Noisy Engine From Start

[ahappychappie]

Hi,

Engine is Diesel EU5 102 PS. From cold, when you accelerate the engine is very noisy and 'rackety' sounding - is this just a characteristic of the older EU5 engine?

Once warm all seems fine. I've always had Diesel engines but over the years they have got much quieter (car based however), it seems I've stepped back in time a little...

We purchase from Arnold Clark - it's been faultless - they told us it was a private vehicle - it was an ex rental - mileage was 8k when we got it but it probably had a hard life until then... It's in for its first service on Friday - if I mention it you can guarantee VW will say its within all normal parameters etc...

Thanks...

 

[Tourershine]

A mate of mine has exactly the same engine, although his has been mapped, but he often complains how noisy the engine is from cold, but i'm not sure if this is normal.

 

[Dellmassive]

The hydraulic tappets may be the cause?

do you have good oil and is it up to the markings on the dipstick?


see below from a previous thread . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


the tappets are hydraulic on these and use engine oil pressure to "pump up" and close the gap after the first few seconds after starting. (old engines used manual adjustments)

slight noise is normal on a first start after the oil has mostly drained back down to the sump.

tappets can become worn eventually and may require replacing . . . .

if the tapping sound goes away after starting and a touch on the throttle to raise the oil pressure then i doubt you need new tappets.

most important thing is to check you have good oil to the required marking on the dipstick, and do regular oil & filter changes as required. yearly/ by miles or longlife.

note the OEM statement below: Irregular valve noise during starting is normal.





so the question is - how long does it take to settle down?


basically old thick oil will take longer to quieten down the engine. So is your noise oil pressure related ...... or . . ... thermal expansion causing the noise to change.?

 

[ahappychappie]

I checked Oil levels the other day and all was fine - its done 15k miles and no topup required.

The noise is when its cold - when engine is warm (i.e. needle sat in the middld) noise is noticably lower -i.e doesn't protrude into cabin. If it's a very stèep hill its noisy again but happy with that as the engine is working hard, its just the cold start that seems very loud...

 

[Ed Webb]

I have a 102 and mine has a rackety sound when first started. The noise vanishes once the engine battery has recharged and the revs drop slightly.

 

[Dellmassive]

I checked Oil levels the other day and all was fine - its done 15k miles and no topup required.

The noise is when its cold - when engine is warm (i.e. needle sat in the middld) noise is noticably lower -i.e doesn't protrude into cabin. If it's a very stèep hill its noisy again but happy with that as the engine is working hard, its just the cold start that seems very loud...

you might need to compare it to another similar engine van if you believe the sound is not normal.

do you know anyone with the same engine local to you?

if not, maybe ask for a test drive at your local VWVC of a similar engine to compare the noises.

failing all that, book the van in under warranty visit for a "engine sounds very rough when cold" check up and see what VW say.



anyway you can record it on your phone and post on here?




i do remember that some of the early high pressure diesel pumps were very noisy for the first few thousand miles, but then settled down.

 

[ahappychappie]

I have a 102 and mine has a rackety sound when first started. The noise vanishes once the engine battery has recharged and the revs drop slightly.

i do remember that some of the early high pressure diesel pumps were very noisy for the first few thousand miles, but then settled down.

Sorry for the delay in responding, but it's good news...

It seems to have cleared itself. We were in Devon & Cornwall - the noise was its usual very noticeable self. On this trip the engine was worked very hard a fair amount of times due to the very steep hills, plus we added a fair bit of mileage. Now at about 15.5k miles - so perhaps your theory of noisy diesel pumps for first few thousands miles is right - though 15k miles seems quite high for something to settle.

I've seen Ed Webb's comment as well, but engine really is quiet now right from the off, so that theory doesn't work for me, unless the battery is so charged from its recent trip it doesn't need to recharge, but I thought it did this on each start, plus trip was acouple of weeks ago now...

Thanks - hopefully it will stay like this!