I have replaced the Bearings and they looked fine (not spun) . The Crank has been turned and I used the right Bearings (.010). I've also pulled the bottom Crank Bearings just to see and they were all fine, and the Crank had no scoring on it that I could feel with a fingernail. I turned the Crank back and forth, looking for any looseness on each conrod and saw none. But, having said all of that, it is clearly a bottom end problem so I must have missed something. It is so difficult to work on it under the truck (no matter how long I wait I get oil rain, my arms get tired, etc.) so I'm just going to pull it, put the 4.0 back in, and figure it out. I have some of the disconnecting done already from checking the oil pump and the hood it just sitting over the engine bay.

The only problem is that my crane is behind a trailer, behind a truck, and the Rover is in front of the truck and can't be started. Hahaha. I didn't plan for failure! Thank goodness I have a winch.


I suspect that the Crank or cam is bent or wrong in some way. Or something is not getting oil. The oil light came in at low rpms after I swapped the first head, which makes no sense.

I read about a guy whose Rover wouldn't start and the mechanic found that the gas had water in it, the crank sensor was bad, and the inertial switch has bad. Or something like that. Anyway, sometimes you just need help or a well lit work area and I think this is one of those times.

 

Because is suspected my oil pump, I dropped the oil pan and took the front cover off, only to find that the pump was fine. The problem was the pickup tube. I'd post a picture but it is just embarrassing. Little bits of rtv had almost completely blocked it. I wonder if others who have replaced head gaskets or done something unrelated then had low oil pressure had the same issue. Rtv stops all of the leaks, but it floats around, too.

Then I think I discovered the cause of the tapping sound. Maybe. The nut had backed off of the pickup tube and it had at least 1/2 inch of play. When I rattled it around it sounded alot like the tapping sound in my video, from the top, though I'm having a hard time imagining it being as loud as the video. The crank and rods are super tight. No play.

So now I'm at the usual crossroads. Do I pull and swap the engine to find the problem another day? Or stop progress and reassemble it in the hope that I've found it.

 

Reassemble it. Run it again. It was intermittent.....

 

Yeah this process is getting a little tedious even for a tinkerer like me. This is major operation, what, six?

Still, I can put everything back together in a couple of hours. The work isn't the issue, it is the DISAPPOINTMENT!

 

Watched a video from AB recently where they talked about RTV blocking the pickup screen causing a low oil pressure. You are my hero with your fearlessness!

 

Thanks, Buckeye! You've inspired me to show the picture. If you blow it up a little you will see the tiny space that oil could pass through. About the size of a dime. <br >

And by the way, the rave teaches to remove he torque converter bolts through the access hole. Hat is HARD. I've done it maybe a dozen times. Last night since I had removed the front cover, I had also removed the oil pan. It is now obvious (I don't know why it wasn't before) that with the oil pal out of the way it is a breeze to remove and install the torque converter bolts because the flywheel is exposed and right in front of you. I guess if you want to retain the oil in an engine a swap you wouldn't remove the pan, but I never retain the oil and will always take the pan off in the future to get to the torque converter bolts.

Bad rave!

 

Thanks, Buckeye! You've inspired me to show the picture. If you blow it up a little you will see the tiny space that oil could pass through. About the size of a dime.
<br >

What is the rest of that stuff? Hair?! Am I now going bald over this project!?

And by the way, the rave teaches to remove the torque converter bolts through the access hole. That is HARD. I've done it maybe a dozen times. Last night since I had removed the front cover, I had also removed the oil pan. It is now obvious (I don't know why it wasn't before) that with the oil pan out of the way it is a breeze to remove and install the torque converter bolts because the flywheel is exposed and right in front of you. I guess if you want to retain the oil in an engine a swap you wouldn't remove the pan, but I never retain the oil and will always take the pan off in the future to get to the torque converter bolts. I just pour the oil in my mercedes and as long as there is a little diesel mixed in, it is a happy camper.

Bad rave!

 

WOW! Is that a toothpick?

 

What are you thinking there that is the most maddening part. I have video of it coming and going and it is not a subtle sound. It comes and goes regardless of engine temp. Sometimes it is there at startup. Sometimes it is there only when I am driving. Sometimes it is silent, then tapping, then silent again within the span of 30 minutes. And it does it idling, too, not just driving (comes and goes).

My only fear is that I am not seeing the center of the flex plate if I don't pull the engine. I can see everything but the center from the oil pan area.

Can anyone think of anything that would come and go like that? Could it just be the clogged pickup tube?! Maybe the rtv or the hair or whatever it is flops around and starves the rockers?

I'm going nuts.

 

Looks for like a floor drain than an oil pickup, no oil Preasure gauge?
Have to give you credit for fortitude