Ben Bailey
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| 05/07/2009 4:08 PM |
 Alert | OK, so took the '04 in for it's last dealership maintenance before I take it over after the warranty is finished. In the last few months since winter I've noticed some more ticking than usual, I've noticed that while I can't tell where it is leaking, it seems to be always a bit low on oil, and I thought I could hear a bit of a bearing whirring on one of the pulleys. But it's running great, nothing else to note. They say it needs a new headgasket! I'm not an expert, but I've dealt with head gaskets before, done one myself, and I just don't see it on this truck. Well, they are only charging $100 for the headgasket change, so I'm happy to let them put a new one in for me. I just think it's odd that I didn't catch that there was any coolant missing or anything. No pressure in the hoses, no missing coolant, no water in oil, no condensation, no extra oil level when there should not be... am I missing something? | |
RBBailey
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Nevak Risew
| | 05/07/2009 4:26 PM |
Alert | Maybe it tested high for hydro-carbons in the coolant? Are they doing both heads? I'd smile and hand them the hundred bucks -- then give em a big ol bear hug! | | | |
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Todd Eliason
Title Sponsor
| | 05/07/2009 4:44 PM |
Alert | | I think they are taking every opportunity to do warranty work to keep business good. | |
93 LR Defender 110
05 Land Rover LR3 | |
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Jay Erickson
Member Sponsor
| | 05/07/2009 4:52 PM |
Alert | It might just be a small leak between cylinders that missed any of the water jacket ports. The over-bored small block I had in my Nova was prone to that sort of problem until I had the heads resurfaced and put a really nice head gasket on.
When it would first start it would just be the slightest of ticks and within a day or so you could measure the pressure drop in the cylinder to it's neighbor. | |
Traded in all my project vehicles for my 2009 Xterra, not an ounce of buyers remorse. | |
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Ben Bailey
| | 05/07/2009 5:29 PM |
Alert | | Yeah, I'm certainly happy about the price. And we get to test out an LR2 HSE with NAV for the weekend. | |
RBBailey
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Ben Bailey
| | 05/13/2009 12:36 PM |
Alert | OK, got the truck back. They said it was an oil leak in the head. It is interesting that the truck is quieter -- no ticking on cool start-up, and the noise that I suspected might be a belt bearing wearing out is gone. It feels a bit smoother and more peppy too, but that part could just be imaginary.
So, listen to your engines. It could be more than just the ticking lifters. | |
RBBailey
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Scott Williams
Member Sponsor
| | 05/13/2009 4:17 PM |
Alert | Ben,
Most likely the ticking noise was the rocker shafts. The oil pressure supply runs through the head gasket for the rocker shafts and an oil leak at the sealing ring in the head gasket would make sense for your ticking noise. Generally the oil pressure ring starts leaking first and oil saturation deteriorates the gasket and then coolant starts leaking. The water jacket sits directly below the oil pressure ring. I am glad this got sorted out for you!
Scott | |
"I could never work here with you guys. All I would do is sniff markers and throw things into the streets." Rick Lindgren | |
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Scott Tarrant
Member Sponsor
| | 05/13/2009 4:18 PM |
Alert | sounds familiar.....awesome. ST | |
2000 DII
Occasionally suffers from "Tarrant's Syndrome" | |
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Ben Bailey
| | 05/13/2009 5:11 PM |
Alert | Scott, yeah, I figured it was something along those lines, but I don't know enough about engines to properly think my way through exactly why a head gasket leak would cause the ticking. Thanks!
Scott T., I can tell you that the only sign I had that something was amiss was the sound (which is a common sound on these engines) and the low oil with no apparent leaks other than normal Rover wetness -- which I had noticed developing a few months back.
I'm glad we slipped this one in just under warranty, we only have a few more months of coverage. | |
RBBailey
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Andy Berglund
| | 05/13/2009 6:41 PM |
Alert | Ben-
So all they diagnosed it with was ticking and moderate oil consumption? Impressive. Did they do both heads or just one? I've got the commonly heard ticking sound, too. Argh...
Andy | |
I am loving the Gilmore Girls-Scott Williams | |
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Ben Bailey
| | 05/13/2009 8:11 PM |
Alert | | I don't know exactly how they actually diagnosed it, those are just my observations from before v. after. | |
RBBailey
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Scott Williams
Member Sponsor
| | 05/14/2009 11:25 AM |
Alert | Here are some pictures of our "demo" 4.0 we have in our lobby. The first shot shows the head mounted on spacers with the gasket between. The second is cylinder head off with the pointer showing the oil pressure ring in the head gasket. Note the water jacket location underneath this. The final shot is of the rocker shaft mounting tower where the oil pressure passage is located. As far as diagnostics are concerned usually the gasket begins to seep oil right at the edsge of the head. Easy to spot on a RRC/D1/D90, harder on a D2 as there is more in the way. Hope the visual is useful for everyone. Scott |
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"I could never work here with you guys. All I would do is sniff markers and throw things into the streets." Rick Lindgren | |
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Ben Bailey
| | 05/14/2009 11:57 AM |
Alert | | Cool. I was playing around with that last time I was there. Thanks for posting. | |
RBBailey
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Andy Berglund
| | 05/14/2009 8:14 PM |
Alert | This is super cool. Is that the beta version of the "Columbia Rovers Leak Free" engine? Nice.
A | |
I am loving the Gilmore Girls-Scott Williams | |
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Craig Miller
Title Sponsor
| | 05/14/2009 8:51 PM |
Alert | Posted By Andy Berglund on 05/14/2009 8:14 PM
This is super cool. Is that the beta version of the "Columbia Rovers Leak Free" engine? Nice.
A
Why do I get the impression it will never make it's way out of beta. 
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My Overland Adventure Blog | |
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Ryan McDonald
| | 05/19/2009 10:51 PM |
Alert | | My 4.6 is "ticking" what is my countdown time? | |
Going to sleep is the easy part... | |
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Ben Bailey
| | 05/19/2009 11:04 PM |
Alert | The ticking is usually a normal sound for these Rover engines. Someone can correct me on this, but it is usually the lifters and valves sticking. Not a good thing, but not something you should go around trying to fix every time you hear it -- you'd be in there all the time. Using good, high-octane gas is the way to keep the ticking from happening sooner than later.
The other common tick is an exhaust leak.
I thought this was what I was hearing, and being an '04, I was a little bit uneasy about it, but didn't think much because I knew it was normal. The difference in the sound and smoothness of my truck is fairly drastic. No imagination, it's real. I was getting a bit of exhaust leak. But I was also hearing something that sounded to me like a tick/swish. I thought it might be one of the pulleys (A/C or tensioner) starting to crap out, but after the heads were worked both of those sounds went away, start up is much quieter on cool mornings, and the rhythm of the engine, especially at idle, is very smooth. Just like new.
If you are noticing the ticking on an '03 or '04 4.6, you might have issues. Check for oil seeping from the heads. Check for oil level being low. Check the plugs for oil (something I didn't do, but now that I know it was an oil leak in the head, I'm thinking that might have tipped me off enough to take it in sooner.) | |
RBBailey
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