TD5 engine knocking noise

Hello everyone. This is my first post on this great forum.

My beloved TD5 had a leaking oil cooler which was replaced but on reassembly, the engine now has a knocking noise as can be heard on the link below.

My mechanic has been trying to figure it out and I thought I could chip in by seeking the wisdom and experience from this great pool of cool people.

Any insights are greatly appreciated.

Td5 knocking noise - YouTube

It is usual for anyone new to introduce themselves in the intro section before posting for advice.

Might I suggest that you do so as soon as poss otherwise stand by to be jumped on!

ps. Sounds like one of your valves

youll have to look under rocker cover ,you can refit cover without replacing gasket,if you leave old gasket in place for the time been ,worth running engine with ancillary belt off 15mm spanner needed to pull tensioner back

check your crankshaft pulley (www.discovery2.co.uk / Crankshaft pulley  / TV damper replacement)

Wow. I deeply appreciate your quick and insightful responses.

It is usual for anyone new to introduce themselves in the intro section before posting for advice.

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A thousand apologies for my bad manners!!!!too much zeal on my part.

My name is Mark from Nairobi Kenya. I am one year old into owning a disco td300 (we call her mammoth) which I have been lovingly fixing. I got her with a good engine but everything else was mostly held together with superglue and wires!!! (and whatever else that was secured was threatened by a horrible death wobble). She is now running very well and have been quite impressed with the performance - save for the need to learn very fast about the various issues that come with owning a landie. I now use the td300 as my everyday car to shuttle my wife and I around this beautiful rugged country. (I have clocked about 30,000km in the last year)

Having been impressed by the td300, I wondered how its upgrade would be like to own and this is what led to this current issue with the td5.

Trouble set in when the car started overheating 300Kms from home (had to flatbed her back home). My mechanic established that it was the oil cooler that had issues(the coolant and the oil were mixing). We replaced the oil cooler (no more issues there now) but on assembling back the engine the car developed the knocking noise.

ps. Sounds like one of your valves

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We have removed the cylinder head twice trying to check if valves are coming in contact with the pistons and they look ok. No marks on top of the pistons.

youll have to look under rocker cover ,you can refit cover without replacing gasket,if you leave old gasket in place for the time been ,worth running engine with ancillary belt off 15mm spanner needed to pull tensioner back

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We have tried that too - running the engine without the rocker cover and the ancillary belt, but the sound is still there.

Darkness has set in. Will check the crankshaft pulley tomorrow morning.

Thank you everyone again and I will keep everyone updated on the progress.

Just a thought - what do the injectors sound like on the TD5 when they're wearing out?

Have you go anyone with a fault code reader nearby over in Kenya? If there's a particular cylinder/injector playing up it might show up on a Hawkeye/Nanocom type device.

Thank you Brown, we run the car on the fault code machine and it shows that everything is fine... The noise persists. Also checked the crankshaft pulley and its perfect. Grief!!!

I assume you'll have done this on checking the cylinder head, and rockers, but as it sounds like a sharp metallic clatter, I'd be turning the engine over slowly by hand with a spanner on the crank pulley and checking all the rockers (valves and injectors) for free movement and clearance and any signs of damage. Are their little rollers capable of rolling around freely? Another thing I'd be interested in was the condition of the timing chain and sprockets - is there a link loose? Many years ago my mother's Morris Oxford made a noise like that when the dynamo pulley was breaking up. But I assume you've checked all the ancilliaries? Power steering pump, water pump, alternator, aircon pump (if fitted), all the various idlers and jockey wheels. Free movement and no slack in the bearings?

Loose timing chain?

Could it be hitting anything inside? or the top of the rocker cover?

Hello everyone.

We finally figured what was causing the noise! The cylinder head gasket was faulty. One of the holes was not letting the oil through so the hydraulic tappets were not properly lubricated.

We changed the gasket and this fixed the noise issue.

From there we developed an overheating problem- faulty thermostat fixed.

And to crown it now, the fuel pump has died!!! Knew it was coming from some noise from inside the tank. Aiyaiyai!!!

Oh joy!!

There's always something needs doing on a Land Rover. Well, at least you've got a new head gasket, a new thermostat, and a new fuel pump. So a) you know what the symptoms are when they go wrong b) how to change them and c) they're nice and new and should be OK for a while, whilst you mend everything else.