yeah almost, just trying to find some emory cloth to debur the area.

Funnily enough ... my 03 also stopped ticking after towing 7000lb for three hours at high speed. Came back three cold starts later!

Sounds alot cheaper than a rebuild.
Did you use a 3/8" 90 degree drill or a smaller one?
Does not look like there is a lot of room there.

There is actually quite a bit of room to work. I used my 3/8 90 degree drill for all of the drilling but used a cordless 1/2 inch drill to run the tap on half of the holes. It is a simple but lengthy procedure. If you are very patient and picky, it will work well.

slang,

For you and others trying to determine if this is the right fix, I will say that I would do the same troubleshooting process all over again. Of course, now I am armed with a lot of insight that can only be learned from my experience with my Rover. I could probably take any Rover for a few days and determine after several cold starts and cycles if it had the same problem.

My point is that you need to follow these steps and maybe a few more I have forgotten.

1. Check your oil pressure and install a gauge to constantly monitor it.

2. Determine when the tick occurs. Is it only when warmed up, is it when cold, is it all the time. Is it louder when accelerating or decelerating. Try to isolate the noise with a stethoscope. Check the exhaust and SAI system for leaks or noises. Try removing spark plug wires to isolate a specific cylinder.

3. If you have good oil pressure and:

The noise is all the time or louder when cold, check the valve train and oil flow (sludge issues).

The noise is only when warm; check oil pump, rod and main bearings. If all of this checks out good then suspect a slipped sleeve.

4. If your oil pressure is minimal, remove your oil pan to check for contaminants in your engine. Check the pick up for sludge, inspect as much of the internals as possible, remove and check rod and main bearings. Remove front cover and replace oil pump. I say replace, not check because you have gone that far to check it and you don't want to do it again. Just order the pump before you pull the cover and replace it regardless. If your oil pressure returns to a good level after this and the noise persists, perform step three.

Of course, prior to this you would have ensured you have proper compression and a generally otherwise healthy engine.

The big thing here is monitoring oil pressure and maintaining good pressure. Without it, things will tick. With it, things may still tick. Lol!

Hope this helps a bit

toad,

Is that 04 Disco ticking or has it not "matured" yet? Mine started at 118k. I think that is the magic number. I have read several threads that start with "I love my 03/04 Disco, but at 120k it started to tick" I don't mean to jinx things for ya if its not!

Turbodave,

Those videos you posted actually helped me more than you could know. I constantly used them as inspiration that I was doing the right thing. Every time I would second guess myself, I would watch those vids and know that I was on the right track. Every time someone would tell me that those sleeves couldn't move, I would fire up the You Tube. Thanks man. Its folks like you that contribute to the rest in big ways.

I have always wondered if the sleeves could be welded to the block at the bottom?

No worries fella. I'm glad that someone went ahead and tried this - and got the desired result... I am however pissed that I went and dropped $2k on a new top-hatted block LOL. Man, I could have spend that coin on the Bridgeport Mill I keep promising myself!

BTW - take a look at this:
https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...g-video-48760/
My disco did not sound like this - in that if I revved the engine, the ticking remained, all the way upto 2500+ rpm when it appeared to be drowned out by the other noise.
This guy has what I totally consider from my Pre-landrover experience with the RoverV8 to be a bad tappet sound, plain and simple.
Do you agree with this - in that this noise was not like yours?

Welding the sleeves to the block would more than likely be a no go. The entire block is aluminum and the sleeves are steel. Add to that the oil saturation of both metals makes that a tall order.

I actually thought about using a flat drill to drill through the aluminum and stopping at the sleeve. Then I would plug weld the hole. The major issue is blowing out the aluminum surrounding the hole and ensuring good adhesion with the sleeve without blowing through that metal. If you were a very gifted welder and had some luck, it would work without any need to open up the engine. It would take a better welder than me. My dad is a master welder and told me "no go". I'll take his word on this any day.