Thread: Ticking noise on a 300Tdi...only after just doing some major work...

Originally Posted by AK83

Could just be the normal turbo whistle.(but of course could be a slight leak somewhere too.

Do you have a boost gauge fitted?
if so, what kind of max boost do you see.
I think normal boost is about 15 PSI(no idea what that = in ATM's or kPa's).
Maybe the new fuel adjustment may be giving just a tad more boost, and now you can hear it more clearly.

I've read that you can boost the Tdi to 20 psi, so I adjusted my boost controller to max at about 20-21 PSI. Very rarely see that tho, as my right boot is Helium filled.
Ever since I adjusted my boost from it's old 15 PSI to 20 PSI now, I can hear the turbo whistle a bit more clearly than before.

Can I ask a silly question...can you fit a boost gauge to any 300Tdi? Like mine which is a '97 model?? Reason I ask is that I asked the mechanic to fit a boost gauge and maybe tweak it up a bit and he told me that there is no boost in that engine but instead how you give it a boost is to wind in a bit more fuel...or something like that anyway but I was very confused?? There's a very good chance I just misunderstood him, but is there a boost that I can change on my 300Tdi, or at least monitor?? That's all I want to do for the moment. Is it hard to fit a gauge because I'd like to?

Originally Posted by Young Angus

Can I ask a silly question...can you fit a boost gauge to any 300Tdi? Like mine which is a '97 model?? Reason I ask is that I asked the mechanic to fit a boost gauge and maybe tweak it up a bit and he told me that there is no boost in that engine but instead how you give it a boost is to wind in a bit more fuel...or something like that anyway but I was very confused?? There's a very good chance I just misunderstood him, but is there a boost that I can change on my 300Tdi, or at least monitor?? That's all I want to do for the moment. Is it hard to fit a gauge because I'd like to?

A boost gauge can be fitted, but it is a gauge that only measures pressure, it doesn't adjust anything. maybe this is where your confusion is.
here a vid explain that might help explain how the actuator works.



RE increasing boost, you may increase EGTs (Exhaust gas temperature) you don't want to start cooking things. best not play unless you know what you are doing.
Can u adjust turbo boost for 300 tdi

Originally Posted by Young Angus

... There's a very good chance I just misunderstood him, but is there a boost that I can change on my 300Tdi, or at least monitor?? That's all I want to do for the moment. Is it hard to fit a gauge because I'd like to?

Fitting gauge would take a novice about 30mins to half an hour to install.
It depends on how well you want the install to look(in the cabin) tho.

You can adjust the boost via a few methods.
1. just tweak the wastegate rod to taste.
2. fit a manual boost controller
3. fit an electronic boost controller

After much reading up I went with the electronic controller more so for the 'reliability factor' .. if it stops, it just defaults to what the normal boost is. Caught me out a couple of times in that when I disconnect the battery, it loses it's memories, and boost is hard pressed to reach 15psi, where I know I can get 20psi if I try hard.
And the Tdi feels slightly less sluggish on initial take off at specific IP tweak settings.
The controller holds the wastegate closed for longer till it knows when to start opening it to reduce boost pressure.
Without that control(it uses a solenoid to control boost), the wastegate creeps open, losing a bit of boost as it boosts.
That is, in normal operation, as the turbo builds boost, that boost that it builds up also opens the wastegate and it loses boost as well.
The feelign through the seat of the pants is small, but it's there.
In mine, the way I have the IP setup(coz fuelling is as important to response as is turbo pressure) .. I get a very small, maybe 200(ish)RPM lower boost kick than without the controller on.
So my boost seems to come in at about 1700-ish RPM, rather than 1900RPM. It's harder to see via the tacho, but easier to feel via takeoff.

