2012 LR4 HSE Engine Ticking - Losing my mind here...

This thread is very interesting... thanks for posting this even though you haven't received any replies. I have a 2012 LR4 as well with 120k miles. I purchased with 113k on the clock knowing it had a ticking/knocking noise from the engine. But the car had been very well maintained with all records/receipts, and best of all, it had the timing chains done, new heads, injectors, etc. But still ticks/knocks like crazy. Its actually a little embarrassing dropping my kids off at school. But, alas, I purchased it as a bit of a project car for my son when he turns 16. I absolutely LOVE the car (and may keep it for myself, ha!), but the noise is driving my OCD off the charts. I have done a lot of research on potential problems, and I have a hard time accepting that these engines are "just noisy". They didn't come from the factory noisy, so in my mind, the noise has to be correctable.

Now that I have provided way too much info... This thread is the first time I have heard of the intake manifold as a potential source of the ticking/knocking. Since you have solved the problem with yours, is there any post-repair insight you can provide on diagnosing the intake manifold as the problem? Can a defective/broken manifold be confirmed without removing it? Or, if I take the manifold off, will there be an easy way from me to know its not functioning properly? I just purchased a mechanics stethoscope, so any tips on specific areas to poke around would be great to know. Any and all insight is very much appreciated.

RoverTide said:

This thread is very interesting... thanks for posting this even though you haven't received any replies. I have a 2012 LR4 as well with 120k miles. I purchased with 113k on the clock knowing it had a ticking/knocking noise from the engine. But the car had been very well maintained with all records/receipts, and best of all, it had the timing chains done, new heads, injectors, etc. But still ticks/knocks like crazy. Its actually a little embarrassing dropping my kids off at school. But, alas, I purchased it as a bit of a project car for my son when he turns 16. I absolutely LOVE the car (and may keep it for myself, ha!), but the noise is driving my OCD off the charts. I have done a lot of research on potential problems, and I have a hard time accepting that these engines are "just noisy". They didn't come from the factory noisy, so in my mind, the noise has to be correctable.

Now that I have provided way too much info... This thread is the first time I have heard of the intake manifold as a potential source of the ticking/knocking. Since you have solved the problem with yours, is there any post-repair insight you can provide on diagnosing the intake manifold as the problem? Can a defective/broken manifold be confirmed without removing it? Or, if I take the manifold off, will there be an easy way from me to know its not functioning properly? I just purchased a mechanics stethoscope, so any tips on specific areas to poke around would be great to know. Any and all insight is very much appreciated.

Click to expand...

There's a bracket at the back of the intake that I put the stethoscope on where I could barely make out the sound I was looking for. I had to have someone hold and maintain 1500-2000 RPM while I poked around to keep the knocking audible. It wasn't a very pronounced sound with the stethoscope but it was detectable, it helped increase confidence it was the intake causing the problem. When leaning over the engine (while it was ticking) it also seemed to be a centrally located sound.

The bracket for the wire bundle is bolted to the area highlighted below. Right side is the rear of the intake manifold.



There is no way that I'm aware of to 100% confirm it's the intake while it's still on the vehicle. You may be able to do something with the two vacuum diaphragms on the back that control the butterflies. Theoretically you could reach back and physically hold them open/closed to see if the noise stops. Because of the location of the diaphragms they would be difficult to reach, you might be able to get a little more wiggle room by unbolting the wire bundle bracket at the rear.

These are the two diaphragms on the back of the intake. You can move the two armatures by hand to physically control the butterflies. I'm not sure it's possible while it's running, but it might be worth a shot if you think you can SAFELY reach them while the engine is running.



The stethoscope was the ONLY way I had any confidence it was the intake and not something else. Even with the bad intake off, it doesn't appear broken on inspection. It needs to be cut open to confirm what broke (that's coming later when I get more free time). All I know is my sound matched that found on the Jag forum and the replacement used intake solved the issue.

I know how frustrating it was for me to try and find someone with a similar issue, taking several weeks of pouring over forum threads and YouTube videos. My plan is to spread this information everywhere I can think of to help others.

I hope this helps, good luck!

SIDE NOTE: I wonder how many people ditched their 5.0 Land Rovers due to this sound thinking it had rod knock or something broken in the drivetrain?