Hi Guys,

I just bought a 2003 Discovery with 86K. I bought it with a busted transmission that came from the previous owner driving it until the front propeller shaft broke. But anyway, I have replaced the transmission and upgraded the front propeller shaft and now I find out the engine is ticking after idling for about 5-10 minutes. The tick does not go away when I rev the engine. It sounds like it could be a lifter, but I have also heard about the dreaded slipped sleeve. If it is a slipped sleeve, would it tick when it is cold as well as when hot? Would a slipped sleeve tick go away when the engine is revved? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Jason

 

This topic has been discussed many many of times. I suggest you do some searching, read some of the other members stories and see if they relate to your situation.

The skinny is, they do not tick cold, they tick after the engine reaches operating temperature. The high temperature expands the metal allowing the sleeve to move freely. Check out the YouTube video of the guy who puts his block on the BBQ.

 

Wait, did you say the sleeves move freely after warm up?

 

The theory is that once the engine has overheated enough (in the past), the sleeve is broken loose. It will slip up/down with piston travel most every time once operating temp is reached. In many cases, it goes away when revved up, as the sleeve can't keep up with the speed of the piston. It is still moving, just not far enough to ding. Some members have pinned their liners and posted how to. Some just keep driving. I would suspect a lifter to be noiser cold. Valve train things can be heard thru a yardstick held against the ear and the valve cover. 180F stat may keep it below that magic temp.

 

What say we get a sticky on this with all the theories and perhaps a suggested order of priority/diagnosis? Would save everyone a lot of typing!

 

Hmm, I have the same prob I posted on a different post. Mine starts clacking or ticking after warm up and sounds like its from the bottom end. A mechanic said it sounded like a lifter. He told me to try running 20/50 with some Lucas oil treatment. I tried Seafoam to start with to see if there was grime I could get rid of and it didnt help, 20/50 with Lucas didnt help. Tried pulling 1 plug at a time to see if the noise stopped but the engine drops in idle when a plug is out and makes so much noise I couldnt detect if the ticking had stopped.

Im pulling the oil pan and crank case this weekend to replace timing chain, oil pump, gaskets, etc and to check the bearings.

 

I do wonder about the temp these engines run at. I was going to sell my d2 to someone, so I pulled the ultragauge out. I decided to put it in my acura just for giggles. I noticed that the acura temps were almost always in the low to mid 180s. I think I saw 190 once. The d2 always seemed to run high 190s, and I've seen it as high as 220 while idling for extended periods in the hot heat of summer. If a d2 temp could be controlled a little better I wonder if they'd tick less.

For what it's worth, I sold the d2 and acura and I've got the gauge in my newest purchase, an LR3, and it's pretty steady in the 190s and doesn't seem to move much.

 

Welcome to the ticking club... Yup my 03 does it as well and as has been said its well documetned.
Mine has been ticking for 30k miles not got any worse, not got any better. Done extreame off roading, heavy hauling and normal running around. I do have the 180 T/Stat in an ultra gauge and temps run at 195 down the high way on average and she still ticks. When it grenades then I will worry about it untill then I drive!

 

Tick on and get use to it. You'll drive yourself crazy trying to solve it, and aside of people pinning slipped liners and having a 180stat help out the only other cure I've seen is a new motor.

But if you can't help yourself but to dig deeper you are at 86k. So if in another 10k it hasn't stopped and you have the pleasure of doing head gaskets you can dig deeper then. I would personally throw in a grey soft spring thermo and try to avoid both.

 

hi guys, just wanted to update you on what I decided to do. I went ahead and bit the bullet, I pinned all the sleeves. I researched for a few days and found a few good write-ups on it and went for it. And the tick is gone!!! I also went ahead and did the head gaskets too, since it was almost time for them to go out. I'll attach a couple of pictures.