Hi Guys,

I have a new tick in the rover, at 114K miles. It started making this faint ticking noise in the cabin but when you pop the hood it's clear as day. It seems to be coming from the valve cover area. Oil change 1k miles ago.

Here is a video:
Let me know if this is something common, or something to be more concerned about. As always I really appreciate the help.

Thanks!

 

Somewhat normal for a 100k+ engine. Things wear out

It's probably something in the valve train... likely a lifter. Pinpoint the noise using a stethoscope or screwdriver to be sure. Move it front to back in 1/8th increments along the valve cover to see where its coming from (you have 8 lifters under each valve cover).

Is your oil pressure good? What oil and filter are you using?

There's tons of 'snake oil' fluids out there on the market that may or may not quiet the ticking, but may bring other problems as well. I personally don't recommend them.

Does the ticking become more rapid under acceleration?

Honestly if you want to fix this properly then you need to tear down the top-end of the engine (assuming you are using the right oil and filter). Maybe try switching to Rotella 15w40 first.. a change in oil weight can sometimes be all you need. If you don't want to tear down the top, at least drop the oil pan and clean out the pickup pipe and sump. A partially clogged pickup screen can starve the valve train of oil and cause ticking

 

Mine ticks but gets quieter when i increase rpms. i pulled the heads and cleaned the lifers one by one after taking them apart. Still ticks. Lucas oil stabelizer and 20/50 helps. Also mine only ticks when its hot so i figure its a clearance problem after the block heats up. Maybe the lifter bore is out of spec. I have 155K miles but it runs good.

 

this could be a slipped liner, especially if you temps are 210+ The block heats up, the cylinder bore expands, and the liner can move up and down ever so slightly causing a tick.

 

Ticking does get more rapid under acceleration. The only things I changed to spawn this tick is recently 180 deg t-stat, I went with THICKER oil because I live in a hotter climate during summers (this may have caused oil starvation?). SO I just checked what oil I put in... 10W40... I thought it was degrees Fahrenheit in the manual not celcius... It's been about 1000 miles on this oil. Do you think it caused this, just oil way too thick? I took the rover on a trip in the snow with this oil too.

 

when i pulled the heads every liner was perfectly flush, i did not see any evidence of anything having moved but anythings possible. my noise does sound like its coming from under the intake.

 

It's possible. Our engines like 15w40 with ample ZDDP. Try swapping the oil to Rotella T4 15w-40 from walmart, and if that doesn't do it, then try swapping back to the original t-stat. Then go from there

 

Ok I will definitely do another oil change. If it was the oil that caused the tick, then the damage has probably already been done.

T4 is diesel engine oil, should be okay?

 

Yes, oil for diesel engines has the compounds our older designed engines need. Detergents and ZDDP. Do not worry about 15w40 being too thick. Some even use 20w50 which I've used too, and it is great, not to thick either, just more expensive to find a good one with the same properties as the Rotella.