Super helpful again P-bod. Really appreciate you laying all this out for us.

 

Semi off topic, but new-used Auto Temp Control Module arrived. Compressor’s compressing, and the air is nice and cold!

 

Just an update here... 1,800 miles later, all is great! Engine starts nice and quiet every time, and runs like a champ.

 

Hey all first of all lots of great info on this thread so thanks in advance. I have a 05 lr3 with 197k. Rattling at startup. Love the vehicle and would love to keep it for a bit longer. The skill and tools on this one is a bit past my range. Question, is it worth having it done professionally? I got a 3k quote but not sure if the motors last much past what I currently have on it.

 

If your noise is clearly the cold start knock, and not chain rattle, it probably is not worth fixing.

From all I can tell, the knock does not cause any damage and shouldn’t get progressively worse. It is incredibly annoying though, so I just had to do it.

I’m still only just 1 year into the LR3 world so I can’t speak from experience for the expected life of this motor, but I can say the inside was exceptionally clean. Almost 0 sludge buildup. I was impressed. I would expect these motors to be good for 300k miles. And I don’t think I’ve seen any dead motor threads on the 4.4L.

 

Thanks for the response. It is the chain for sure. My mechanic gave me the 100% on that. I guess I’m asking here cause I want an outside opinion.

 

Here’s my VVT gear knock noise that you can hear really well in this clip. You can also verify the offending gear by touching both VVT solenoids while someone else starts it cold. This noise is for sure not chain slap.

If you have chain slap, it will definitely need to be fixed because it could jump time or grenade and for sure kill the motor.

I think it’s worth fixing if you like it and want to keep it.

 

That’s helpful. Mine is a chain slap and it lasts longer than that. Maybe 3-4 seconds.

 

@Hollisatp could you please make an audio clip or video like P-Bod did? I'd love to hear the differences that are leading you to believe it's chain slap. That almost never happens with the 4.4L. The gear rattle above is about a 2.7 second phenomenon. I've unofficially timed it - counting in my head- and I can almost be never get to 3. After the initial scare (of course the LR factory states that it needs to be fixed) and learning all about what this is, I am living with it. It's probably been 25-30k miles now and it has stayed the same. If it were on my '05 which I bought new and not the '06 that I bought a few years ago for $4700, I would probably fix it....just because I'm neurotic about the '05.

 

Sorry at night. Figured you wouldn’t need to see it. I guess it is shorter than I thought but I swear it has been longer. Thanks in advance.