise again, just clean and dip.

One last part is the tray on the bottom of the battery box. You can access it from the passenger side floorboard. If any of the screws are loose it will rattle and sound like rocks in a can.

— Bob, via e-mail

Thank you for all the information about solving your own Jeep’s tick. I’m sure it will be a lot of help to a lot of frustrated Jeepers.