Tapping sounds, white smoke but oil pressure good??? Help!!

Our diesel patrol 2.8L (1999) GU was making tapping sounds while driving, which increased as the rev's went up. A day later started it blowing a bit of white smoke. The oil pressure is good, there are no oil leaks. First mechanic said he the 'bottom end' was Ok, then looked at the top and couldnt find anything (not sure how well he looked at it though, as he didn't spend long on it). We took it to the next mechanic, he didn't look at it, just said you will need a new motor, as it would cost $1000 to open it, and $10,000 to get a new engine. Third mechanic drove it, and said needs new engine but doesn't know where the problem is. Does anyone have any advice, as I am confused as to why the oil pressure is good and the car still drives - why would I need a new engine? Is there something we could check first, as I love the car but dont have that sort of money to spend in one hit.

What area are you in as there are people on here who can recommend good 4wd mechanics to try and get answers.

Hi Lou, hopefully some others can have some input but the below might explain some things.

Stolen from this post


White smoke occurs when raw diesel comes through the exhaust completely intact and unburned. Some causes of this include…
Faulty or damaged injectors
Incorrect injection timing (could be a worn timing gear or damaged crankshaft keyway).
Low cylinder compression (eg caused by leaking or broken valves, piston ring sticking, cylinder and/or ring wear, or cylinder glaze)
When white smoke occurs at cold start, and then disappears as the engine warms up, the most common causes are fouling deposits around piston rings and/or cylinder glazing. Use of our Flushing Oil Concentrate and FTC Decarbonizer address these respective problems.

Water entering combustion spaces will also create white smoke. Faulty head gaskets and cracked cylinder heads or blocks are a common cause of water entry, and are often to blame. Unfortunately, expensive mechanical repair is the only proper solution here.

Blowing white smoke and tapping sounds like you have done a head to me, white smoke is actually steam unless its bluey grey then its oil from the rings. Tapping could be pinting or pre-ignition of the fuel if water is getting into the cylinder bore. If you could post a video so i can hear it i can point you in the right direction, also how much oil did the motor burn before it stated playing up? Was it very smokey while idling / driving ??

Ab beat me by a minute lol but some good info there too

It did burn some oil but we didn't notice any smoke coming out. The temp didn't go up, just a tapping sound, checked the oil level and it was below low mark (not good!). Smoke started the next day when started up, not really driven since then.

We live half way between Grafton and Coffs harbour, much appreciated if you could recommend someone.

Hi Louise,

The best answer is to take it to a trusted mechanic, but from the sounds of it, you may not have one.

The second best answer is to get it looked at ASAP, so that you don't do any further damage to your engine.
It may well still be a minor fix at this stage, all depending if the tapping is coming from the front, high or low in the motor, or even external to the motor.

I haven't owned a 2.8 but they have known common age issues with harmonic balancers, injection pumps, heads....it could be even be something with your flywheel.

The mechanic looking at it now thinks it is coming from the bottom, and said it would cost $10,000 to pull apart and rebuild!! Ouch!

Your description is very vague and as said before it could b s number of things but how much is a second hand engine worth