Just had the head gaskets replaced on my 03 disco . ran it a day and noticed intermittent tapping noise coming from a valve cover. It seems to do it after the engine warms up and it fades in and out. Oil level seems high on the dipstick. maybe 3/4 of an inch above the full level on the dipstick and the viscosity seems thin?Could oil be an issue? Well, taking it back to the shop tomorrow and want to come in somewhat educated with whats going on.any comments or advice are appreciated

 

Put in 15W40 Rotella dino oil, do a mechanical gauge OIL PSI test. Also check coolant temp with a scanner (not the temp gauge). If engine is real hot, oil will thin.

But since it happens warm, it could also be "the tick" from a slipping sleeve. Or a tool left behind by shop.

 

If it wasn't there before I would let the shop fix it at their expense, do not look for heavier oil as a fix, sounds like they switched some valve train parts around and now have a problem.

 

If you just had the head gaskets replaced - then
they probably charged you to re-surface the heads.

If there is too much skimmed off of the heads, then you will need shims
put in under the rocker arms to hold up the whole shaft to make the tolerance with the valve lifters acceptable.

I would query them and ask how much was skimmed from the heads and
have them put in shims - at their expense.

Which lead me to believe you must have 150,000 miles or so??
And this is the 2nd head gasket job on your truck??

 

89,000 miles ,Went back to the shop today and they say the tick is common in Rovers, I was running synthetic oil and they put in conventional after the repair . the tick comes and goes it seems with higher rpms. I guess like at low rpm not enough oil pressure.they said there are not alot of things that can get screwed up on the valve train. Not sure what to believe?They are going to test oil pressure and change it back to synthetic .Any feedback appreciated

 

It didn't have the tick before you went in correct. Then I'd take it back and tell them they need to fix the ticking sound and it wasn't common until they worked on it. They could have upset something in the valve train but what you could only guess. Good Luck. Maybe they overheated your Disco after they refilled the coolant and didn't correctly bleed it. Don't back down or take no for an answer.

 

Take oil out of the equation.
It will tick worse on Synthetic. Synthetic is thinner.

Did they skim the heads???
Did they say one head was really warped???

Taking the max off the head may have caused you to need shims..

Mike is also correct.
They may have mixed up the push rods or the rocker arm assemblies.

My bet is on they skimmed a head way down.

 

Thanks ,for the helpful comments,I will let you know the outcome

 

Yes, some Rover engines will tick, doesn't mean it is right and OK. You need to go back and have them fix this problem. If you paid by credit card, and if they jerk you around, then stop payment on them till they make it right.

 

They shaved the heads, to much slack in the valve train now.

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