Hi, I'm new to land rovers so please bear with me. My wife's 04 discovery is making a ticking noise. Its actually the lousest when you're standing by the vehicle by the drivers door while its idling. First time the dealer said they didn't hear anything. After taking the service advisor outside he heard it and said it sounds like an exhaust leak, which was my thought. Now today I get a call and they said the noise is actually the secondary air pump and its normal. In my experience with other vehicles a ticking noise is not normal. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

Call customer service and let them know what is going on and that you want the noise removed.
Mike

 

Sad yet true. I'm also a victim to what they informed you which was a lie. It's not normal. I've done research on this issue for some time and it result it was a defect on land rover for these engines ,(03,04) they were the upgrade from 4.0 to 4.6 and the oil sludge and causes the lifters to make that noise. I have the same issue and been told the quality of oil (Royal Purple) can help at early stages to eliminate that noise. Tree dealer told me it was normal when i first was looking to buy and i believed it half somewhat then again knew it wasn't.

 

 

Good quality oil helps, running Rotella T4 for a few oil changes helps too it really cleans out the sludge. The SAI will be loud when you 1st start for maybe a minute or 2 then it will quiet right down.

15/40 or 15/45 seems to be a nice weight for these.

 

A lot has been learned since this thread started 12 years ago.
SAI can make a ticking noise, when the SAI valves stick and force exhaust back into the pump, you will hear a tick and a burble from the SAI.
Vacuum leaks cause a tick.
Exhaust leaks cause a tick
Mechanical issues cause a tick.
Etc.