A little knowledge is dangerous sothey say...
Heer's proof......
I had what sounds like a stuck lifter in my 98 disco 4.0. I could tell from careful listening that the tap was coming from the driver's side front piston area. I decided to take off the valve cover and snoop around to see if I could maybe free up the lifter.after removing the roker arm assembly, I carefully lifted each of the pushrods. There was a noticable difference between the forward most rod and all the rest. The forward one pulled up with little or no resistence while all the others felt like they were sucking up the lifter with the rod for a short distance then the rod would come free. As I played with the rods to see how far I could pull them up before the lifter 'let go' the number 3 rod seemed to be pulling the lifter nearly all the way up when suddenly the lifter dropped and didn't fall back into place on the cam but rather went somewhere else!!!

Ok so where did it go? I fished around in desperation to see if I could send it to the bottom of the oil pan where I could retrieve it but no...
Where did it go and more importantly how do I get it back? I know many of you have torn down this engine and know it by heart. Any ideas short of pulling the head??

I can't find a diagram of the engine so I'm in the dark.

Lord help me ... or if not Him then maybe one of you
thanks
Brian

 

I just spent a lot of time pressure testing and cleaning this 2004 engine block. Even though you have a 98, its still the same block. If you pulled the lifter out of its hole it cannot drop down into the camshaft area. The casting opening(trough) is not large enough for it to drop down. It has to be to the right or left. Its there. Can you pull the lower manifold and valley pan without removing the heads. I dont know. Check out picture 7 here and you see there is not enough room for that lifter to drop down.

http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=1328179ℑ=431361274&images=43136 1319,431361302,431361287,431361274,431361330,43136 1342,431361352,431361363,431361370,431361388,43136 1400,431361413,431361428,431361442&formats=0,0,0,0 ,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0&format=0

 

It's in the valley, it cannot go anywhere. You can try fish around but I don't think you are going to have much success in getting the lifter back in it's place. Maybe try one of those magnet things to get it, but your space is really limited. I think you are going to have to pull the IM to get it back in.

 

Excellent picture thank you . I see now what I'm up against. I think I'll try a magnet first.If not that then I'll have to pull the valley pan.
Great response thank you

 

It's in the valley. Get yourself a magnetic flex shaft pick up tool and hope you get lucky. If you get one of the ones like the Snap-On electromagnet ones it will make it easier. That way you can keep releasing it and reposition.

 

Amazingly enough I managed to get it with a magnet and push it back into place!! There is a god after all!
So I go to clean the rocker arm assembly and notice one of the arms is missing the little shim between the arm and the valve. What the----!!! the other ones aren't even close to being ready to just fall out but It must have somehow fallen out betwen the engine and workbench. I just spent an hour on my hands and knees retracing my steps but cant find it.
What is that doohicky called and can I get another ?
Hmmmm...I wonder if I could make one out of wood.........

 

No, you can't make one out of wood: wtches are made of wood, and witches burn. So, if you made one out of wood, your engine would either burn, or your Rover would float on water like a duck.

 

You are one lucky devil, I honestly did not think you would get that lifter back in.
Are you sure that part was not missing from your rocker arm all along? That would explain a lot of tapping.
A new rocker arm is $7.50 at http://www.dap-inc.com/parts/d2/d2_parts.shtml
I have old rocker arms in my garage, I even have some new ones as well. You can have a new one for $5 plus mail, or an old one for free plus mail.

 

Beautiful

 

BC, first of all, you don't have a d2 so don't post in the D2 section, second, read my sticky at the top of this section regarding valve train noise, then dig deep into your wallet cause you are about to replace most of your valve train and most likely your cam.
Don't even think you can go cheap with that engine, it has been neglected and at least the top end is too tired to hold together for long.