Without a boost gauge, I'd be recommending that you don't do #'s 1 or 2 until a boost gauge has been got!
Oh, yeah .. almost all electronic boost controllers have boost gauges built in.
I got the GFB GForce 2 .. NOTE!! not the DForce 2 which also has the ability to do EGT readouts too.
I already had a EGT gauge(and a boost gauge) but I wanted to try a boost controller too. So didn't need the extra $s spent on an EGT that I'd struggle to fit anyhow!
They cost about $320-ish, I got mine from a gofaster bits store catering to drift wannabee riceburner hoons(near me, in Coburg) .. I just prefer face to face interactions when it comes to shelling out $s!! .. where I can.

In terms of parts needed: (hypothetically) you buy a typical 50cm(or 2") round boost gauge thingy off ebay .. they usually come complete with everything you need.
Place gauge in location of your choice. Find an access from inside dash area to outside firewall to run a hose the thickness of your pinkie finger(that's the hardest bit in some** Landrovers.
You should have a T piece in the kit, plus a long length of hose to fit that T piece. That hose should be about the thickness of your pinkie.
This T piece needs to be connected to the small bit of hose coming from your turbo, going to the back of the engine to the other side of it and eventually finished off at the top of the Injector Pump.
You'd be best advised not to cut that bit of hose,, just remove it and place a small cut off piece from the hose supplied with the gauge.
You should clamp it, but not vital .. just plan to do it at some point eventually(which reminds me, I still haven't done mine yet).
So, small new piece from turbo, to T piece, back to the old piece of hose, and the rest of the supplied hose goes onto the free port on the T-piece to the access hole in the firewall to the back of the gauge.
There's probably wiring to be done for gauge coming on with ignition and or lights or whatever .. dunno really, but they all operate about the same way.

My gauge(s) work a lot differently, but I've installed gauges in many cars before, and they all seem to install in much the same way as above(except the one I have now in my D1).

But with the GFB electronic controller types(eg. the GForce or the DForce models) are similar, but also allow you to control the boost, without getting your hands dirty or burned from the heat of the turbo.

Did you have checked the fuel lift pump?
On my 300tdi, the ticking noise was been generated by that (old fuel filter and pump return spring weary).

Originally Posted by fixit

Did you have checked the fuel lift pump?
On my 300tdi, the ticking noise was been generated by that (old fuel filter and pump return spring weary).

It had a new fuel lift pump installed...he wound back the fuel a little and the noise has subsided for the most part so I'm tipping that was it.

Originally Posted by bee utey

You do understand that noises due to extra fueling change with accelerator position, and valve train noises don't?

I reckon the noise is definitely changing with accelerator position, but even though he took the extra fuel out of it I'm still hearing it heaps in the cabin while driving, and I'm not sure it should be there. It definitely wasn't there before I had it worked on but I can't keep taking it to Monbulk because although they're great, it's so far and I just don't have the time. I might need to try and suss this out myself.

I had it open today and you can't really hear the tick while it's idling, even when you give it some gas pedal, but it seems to carry on under load. There was a bit of a chirping sound but my mechanic friend (not a rover mechanic, an alfa one) said he thought that chirp might be the fuel pump doing it's thing...not sure about that.

The whistle is still there at high speeds, that and I'm pretty sure I've lost some power along the line somewhere, I know they're not particularly powerful things but I'm pretty sure mine is not what it used to be...and with all the new hoses and tweaks etc. that got done I wouldn't be surprised if something in there isn't quite right.

I came up my car park driveway the other day and I was going really slowly to make sure my new roof rack additions wouldn't hit the gate, and I kind of stopped on the ramp incline...and then it was super hard for the Disco to even make it up while on the incline and I ended up smoking the place out and eventually it got up with lots of clutch and accelerator...thinking this isn't so hot for a 4WD and something ain't right. I haven't gone up in tyre size or anything, sure there are some drawers in the back now and a tiny bit of gear but not anywhere near as much as I used to cart around with my band.

Bloody Disco! Might put that extra fuel back into it and try to solve the tick/knock sound so it goes away.

Have they accidentally pulled the gas hose off the turbo intake?

Gosh who knows, I'll have a look in the morning, bloody hope not!