Loud noise from bonnet

[Grant Foster]

Hi -

I've now had my Ocean TDI 150 PS / DSG for 2 days. It was an ex-demo, had 4,000 miles on it, but looks and feels as good as new.

It's great, really enjoying it so far.....except when I get back from a drive, switch off the engine and lock up, there is still a really loud noise from the bonnet. It's like a plane taking off. It last's around 3-4 minutes.

Is that normal? Should i get it looked at?

Thanks
C

 

[Steve39]

Normal...I think. At least my Golf does it and my new Cali did it this morning (albeit much louder than the Golf). Can't remember why it does it but sure someone will know.

 

[Borris]

Its just blowing it's nose.

My understanding is that the T6 goes through a regeneration cycle if the engine management system detects a build up of soot in the diesel particulate filter. It's normally accompanied by a sort of burnt toast smell. The noise is much louder than the engine but is quite normal. It will do this periodically if you do a lot of slow local driving.

To stop this happening too often you need to take it out every so often and give it a good long run. Give it a damn good thrashing. By this I mean get the engine up to normal running temperature and then drop down a couple of gears so that engine is running at about 3000rpm. Do this for about 20 to thirty minutes. It should clear it out enough to prevent this process from occuring too often. But it is quite normal so don't worry.

 

[Calihunter]

Hi -

I've now had my Ocean TDI 150 PS / DSG for 2 days. It was an ex-demo, had 4,000 miles on it, but looks and feels as good as new.

It's great, really enjoying it so far.....except when I get back from a drive, switch off the engine and lock up, there is still a really loud noise from the bonnet. It's like a plane taking off. It last's around 3-4 minutes.

Is that normal? Should i get it looked at?

Thanks
C

Are you sure it's not just the cooling fans running on after you switch off which it does to prevent hot spots in the engine cooling system?

 

[Grant Foster]

Are you sure it's not just the cooling fans running on after you switch off which it does to prevent hot spots in the engine cooling system?

where are the cooling fans, in the bonnet? its very loud, i parked up after dark tonight, it was actually quite embarassing, the street was otherwise silent. as i say it lasted close to 5 mins. do all VW vehicles make this sound when you switch off?

i'm not sure i'd have bought the van otherwise tbh.

 

[Calihunter]

where are the cooling fans, in the bonnet? its very loud, i parked up after dark tonight, it was actually quite embarassing, the street was otherwise silent. as i say it lasted close to 5 mins. do all VW vehicles make this sound when you switch off?

i'm not sure i'd have bought the van otherwise tbh.

The fans are normally in front of the radiator, behind the grill

 

[Grant Foster]

The fans are normally in front of the radiator, behind the grill

thank you, that could be it, albeit its very loud. is there any other vehicle in the world besides the ocean that makes this noise?

 

[Loz]

Make sure its had the software recall done to reduce this behaviour.

 

[Borris]

thank you, that could be it, albeit its very loud. is there any other vehicle in the world besides the ocean that makes this noise?

I very much doubt if it's a cooling function because my T6 sometimes does this after a short school run. Unless its part of the aforementioned regeneration process. This noise signals to me that its time to take it out and give it a good hard thrashing. Once done, it won't repeat it for quite some time.

 

[Grant Foster]

I very much doubt if it's a cooling function because my T6 sometimes does this after a short school run. Unless its part of the aforementioned regeneration process. This noise signals to me that its time to take it out and give it a good hard thrashing. Once done, it won't repeat it for quite some time.

good evening boris and could u pls explain what a good thrasing is please. that said im not sure i wanted a 60k van that needs a good thrasing to stop it sounding like a power plant. i assume every ocean owner experiences the same thing?

 

[Grant Foster]

Make sure its had the software recall done to reduce this behaviour.

whats a software recall?

 

[WelshGas]

good evening boris and could u pls explain what a good thrasing is please. that said im not sure i wanted a 60k van that needs a good thrasing to stop it sounding like a power plant. i assume every ocean owner experiences the same thing?

The T6, as many other vehicles have a lot of Emission control equipment on the engine. One of these is the DPF which traps particles caused by combustion and then burns these particles off during a Regeneration cycle. This cycle generates a lot of heat hence the cooling fans switching on for the duration of the cycle. Short journeys with a cool engine generates lots of particles and hence more frequent regeneration cycles and if they cannot be run/completed then the DPF can fail at a replacement cost of £1000's + pounds. Longish trips on A/Motorway roads at 50 mph + on a regular basis will help keep the DPF clear and prolong its life. Unfortunately a lot of owners don't understand this and are just storing up problems. The California is based on a £30,000 + Commercial vehicle with a Camping conversion , but if not used regularly will become problematic as will ANY diesel powered vehicle.

