Like many of you, the 4.6 Liter engine on my 04 ticks, or at least it used to.

Normally it would tick after warming up, I would only hear it when stopped at a traffic light. The ticking would stop the instant I would step on the gas. Sometimes i would stop and it would be ticking, other times not. Sometimes while stopped the ticking would fade out. Sometimes it would be real loud, somtimes faint.

Anyhow, on Monday I replaced my thermostat with the 180 degree grey model, it is one of the Land Rover made ones. Since I replaced it, my engine has for the most part stopped ticking entirely, I think it has maybe done it once, but other than that it hasn't. I can only guess that the ticking I had was somehow temperature related, and now since my engine is operating at a lower temperature it stopped. Seems kinda strange, but I'm not going to complain.

 

How long has it been ticking, what weight oil do you use?
No, to answer your question, if it has been ticking for a long time, it will come back. The question is, when are you going to spend some time and deal with it because any tick is a wear item that will only get worse?

 

Might be time to sell it while it is not ticking....

One theory about the slipping liner(s) is that with high temp they let go from the cylinder bore and begin to move up/down with the piston, ticking as they hit the fire ring of the head gasket. As engine rpm increases, the sleeve can't move as fast as the piston, because of slip, and even though it is still moving, it just is not going far enough to strike the fire ring and tick. We have had posts with details of how guys have drilled holes in block and pinned the liners so they can't move.

The lower operating temp is good for this engine, but it won't cure problems that already happened. Once it has come loose, who knows when it will pop up again. But lower temps, plus keeping an eye on them with a digital gauge (Ultra Gauge or scanner), can help. It is sad that a single high overheat incident can bring this on, and multiple ones are very likely to do this.

An example of designed for the air conditoned lab, instead of the worst conditons the world can dish out. Considering the Rovers are made to go anywhere under most extreme conditions, one would think they would have caught this.

 

Ha ha, I don't want to sell it now that it stopped ticking!

My ticking has always been intermittent, Id say 50% of the time. Never as bad or as maddening as some you have dealt with. It has been going on for a couple of months, which now that I think about it is about the same amount of time that my thermostat was leaking. The leak in my thermostat was never bad, just a drip here and there, I always kept track of my coolant levels, and I never overheated, even when sitting in traffic on 100 degree days with the AC blasting.

When I finally got around to changing out my thermostat I realized that although my coolant level was ok, that air had leaked into the system because of the leak. Now I am not leaking, system was bled out, and the engine ticking stopped.

So either the air in the system, the drop in operating temperature or a combo of both has somehow stopped the noise that I was hearing. I'm not going to fix what ain't broke, but if the noise does come back then I will investigate further.

 

If its stopped Ticking I'd cherish the time with your Disco because it will most likely come back.

My 03 ticked so I tore it apart replace parts and it still ticks at times. I don't really like the idea of turning up the radio, but after you've went through many steps to correct it and it doesn't go away its not a bad option .

As for the sleeve being the cause of the tick, I'm not convinced this always the problem.

I now believe my tick was related to oil pressure which I had though was caused by my cracked oil pump I disovered at teardown. My bearings looked good (No copper showing) so I decideded to leave them alone. Turns out I was wrong as it was not the cracked oil pump driving the low pressure rather my low oil pressure 10PSi at hot idle was caused by worn clearances. I feel this low oil pressure is not supplying enough oil at idle to the lifters causing the valve train tick.

 

I say stop thinking about it, run a 40 weight oil or 20-50 and keep rolling.

Many people have done very very tedious work on these engines to get them to stop ticking to no avail. Like 0304Disco above.

I say if you aren't leaking oil and if you aren't leaking coolant, then that's good enough to me. Just watch your coolant levels and make sure there is no air in the system.

Oil pressure ticks are another problem, but if it's one of these mystery things that you are getting OCD about then relax.

 

Oil pump cracked, rocker arm problems, slipped sleeve... and then this sent in by a member who had paid for repairs and still had upper engine noise....

Note - alway account for all tools, and don't torment new mechanics by hiding some of theirs...

 

On a positive note, the ratchet portion of the wrench had never worked better than it did after removal!

My DII had a replacement longblock installed about 30K ago by a previous owner and has never overheated but it still has a tick. It is always present, whether the engine is just started cold or at the end of a long trip in the middle of August. It is coming from the top end on the driver's side. My guess is the heads were shaved when the were redone at 67,000 miles and the valve lash was never checked when the engine was reassembled. Although I find it somewhat annoying, it allows me to fit in with other Land Rover owners which is important because I strive to conform.

 

My 04 started ticking in the spring, stopped in july for the summer and started again the end of september. Was great for a couple months. Gonna buy some gaskets and take the oil pan off to check the liners. If the liners were/are slipping, do you think you could tell from underneath? maybe move it a little?

 

Now that I don't have the engine tick, I am hearing a squeaking noise. Sounds like a bearing in a pulley. Not super loud, but it's there.