Hey guys,
Been following this forum for awhile now, definitely helped me out with my ride. I own a 2004 Disco II with 73,000 miles on it. It's been leaking oil for a good while now and a decent amount, probably put in 1 quart every 750 miles or so. It also has a very slow coolant leak. The truck over heated and lost oil pressure once back when it had 58,000 miles on it - it has had the leaks ever since. My mechanic performed a good amount of service work at 70,000 miles and it has been running good ever since. Just yesterday (first warm day of the year), there was a loud ticking noise at idle once the engine was warm. Oil changes have occurred every 2500 miles, currently using Mobil 1 synthetic 5w 30 (probably not the best choice after researching).

Most likely head gasket I would think. The truck runs great other than the ticking at idle. What are my options? Of course the dealership wanted over $3k to fix it. Anything I should try to help minimize the ticking? Safe to drive in the meanwhile? Thanks in advanced.

 

What did the dealer diagnose as the problem? My LR dealer didnt want to touch my tick with a ten foot pole. Told me unless it was throwing up warning lights any noise was customary. Matter of fact they wouldnt even put rocker arm/lifter noise in writing for me to take to the warranty repair shop. Been six weeks w/o my rig today, but Carmax is making the payments so I can't complain... yet.

 

the truck was not ticking when I brought it to the dealership. I wanted them to take a quick look at the leaks at which point they diagnosed bad head gaskets.

 

Mine has been ticking for the last 175,000 miles, just turn up the radio. Were is the oil leak coming from?

Willie

 

I personally think the ticking and head gaskets are really separate issues. More than likely, you are just getting to the point in the miles where it starts making some noise. Also, I might go to a bit heavier oil like 10w40 depending on your climate. That *could* help with the ticking, but likely not all that much... worth a go at least. But, if you are mixing coolant in with the oil with the head gasket you might want to tackle that one first!

 

Unless you are getting an oil pressure light I would move the ticking to the bottom of the priority list and concentrate on the coolant issue. No missfire codes? White exhaust smoke at cold start up? Coolant puddles? Throttle Body Heater not leaking? Close inspection of radiator for leaks? Remove your resivour and look underneath..no leaks? Then a pressure test of the sytem...15 pounds for 30 minutes, or a hydrocarbon test strip kit from autozone. Might also switch to dino 15w40 rotella and see if that helps the tick.

 

You said it overheated. Oh and as Snfu said..milky oil on the stick or in the fill cap?

 

You're right. Head gaskets don't tick.

On this motor, the most likely culprit is piston slap due to slightly crushed piston skirts. Hard to tell without hearing it in person though.

 

the oil on the stick is not milky, there is crud / gunk in the fill cap though.

no white exhaust smoke upon start up. no coolant puddles that I can notice, drops of oil on the garage floor though.

 

is there anything that can be done to address the piston slap. I don't mind the noise, but don't want to do anymore damage driving it around if I need to get it fixed.