My Disco has a ticking/tapping noise from startup, I tried the ATF flush this morning with no luck, as a matter of fact the fluid came out pretty clean! I have only had the truck for a week and of course there are no maint records to go with the truck, I have learned so much from reading this forum however... I am not sure what the greater problem is, but when driving part throttle from 30 to 40mph the entire truck jerks and hesitates until I lift off the gas a little bit to let the auto trans upshift, then after that if my foot remains stable on the accelerator the engine seems to have a mind of its own revving up and down 500 rpm or so jerking the whole way home. What do yall think? TPS? Fuel Filter? Its driving me nuts.

 

Sounds like a loose spark plug or a fouled plug.

 

What brand oil filter are you using?
As for the other, I would start with the fuel filter. What grade of gas are you using? Have you put gas in the truck yet?

 

I had a similar problem. Jerking and hesitating, especially after the car warmed up. I replaced the wires with Magnecor 8mm and no more jerking. If it is as violent as you say I would not keep driving it. If the check engine light is on (yellow one, top left) get the codes read at an auto parts store. If the light is flashing stop IMMEDIATELY and kill the engine before it kills itself.

Cheers,

Pete

 

I used a fram oil filter after the ATF flush, it had a wix filter before the flush. I tightened all of the manifold bolts too. I think that this rover may have a collapsed lifter or bad lobe (is this common?) This particular disco's engine compartment looks as if someone power washed it to clean it, so I have been checking/cleaning all elec sensor connections hoping that the jerking and hunting would go away, but no. I really cant get it to autozone safely to read the CEL. I may rent/buy one because I have a feeling its going in the glove compartment with the ice scraper. I will pull the plugs and regap/file to possibly eliminate a bad plug. It appears to have some brand new autozone special 7mm wireson it right now, but I will eventually get the magnacors. Oh and the air filter is new too. From the reading I was doing on this forum, I was really leaning towards TPS being the culprit for the hesitation and jerking. I will try for the fuel filter first though. I use 93 octane. What does a flashing CEL mean?

 

Dump the Fram oil filter.
The plug wires could be bad, even though brand new they are cheap wires, but it sounds like the previous owner tried to fix this problem and then gave up.
The TPS could be it but I would start with the cheap stuff.
www.atlanticbritish.com for all your Rover needs. They are my favorite supplier.

 

Okay,

Today I put new wires on it and bosch platinum 4's on it. I even replaced the fuel filter. It seems to idle a little smoother, but I cant just push the gas and take off, it chokes out at 30 to 35 mph and the tach hits about 2000 to 2500, I have to back off a bit to let the trans shift. Its like there is a limiter keeping me from more air or fuel in the motor,when I pulled the old plugs none looked different than the others they looked normal and not fouled at all. Then the truck starts having a mind of its own again, accellerating and decellerating by about 500 rpm and jerking all the way back to the garage. What gives guys? help! oh and by the way all of the lights in the truck pulse a bit while the engine is running.. is the alternator going away too??

Thanks!

 

oh oh, doesn't sound good. you should ALWAYS use 93 octane gas.

 

Have you tried replacing the VSS (vehicle speed senor)yet? When it goes bad it can cause run problems, usually at higher speeds but it still could happen.
www.discoweb.org, tech section has a good write up on how to replace it. It is a 15 min job and like a $30 part.
Hate to just keep throwing parts at the truck but you have done everything that I can think of.

 

Hold the phone, just re-read your post, have your alternator and battery tested before you buy anything else. If you altAND battery are both going south you could have a really weak spark and that could be causing your problems.