AN INTERMITANTENGINE TAPPING NOISE STARTED YESTERDAY. NOW IT IS LOUDER AND MORE PERSISTANT.
LIFTER? IS IT SAFE TO DRIVE?
2003 96K D2

 

Um, no, it is NOT safe to drive.
How long have you owned the truck? How many miles were on it when you bought it?

 

I HAVE OWNED IT 20 MOS. FROM 87K TO 96K

 

Do you know any of the history of the truck from when before you bought it?

 

NO

 

Ok, I was afraid of that.
You need to have it towed to a shop and have the oil pressure tested. I am betting that your oil pump went bad and if you continue to run the engine you will be buying a new one.
With your mileage it is likely that your oil pump was replaced before when it went bad, and now it has gone bad again.
There is about 40,000 2003 Discoveries with bad engine blocks and the oil pump is inside the front engine cover and the bad engine block causes the oil pump to wear out prematurely.
When the oil pump starts to go bad you loose oil pressure, no oil/low pressure will cause the engine to wear out prematurely.
The only permanite fix is a new engine, or a used engine out side of the bad engine range.
Do a search on the forum for the 2003 VIN# range of bad oil pumps.
The only way to conferm or deny the bad oil pump is to have the oil pressure tested.

 

IT IS NOT IN THE BAD VIN RANGE.
I HAD THE PRESSURE CHECK AND IS IS OK.

 

Ok, that is good to hear. When did you have the oil pressure tested? Today?

I assume that you checked the oil level.
Does the speed of the tapping increase in speed when you rev the engine?
Do you have ACE? Or secondary air?

 

PRESSURE CHECK WAS 5 MOS AGO.
OIL LEVEL GOOD NOW, WAS CHANGED 1 K AGO, USING FULL SYNTHETIC.
YES ,IT INCREASES WITH ENGINE RPM.

 

Alot can happen in 5 months. You need to have it towed to a shop and have the oil pressure tested again.
Just because you are not in the VIN# range doesnt mean much.