 

[Jay586]

Yeah, I have a Transporter & it does it. I've stopped doing as many shorter journeys & played around with the longer journey/higher RPM thing & it's doing it less. Just coming up for 5k miles from new.

 

[Borris]

good evening boris and could u pls explain what a good thrasing is please. that said im not sure i wanted a 60k van that needs a good thrasing to stop it sounding like a power plant. i assume every ocean owner experiences the same thing?

Read my first post.

 

[Borris]

I believe that what you are doing by taking it out and giving it a good thrashing is you are raising the exhaust manifold temperature to a point where it burns off the carbon deposits in the DPF. What's left is a smaller amount of grey ash instead of lots of soot which if not managed either by you and/or the regeneration process will eventually clogg the DPF to such an extent that the engine will cease working. As WG has already said, if it gets to this point then it will cost a lot to put right. Just remember to do this regularly and think of it as routine maintenance.

It shouldn't be that much of an issue unless you do a lot of short low speed trips.

A friend of ours was told by their Cali dealer to every week or so "turn your baseball cap round the other way and drive it like you've stolen it".

 

[Cali4nia-Dream]

whats a software recall?

have a look at the Recall T6 Ocean 2016 thread, in it Teejay1 says

Had my software updated today. No parts needed, they mentioned, emissions a dpf sensor and battery charging.

Noticed that the regen kicked in when I parked up at home it was much quieter than normal. Not sure if this related.

We have had the recall on our Cali and as Teejay1 says it is much quieter

 

[Grant Foster]

The T6, as many other vehicles have a lot of Emission control equipment on the engine. One of these is the DPF which traps particles caused by combustion and then burns these particles off during a Regeneration cycle. This cycle generates a lot of heat hence the cooling fans switching on for the duration of the cycle. Short journeys with a cool engine generates lots of particles and hence more frequent regeneration cycles and if they cannot be run/completed then the DPF can fail at a replacement cost of £1000's + pounds. Longish trips on A/Motorway roads at 50 mph + on a regular basis will help keep the DPF clear and prolong its life. Unfortunately a lot of owners don't understand this and are just storing up problems. The California is based on a £30,000 + Commercial vehicle with a Camping conversion , but if not used regularly will become problematic as will ANY diesel powered vehicle.

Thanks for the explanation. I'm planning to make a lot of short trips (e.g. school runs) - will it always make this noise in that case? or if for example I did one 50-mile trip a week + 50 mph+ will that stop it? Do all the diesel California models have the same issue?

 

[Loz]

Mine did this initially but got less frequent after a few thousand miles, then it went into the dealer who updated the engine ecu software and this has changed the frequency of the regerations and reduced the fan run on.
The recal was (S quality improvement campaing 23u8) if you call your dealer’s Service dept. They can look up your vehicle and see if it needs doing.

 

[GrannyJen]

Thanks for the explanation. I'm planning to make a lot of short trips (e.g. school runs) - will it always make this noise in that case? or if for example I did one 50-mile trip a week + 50 mph+ will that stop it? Do all the diesel California models have the same issue?

A nice long trip every so often should dramatically reduce the amount of regeneration needed.

 

[JOY29]

mine does this everything I come home from work (6 miles away) but never as I pull up when camping and I've travelled for a long time. Is once a week enough to take it out and give it a good blast or should I be doing it more often?

 

[Borris]

mine does this everything I come home from work (6 miles away) but never as I pull up when camping and I've travelled for a long time. Is once a week enough to take it out and give it a good blast or should I be doing it more often?

Once a week should do it the world of good.

 

[Loz]

But don’t ignore the dpf warning light if you see it come on, this is telling you it’s getting clogged up and you should give it a run at high rpm asap.

 

[Digger]

Every diesel vehicle fitted with DPF no matter the manufacturer requires that the vehicle either does longer fast runs or has to regen as described. Having spoken to several dealers of various brands it would appear numerous people buy diesel cars unsuited for their intended use resulting in much repair work.

 

[JohnGuppy]

If your engine goes Into regeneration often you need to adjust your driving habits to make sure you get to full operating temp and burn off everything. Before shutting down. If you shut down during a cycle. One day it might lock out and then will not start
Most drivers never experience a Re gen cycle as each journey. Reaches full temp
If you do have to do short trips. 6 miles. Drive in lower gear to get up to full temp quicker

 

[JohnGuppy]

Read Borris. Posting. It will keep the engine. Running like a kitten or when you have a service ask your dealer to let you know how many times it had a re gen if none you are fine if many drive it as if you stole it