300tdi 110 ticking noise from fuel tank area.

Hi. Can anybody help me out here? I know Defenders pretty well but this has me scratching my head!
I've searched hi & low on here but can't find the answer....
I've got a ticking noise coming from the rear end of my 110 (not loud or annoying, but I know it's there). It's in the fuel tank area. You can also see the return pipe pulsing in sync with the tick. I've blow down the return from the injection pump to see if it was blocked - which it wasnt! the lift pump it fine and the injection pump is new!!! any ideas please?????

remove the return line and put end in a container see if it pulses then or if return has pressure

Yeah I think I'll check that tomorrow. How much return pressure should I expect when on idle?

Not a lot but a fair flow.

Mine has just started doing the same thing, thought it was the exhaust at first but sounds like it's the fuel lines pulsing, been scratching my head for days

on my new aftermarket tank I have a tick just after filling up on my defender its the float in the tank on mine knocking the top of the tank it goes after a few gallons have gone don't know if this helps.

chickenboots84 said:

Yeah I think I'll check that tomorrow. How much return pressure should I expect when on idle?

Click to expand...

about a litre every 5 mins or thereabouts.

richard_paradox said:

on my new aftermarket tank I have a tick just after filling up on my defender its the float in the tank on mine knocking the top of the tank it goes after a few gallons have gone don't know if this helps.

Click to expand...

I've tried it with a full and empty tank - it just does it regardless. It's really got me baffled. I'm getting ready to check the return flow now, I'll keep yous updated.

Hmm, new injection pump seems to be the only thing that has changed.
Is the engine running OK? Does the frequency of the tick change with engine speed?
I wonder if the pressure to the injectors is higher than before, and the return is being pulsed by this. Maybe hold the return pipe in the engine bay and see if you can feel the pulse there. Just a thought.

After blowing down the return pipe it seems to be ok now. I'll keep my ears open to see if it starts again. Strange!!!!!!

Hi guys, I had this happen about 1k miles after I got mine, She wasn't new when I got her, just broken in @216000 on the clock...

not knowing anything about it I called my local specialist (Strathearn Engineering @ Abruthven) who said they had had a defender in a few months before with the same noise, turned out it was the way the pump was sooking the diesel through the pipes,

they said they only got it to stop by changing the pump!.


Its done it on mine on and off ever since,

although I don't top up enough to notice a pattern, you do get used to it!

Thinking about this - blowing out the return pipe stops it, because there is nothing for the pusling returned fuel to push against. I would expect the ticking to return as soon as the return fuel line fills again. Are you sure there aren't any kinks or obstructions to the fuel return? If not, it points to the pump. I suppose you could prove it by making a replacement fuel return line. If that cures it, it was the old line!

I had my tank out for a few days (rear xmember renewal) soon after the noise started, never checked my lines fully but once she started (first time) the noise returned as usual,

I haven't until now thought about it as a problem, im still not sure if it is a problem?
would be nice to know if it is!,

I could of possibly blocked it when I had the sender out. I only noticed it after that. I was think I may have scraped some sh*t up when twisting it to get it back into place.

Mine 200 was ticking before I rebuilt it onto a galvanised chassis, replaced fuel lines, tank, sender the lot on rebuild, now back together still ticking on and off, does it for a few days then goes away.
No difference in the way it drives, no hesitation or faults so I'm just going to leave it alone, I guess like stated above it's something to do with the pump but it works and after spending 6k rebuilding its getting nothing unless it needs it