4.0 Lt V8 weird engine noise

[Nigger]

I have an 03 Disco V8 HSE with all the bells and whistles. I allways use a petrol with RON98 rating. Once my enging gets to full operating temperature and after about 30 mins of driving I hear a pinging noise from the enging when it is under load going up a hill. You can induce this by squeazing on the throttle and once it drops gear the noise will pretty much go away in 1-2 seconds.
Has anyone experienced this problem? The engine only has 50,ooo km's on it. Sometimes this pinging is very loud and lasts fer a few seconds, sounding like someone is wrapping a tyre lever around in a milk churn. It may not be a "true" engine ping but certainly sounds like it. The dealer has told me all the knock sensors are working fine and no alarms have come up on their diagnostics computer. I have even had the front exhaust changed thinking it may have been a rattling catalytic converter but no luck. I am now wondering if it is a dicky oild pump or the pick-up rattling on the sump but I am getting desperate and clutching at straws now. Has anyone had this issue or have any suggestions on what it may be?

[PhilipA]

******, why not add some "104" or similar octane improver to see if it still does it. If not then you know its pinging.
Maybe excessive carbon in the chambers. Do you ever get up it a bit?
Other than that the usual suspects eg , clean injectors, check fuel pressure, check that the plugs are the correct heat range.Too "hot" will cause pinging.
Was it you that asked this a couple of months ago?
The ECU apparently needs some pings to cut back the advance. Usually they do it in stages so it can take several revolutions to retard.
Regards Philip A

[Nigger]

yep it was me and I have still had no luck with the two dealers I've tried. I have LR Australia involved now but apparantly their technical guy will only talk to the dealers service manager and not the general public. This is a problem when the dealer isn't even test driving the car the way required to replicate the fault. I don't see that Land Rover are going to fix this as they seem to be hiding behind what the computer says and not actually replicating the fault and fixing it.
I've done the whole injector clean thing for carbon deposits etc but the engine only has 50k on it and I do long runs regularly (2-3k at a time), I guess I am probably conservative with the right foot as I am a tight ****, can this be an issue with gunking up?. I have not tried the higher octane additive and I will have to give it a go. I have run standard 95RON petrol in it and their was no difference in pinging frequency or volume so I am back on the 98 as the economy is far greater.
I reckon the ECU needs replacing or something but getting anyone to take interest in it is bloody difficult.
The strange thing is today I took it to Bruce whats his name over at Amaroo raceway today so he could have a look and the thing only pinged once on the way there and never again, it has never run so well. I am wondering if the cold rainy day rectified the problem and if so it may be an indicator as to what the sourse is? Then again as I have been going mad over this perhaps it was just a coincidence and wishful thinking...........

[PhilipA]

The GEMS also learns from experience, so if you disconnect the battery its likely that you lose the latest settings and it goes back to the default setting then has to relearn.
So you may find that it is worst after someone has disconnected the battery and then gets better. Any correlation you can remember?
Regards Philip A

[Hardy]

Arrrgh, don't ye be forgetin the 03 Disco be running Bosch EMS, not GEMS
Same diff though.

What did Bruce, what's his name say?



Hardy

[Nigger]

The re-setting of the tranny made no discernable difference. Bruce Davis (found his business card) was very helpful and actually seemed keen to sort it out. The problem was that for the first time ever the pinging noise was not to be heard and the car has never run better! This was after driving for an hour and 20 mins to his place, unbelievable! It made it too difficult to problem solve when the problem was not there miraculously. The weather was very cold and wet, perhaps this assist in hiding the problem? If so it may point suggestions in another direction? Of course I may be clutching at straws as I am going bonkers after trying to get this sorted for nearly a year now. My warranty runs out in Sept so I am obviously keen to nail it by then......
I am getting desperate now.

[Nigger]

Man, I have had a gutful! This noise is still there. I am convinced it isn't an engine ping, just a sound that is very similar but I cant find it for the life of me.....

[4bee]

My warranty runs out in Sept so I am obviously keen to nail it by then......

******, I understand that if you have given a written record of all your dealings, (Registered Post I should think) to Land Rover Aust, then that is sufficient to pursue this later even when out of the Warranty period.

Maybe the same for the Stealer as well?

Possibly some Legalese type person could clarify this.

Seems to me that LRA create their own disatisfaction problems with clients. I wonder how many potential purchasers have been put off buying a LR product after reading various reports?:rolleyes:

[DEFENDERZOOK]

hey dude...where abouts in sydney are you...?

[Nigger]

Croydon in the Onner West.

[Nigger]

Guys, thanks for all your advice and suggestions on this problem. I know it was a while back now but thought I'd give you an update. I finally got the car back after the stealer had it for just over a week. As I had no joy with a variety of dealers trying to convince them there was a problem I got the screamin ****s and took it to Bruce Davis. I just dropped in unannounced and he dropped everything and went over it with a fine tooth comb and eventually found the compression was down on two pots. He did this without actually even hearing the problem, he just understood what I was describing (why the dealers couldn't is beond me) and went from there. He wrote a report for me which I gave to the stealer and finally the problem was resolved. It appears the valve stem seals had hardened on two cylinders (strange) but it must have been there since day one as apparantly the blokes who sorted the heads out were amazed at how coked up they were, valves, seats, oil galley's etc. I have only run it back from the dealer and up to the station to drop the missus off but already I can feel it runs far better and the pinging has not appeared.
I'll be taking it up the mountains tomorrow for a longer run but I'm pretty sure that it is sorted now.
I just wanted to thank you guys for "having a go" at assisting me on this and to also offer a big wrap for Bruce Davis. I was starting to think that sort of service was a thing of the past.