hello all, i have a 2003 discovery se with 100,633mi. one day it started making this kinda loud ticking noise. its coming from the top of the engine and sounds like its around the belts, pulley area( thats where it is loudest). it increases with rpm and starts with the vehicle and stops when of course i turn it off. i changed my oil and filter and have good pressure, no lights on dash other than 3 amigos. doesnt sound like lifters or anything like that. the truck runs and drives great. its not the plugs or wires as i checked those. i know for a fact its coming from the top of the engine in the front where those pulleys and components are. in fact, its the component right side of the alternator. i dont have any overheating issues and no loss of coolant or oil. what exactly in that area do i need to inspect or replace? please help as this is my daily driver. ps. i will try to post a video of this later on today, thanks again guys.

 

How do you know you have good pressure, have you tested it, stone cold at idle and 2000 RPM's and again when hot at idle and 2000 RPM's.
Noise can be a broken push rod or other valve train part, or the oil pump. Either way you have to quit starting the engine before you turn it into a boat anchor.

 

Here is a pix of a cracked oil pump that can make the loud tick, make just enough PSI to turn off the oil light, but not enough to safely run truck. By testing your oil PSI, you may have saved your engine.

If it turns out your oil PSI confirms marginal pump, when front cover is off engine also consider doing the timing chain at the same time.

Other things turned by belt can make noises, just normally not "tick". When doing the oil PSI test, someone can listen to the front cover area with a mechanic's stethoscope or a stick pressed against your ear, should also be easy to hear.

You'll need to be using an alternate vehicle until this is resolved.

 

k guys, thanks for the advice. the sound starts as soon as i turn on the vehicle and is in sync with the rpm of the engine and doesnt go away. is that consistent with the oil pump?

 

Think about that, if the engine is reving up, wouldn't the lifters, push-rods, ect... move quicker??? If they are moving faster with less than sufficient they will make more noise.
I would psi test it. Do you know about the 03's with the bad oil pumps?? They had some type of machine design flaw.. You should find your block number and figure out if your block was in the "bad vin" "death range".

 

ok, heres a video of the noise. engine noise - YouTube

 

heres the second video, its a little clearer and less wind noise. engine noise 2 - YouTube

 

thats a good point but i dont think its coming from that part of the engine. oh yeah, i did forget to mention that its not in the death vin range but i am aware of the oil pump failures though. i just wanna make sure before i start replacing things.

 

1. Oil pressure test. You need this regardless to see if your oil pump is good. After all....it's an '03 and I thought I heard a "clicking" noise. Mine was not in the range either but.......cracked!
2. I would use stethoscope to see if I could pin point the noise.
3. Take serpentine belt off and spin each pulley by hand. See if there is any wabble on any pullies.

This should help you out with finding the culprit.

 

Try letting the engine cool and remover your belt. This will remove any of the accessory drive components from the equasion.