Hello Roverers...

For a few days I've been hearing a rattling noise, mostly on driver side, but then again, that's where I'm usually trying to figure it out from, but when you walk around the Disco, it seems to come from everywhere! ;-]#

Fault codes shown are... as LOGGED: P1590 (don't mind this one) & P0305 (since all this started)... and as PENDING (since all this started): P0130, P0139 & P0159.

The noise starts as a soft rattle anytime I start the truck, then gets a bit louder when given gas, but seems to go away while driving, but it must still be there and I just can not hear it due to other exterior noises. So I started thinking it being exhaust related. I know cats must be bad, since I've had cat-related codes and misfires occasionally throughout my tenure of the truck, dating a few years back.

The rattling noise at some point became a scary clunking sound during the past weekend when given gas, but besides SES light flashing and staying solid at times, some rough idling, and minor sputtering, I did not feel anything that would prevent me to keep from moving forward, except my fear of the Disco dying on me soon, but this Disco is a tank, and the DISCO GOD is watching over it! ;-]#

Since I know I've had a pretty bad oil leak for years, apparently from rear seal, which some times leaks more than others, I checked the oil and was NEAR LOW TO NONE, so I topped it off. There may be other leaks around valve covers since you can see evidence all over; and it may also have a leak from front side of engine,since I can see traces under engine traveling towards the back, just cannot pinpoint where these come from; I need to find a place where to wash the engine and try to find where all leaks are coming from. After topping off the oil, noises were still present, although not as bad, but they were present. Next day checked oil again and needed to add a quart more, so it must had leaked it throughout the last day. Noises still present, but again, no signs that prevented me from moving forward.

Monday morning did not need to add more oil, but noises were present so drove by a mechanic nearby that have done small jobs on our cars, and from the noise he suggested it may be the "lifters", and that it may be a way of engine letting me know it was going dead. He is not a LR savvy mechanic, but does specializes in Mercedes. He did not bother to lift the hood or walk around, it simply was his opinion from the noise he heard. So I drove to a LR savvy shop that I have some trust in, and these guys did lift the hood, 3 of them came out to assess the noise... they all agreed it may be engine related and signs that it would die sooner than later (even offered and engine they had in stock)... told them about the oil issues, needing to top off oil and the oil leaks the Disco had, also mentioned the codes, etc... but at the end of the day, given the quick assessment they did, suggested that I needed to evaluate if swapping engine, if rebuilding it, and to correct the leaks would be a secondary thing if engine was actually the issue, especially if needing to replace that rear seal, which requires to drop the transmission, and doing that would call for me to consider a rebuild or doing further jobs on the engine since it would be already out... they dismissed my idea of the cat being bad and reason for all code, since again it would be a secondary thing if the engine is the issue ...they also dismissed the issue that having ran it with low to none oil may had been the culprit of the noise ...they were confident the engine may be on it's last breaths (235K miles reached yesterday).

But that same day at night, while driving it with my rattling & clunking noise, and like if I had Miss Daisy sitting in my Disco, the clunking suddenly disappeared ...as it came, it went away ...but the soft rattling persists ...codes are still there ...SES light comes on and off and sometimes stay solid for while, then back to flashing. Truth be told, scary clunking noise going away has given me some temporary relief, I just hope it lasts.

On Tuesday I took it to a shop to lube the driveshaft - since it was long overdo, and while it was up in the air, I mentioned the issues I've been having the past days to the mechanic. Told him that I was suspicious of the cat going dead and the culprit of the rattling noise and the fault codes ...so he looked into it, grabbed a stethoscope and after a few minutes agreed that the cat seemed to be bad, that I should go to a muffler shop before deciding to further work on the engine. He also suggested that I changed the oil -which I do myself and had already bought all to do so before all this started, but had been afraid to do so in case it worsened my issues; but I'll do it now, since it was also suggested by the Mercedes mechanic that I took the Disco first. I also went to a muffler shop and after further assessment, they agreed that driver side catalytic needed replacement ($500 fix) ...went to another shop near home and will replace it for $100 less.

Since early Monday night, the scary clunking noise hasn't come back, just the rattling noise and codes and rough idle are present. I now check the oil every time the Disco has been parked for a while and top it off as necessary, but haven't needed to top it off in the last 2 days, so I'm guessing the DISCO GOD is looking upon one of his own ...for now! ...but will change oil and filter later this afternoon ...already added a bottle of Chevron fuel treatment to last night gas fill-up, as I usually do during my oil changes, but not sure if good idea to drop a bottle of Motor Medic when I do my oil change, which I usually do.

I do have a CODE READER installed on Disco and can monitor the 02 Sensors and a few other things ...I do see the needles go up down on all 4, but not sure what to actually look for ...since I see them go up and down, I'm thinking they are working, right?

Your feedback steering me in the right direction regarding the CODES (LOGGED: P1590 (don't mind this one) & P0305 (since all this started); PENDING (since all this started): P0130, P0139 & P0159) ...Catalytic replacement ...etc will be greatly appreciated once again!

Thanks Again!!!