Engine Help!

Hello All,

In need of help again...

I've neglected my landy and now I think I'm going to pay the price. Last week I finally got around to checking the oil (after some time), only to find that it had none (well none showing on the dipstick). Who knows how long it was low for.

I have since topped up the oil (now overfilled!! ) but this week it has developed the following rather worrying symptoms..

1. Metallic tapping noise when revved, getting louder the harder you rev it.
2. Very lumpy idle.
3. Lots of smoke when revving, some when idling.

Given that the oil is overfilled, the smoke is not so surprising perhaps.

Also, I found that a smaller pipe off the main vacuum pipe to the brake servo had split and is leaking. I am not sure if that is related to any of the above? Maybe lumpy idle?

The ultimate question I am asking is, does this sound like bores/rings/piston are buggered after being starved of oil or is it tappets/valves/pushrods that have had a bit of a melt down? Either way, I've not got the space or time to do engine work si it looks expensive!!

I'm gonna give it an oil change on saturday and fix the vacuum pipe but am I wasting my time?

Mileage is approaching 140k so cambelt change was just around the corner. Engine's a 200TDI in a Disco 1.

Thanks in advance.

split in servo can cause pressure in crank case , overfilling with oil wont make it smoke , id start in rocker box ,presumably oil light comes on and goes off straight away

Thanks JM. Oil light goes out when the engine starts as normal. I assume crank case pressure could cause lumpy idle? But could it be the cause of tapping?

I once had a fiesta that started making a very similar noise and very soon died!

lumpy idle probably poor fueling or tappet (valve not opening fully )

Crack open injector pipes one at a time while engine is ticking over if the noise goes away you have found your faulty injector !! Well it may well be !!!!

So as to oil starvation, do you think it is related? I would imagine so?

Also, does anyone have any idea what the smaller vaccum pipe is for? It tee's off the main pipe from pump to servo, runs across the bulkhead and disappears through the bulkhead on the passenger side.

Thanks for the help!

was light flashing when level was low

jamesmartin said:

was light flashing when level was low

Click to expand...

Nope!

probably not then ,

I would check the valve caps, they may have worn away due to the lack of oil. This will give the tappet rattle and also will make the engine breath more as the valves will not be opening fully.

hmmm. oil change tomorrow and hopefully whip the rocker cover off and have a look. The tapping certainly seems to get worse under load... would that still happen if it was tappets?

8 thou or .20mm number nine method check each opens fully and the same as rest,caps on valve stem often wear ,can be discarded and gap reset

Oil change tomorrow, will have to whip the rocker cover off and take a look at the tappets. The tapping seems to get worse under load, would that still be tappets??


... so good i wrote it twice...

possibly ,what speed is noise bottom end engine speed top 1/2 ,checking tappet is checking pushrods ,broken adjuster or cap etc

tapping noise tends to come in at about 2000 rpm.. Its been pretty stable over yesterday but got really quite noisy when pulling up a hill today..

Cheers for the help by the way!

weird weird weird... just been out to pick the girlfriend up, same route as earlier but no tapping.. if I'm not mistaken it actually seems to be smoother.. apart from the idle which is rough as ever. Also, I think I noticed some hesitation prior to the turbo kicking in which is a new one but all that starts making me think fuelling. Wishfull thinking maybe...

will update after the fettling tomorrow! Cheers.

For anyone still watching this thread..
I've fettled but to no great effect... oil changed anyway.

What I've found is;

With the hose off from intake manifold to intercooler - I'm getting allot of white smoke/oil vapour from the intercooler and when I revved the engine it seemed to spit oil up my windscreen! I know some let through is okay but oil vapour and spitting??

With the oil filler cap off, it chuffs more smoke/oil vapour like a flipping steam train.. I've now noticed a tap/chuffing sound that coincides with this also..

With the hose from the cyclone breather off, the cyclone spews white smoke/oil vapour..

Also, I took it out for a blast on the dual carridgeway and when I was giving it the beans the tapping started to come back... now gone...

Lots of various coloured smoke from the exhaust at standstill and under load, more under load, occasionally black but mostly white/grey.

Can anyone assist with any thoughts? (Other than to torch it!!)

Thinking of getting a 'proffessionals' oppinion prior to scrapping it. No time or money available for this project!

Have you set the tappets yet???