Tappet failure
- Thread starter ColoDisco
- Start date
Rovertrader
Supporting Sponsor
Pretty common, try some Seafoam as it usually does the trick, then a little Mystery Oil.
tacr2man
Adventurer
Cam wear on the V8 is not unusual , what sort of mileage on the engine , its also quite usual for the timing chain /gears being a bit u/s at the same time , causes timing inaccuracies and the mpg to drop as a result . Not that difficult a job to do in situ poor oil change regime brings it on earlier HTSH
There are a couple of very informative threads on Discoweb.org, in the discovery technical section on the appropriate oil for these engines. Apparently the oil properties have changed since these trucks were originally manufactured. Do a search for either HTHS or oil, or the forum member name Chris St. Louis (real name Chris Schaeffer). He presented some really good technical information that was helpful. The point was, the 3.5, 3.9, 4.0 & 4.6 engines (all same basic design) were flat tappet engines and required an oil with a high temperature high sheer (HTHS) rating of 3.5 or higher. In those threads there are a list of oils that meet those specs and also instructions how to find that information on oil manufacturer data sheets (basically, go online and pull the data sheets off the respective product websites). Maybe that will help you in the future.
David Harris
Expedition Leader
Good info there. . . Discoweb is the tops for technical questions. . .
I've personally never seen a Rover V8 that didn't have some kind of tapping or knocking going on at higher miles. You can just continue to drive on it for a long time in my experience. I would second tacr2man that the majority of the noise is camshaft related. After that, and in combination with oil pressure drop, is rod bearings.
David
David Harris
Expedition Leader
Received this in the mail today!
Plans are to install the cam, lifters, gear and chain, kick down cable, LED rock lights, new canvas slings for both front seats starting next Wednesday. I plan on taking a lot of pictures and reporting in every evening.
Which profile did you get on the cam?
Edit: Never mind. . . just saw the 50229. That's what I was thinking of going with too. . .
rover4x4
Adventurer
very nice, I tell you it was a PITA to get my distributor reinstalled when I did that cam. I bought a 230, it ran really well for a while now ive got other issues. This is a good time to do your water pump and maybe even head gaskets.. Let us know what you think about the cam.
ColoDisco
Explorer
Nice. Rave did not say anything about them. Just the coolant and radiator. And the top end and oil pan.
Hard day. Did finally get the viscous fan off. Chewed up the end if the pulley pretty good. Will be sanding down the teeth marks from my channel locks. Cracked the bolts loose on the crank pulley. Still need to figure out what I am going to do to secure the crank to remove the crank bolt.
Will keep updating with pics. I expect to get quite further tomorrow.
Hard day. Did finally get the viscous fan off. Chewed up the end if the pulley pretty good. Will be sanding down the teeth marks from my channel locks. Cracked the bolts loose on the crank pulley. Still need to figure out what I am going to do to secure the crank to remove the crank bolt.
Will keep updating with pics. I expect to get quite further tomorrow.
ColoDisco
Explorer
Not sure anyone is reading this but I will continue updating. Hope this helps someone someday! 
Midday progress:
Labeled the plug wires to make reinstallation easier
Cap rotor and wires removed:
Drained the oil, while that was dripping I removed as much as possible from the intake:
Removed oil pan:
Lower end is about how I expected for 190k miles. No metal particulates seen.
For this afternoon,
Loosen crank bolt
Drain coolant
Remove radiator
Continue disassembly of front end.
If I get ambitious possibly remove intake.
Midday progress:
Labeled the plug wires to make reinstallation easier
Cap rotor and wires removed:
Drained the oil, while that was dripping I removed as much as possible from the intake:
Removed oil pan:
Lower end is about how I expected for 190k miles. No metal particulates seen.
For this afternoon,
Loosen crank bolt
Drain coolant
Remove radiator
Continue disassembly of front end.
If I get ambitious possibly remove intake.
ColoDisco
Explorer
Lots of progress this afternoon. There is a surprise at the end!
Used wood to lock up the crank and remove the crank pulley bolt, worked like a charm!
Pulley off:
Moved on to the distributor and radiator.
Removed cover with oil pump:
Made a bolt diagram to make sure I put the 3longer bolt back in the right spot I highly recommend this:
Follow these next 3 images as they zoom in on the second cylinder on the left bank.
Blue circle is where this lifter lived:
Hello mr. Ticky Ticky!
Tomorrow morning the cam comes out.
Used wood to lock up the crank and remove the crank pulley bolt, worked like a charm!
Pulley off:
Moved on to the distributor and radiator.
Removed cover with oil pump:
Made a bolt diagram to make sure I put the 3longer bolt back in the right spot I highly recommend this:
Follow these next 3 images as they zoom in on the second cylinder on the left bank.
Blue circle is where this lifter lived:
Hello mr. Ticky Ticky!
Tomorrow morning the cam comes out.
tacr2man
Adventurer
While you are at it , check out for wear on the rocker shafts (just push rockers along shaft from operating position see if there is a step), can be quite severe,( in view of your cam condition ), results in poor oil pressure to crankshaft , and bearing wear . Nice clear pics by the way !