So this week, my Disco finally ticked over 215k, and I was wondering how much longer my engine had if I maintain it well. So far, there's some valve tick on startup, but everything else seems to be going well. But... when I got this home, it had essentially no oil in it, so I have no idea how well it was maintained. Am I sitting on a time bomb here, or can I keep it going reliably with regular maintenance and replacing parts as they wear out?

 

Test it and see. My lead the fleet one has 242k on it...

 

230k here. No tick.

Fill that crankcase up and drive it. Keep checking the oil.

 

I would love to, but other than stripping it down to the block so I can check the crank bearings and working my way up from there, I'm not sure how to get a comprehensive picture of an engine's health.

My goal at this point is to get it to the point where I have enough money to swap an LS into it. That's probably 2 years away, and I'd really like it to not blow up in that timeframe.

 

You can drop the oil pan in inspect the bearings. That MAY give you some indication. You can also pull the valve covers and visually inspect the level of burnt sludge, or lack thereof.

 

I am literally doing the exact same thing... "please dont blow up until i can afford to do an LS swap" hahaha. god speed my friend!

 

Get an oil pressure gauge and drive it until you have poor oil pressure.

60 is healthy and it all goes downhill from there. The cleaner you keep ALL your fluids the longer the parts will last.

 

I haven't dropped the pan, but I have pulled the valve covers, and it was pretty crusty on the inside of them. I've been running Rotella since then to try and clean it up, but I haven't pulled them since.

I will definitely look into that. Looks like there's no plug to put an oil pressure sensor, so I'll put that on my to-do list to install.

 

236K on my 02 Kalahari and that engine is the best running one I probably have.

 

Add a glowshift pack adaptor, sensor and get a gauge. There is literally no what to know how long it will go, it could run for another 100000 km or die tomorrow.

But you can try a few simple things:

1. Make sure it is an actually an oil tick - I am sure you have but it could be exhaust
2. Up your oil weight, go to 20/50 does the tick vanish or lessen if so that will give you more time.
3. Check your oil pressure there are kits that screw into the sensor port that will let test it - you can rent those then you know what you are dealing with
4. Do the PCV mod or at least pull and clean the breather that can generate over pressure and cause problems
5. There are oils with heavy detergent content you could run one for a couple of hundred KM and then change if you think have a lot of sludge
6. Try an oil additive that reduces engine,tick while by no means a solution they also will give you an idea of severity. If they can not reduce it the problem could be severe.