Hello, I have been reading this site for the past couple of years since I bought a 2003 Disco II SE for my wife. I do all my own work on the cars we own and have never had as many issues with a truck as I have had with this Disco. About once a month I yell this is the worst vehicle I have ever purchased and if we didn't still owe more than we can sell it for it would be gone ASAP, then there are times that I remember why I purchased it.

Any way my current issue is engine knocking. The truck has 95K miles on it I change the oil every 5000 miles and honestly I have changed brands and weights almost every time due to someones recommendation. I have also switched oil filters numerous times as well, fram, mahle, stp, short and long. With the knocking I was told it was the lifters loosing oil and that it was okay to run the truck this way. Typically the knocking doesn't happen at start up but gets worse with warm up. It is bad with idle and then with rpms it typically quiets down a good amount but still knocks. I believe the noise is coming from the head but honestly it could be coming from anywhere.

The motor has never over heated as far as I know. I have to fill the coolant expansion tank up about once a year, and yes we have run the truck low on oil the first year we owned it not realizing how bad the leaks where, typically we never ran below a quart low. I did however fill with amsoil synthetic motor oil during my first oil change and literally the oil was flowing out of the motor. I was told by the local dealer not to use synthetic oil in these motors because it would slip past the seals as the UK tolerances aren't as good as US specs.

I currently have been so upset with the oil leaking and the knocking that I thought LUCAS was the answer as well as 20w 50 oil. Well, as it is getting very cold here in OHIO trying to start the truck is very hard with the syrup oil and after reading more it is probably better to run thinner oil to help the knocking.

After all this random rambling my question is :

1. What oil filter should I run on the truck and is it short or long?

2. What is the best way to clean out the Lucas oil? Is there a flush to use? Seafoam?

3. What weight oil should I use and brand?

4. How do I check oil pressure?

Thanks and sorry about the rant. I just need to try and get the truck through the winter and then I can address all the leaks, 3 amigos, check engine light(o2 sensors), and possibly replacing the lifters or what ever is actually knocking or ticking.

Kevin

 

1) either or does not matter, I prefer the longer filters
2)Don't do a flush just change the oil
3)Rotella T6 5w40 or mobil 1 5w40 TDT or mobil 1 0w40 for winter
4) Either install an electric gauge or buy an external gauge remove the sending unit put in gauge in it's place and check the pressure, hot idle is the most important number.

 

1. Stay away from Fram! Use either a Mobil 1 or a K&N (although I have heard the Donaldson filters are good).

2. Don't worry about specifically removing the Lucas, but doing a cleaning with Seafoam is a good idea (I'm due myself). There is a sticky explaining how to do this.

3. My recommendation for oil is Rotella. I run 5W40 full synthetic all year round. It was originally designed for diesels so it has more detergents.

4. There is a plug on the side of the oil pump, right beside the oil filter on the passenger side. Pull the plug and screw in your oil pressure gauge. Better yet, go to GlowShift and get yourself an oil pressure gauge for inside your truck (that is one of my next projects). There is a sticky on how to do this as well.

 

Do yourself a favor and save your money on oil filters.
Just go to NAPA and buy a oil filter from them, $6 and its a way better filter than the $15 one with a nut on the end of it.
http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oil...reference.html

Like these guys have already said DO NOT do a engine flush, just switch to Rotella 5w-40 for the winter and then Rotella 15w-40 for the summer.
Go to Wal-Mart, the 5w-40 is $18 a gallon, you will need 2.

Once that is done you need to check your oil pressure.
Do like those guys said, you can buy a gauge kit for pretty cheap.
You can also buy a sandwich adapter and a gauge from these guys.
http://www.glowshiftdirect.com/Oil-F...-Adapters.aspx

 

Ahh, I read how to install an oil pressure gauge, I just thought you could check it w/o installing a constant gauge.

Thanks for the help.

I'll report back later.

 

Yes you can check the oil PSI by renting a oil PSI test kit.
You screw it into the oil sending unit port and test away.

 

something like this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/engine-...kit-98949.html