deep rumble in low rev's after fitting coilovers

[dasmith83]

Since having the coilovers fitted i have noticed that when in the low rev's (between 1300 and 2200 rpm) and a medium load is applied to the throttle, i get quite a loud deep rumbling sort of noise from somewhere in the engine bay on the driver's side. It only happens in 1st, 2nd and 3rd and is worse in 1st and 2nd.

I notice it most when pulling away from junctions. I am unsure whether it's worse when turning or whether its the same as when in a straight line as it's audible in both situations. It also seems to be worse when pulling away and going over a bumpier sort of road compared to most i.e. the type of road that makes the front end bob up and down! (and when this happens the noise is a sort of "rar...rar...raaaarrrr" kinda thing)

Oh and the noise sounds more like a metal on metal kinda noise.

It doesn't happen when under heavy acceleration or in the rev range above 2.5k rpm.

I took the car back to the garage that fitted the coilys, and i have to say they were very helpful, as i pretty much just turned up on the off chance...after taking a mechanic for a spin, he was under the impression it was the pipe going from the intercooler to the turbo knocking against that round black thing (don't laugh! ), so he stopped that from knocking and also removed the engine cover for testing purposes.

After a quick test run it seemed to improve the noise quite a bit. However after the journey home (about 18miles) it was clear that it is still a problem, and doesn't appear to be that pipe at all.

So...any ideas?

Dave

 

[rashcupra]

think that black round box on the drivers side of the engine bay is the fuel filter housing! i was speaking to some 1 at pod about this problem on his pd130 and his is on coilovers could be a common problem with your tdi's wit coilovers.

have futher inspection of the boost pipe and make sure itisnt knocking on ANYTHING! make sure there is at least 2-3cms of clearance between your airbox and your strutbrace make sure your engine cover is not contacting anything

 

[dasmith83]

well my air box is touching the brace...but it sounds like the noise is originating from the other side of the engine bay...i.e. the boost pipe area

the engine cover is off, so its deffo not that...the boost piper is well away from contact with anything now...just the air filter and brace really....but is the metal on metal sort of noise really possibly caused by the air box??

 

[rashcupra]

no it wont be that then have you had some1 check your arb bushes?? what about your engine mounts too these can be noisey when worn!

 

[dasmith83]

i've linked jay from big boys toys to this post (as thats where the coilys and drop links came from) and he says that its the arb knocking against the drive shaft! i'm awaiting a response to see what damage this could cause and why its happening at all...as i thought the drop links were required to prevent this in the first place!

i suppose a quick fix/test would be to raise the car

 

[rashcupra]

oh right as the car has been lowered alot the angles have changed and causing things to contact mine doesnt do this luckily

 

[dasmith83]

well thats helpful!

 

[rashcupra]

soundslike you need a shorter droplinks to hold the arb above the driveshafts without it contacting

 

[dasmith83]

i thought that was what i'd already bought and had fitted...mmm wonder whether big boys toys supplied the wrong ones!?

 

[rashcupra]

this would be theonly way on solving this problem as highering the car till it clears would be stupid

 

[dasmith83]

lol...damn right! What sort of damage could it cause if left untouched/driven until fixed?

 

[rashcupra]

the two metals are knocking and the driveshaft wil be spinning on the arb which will scratch it up and leave the metal open and can rust so get it fixed asap!

 

[dasmith83]

ok m8....cheers

 

[dasmith83]

right, a little update for you.

today i went back to the garage again and discovered that the drop links were catching on the inner arch lining, so that was trimmed...but still, same problem.

next we greased up some domed mount thing...but again, same problem

so, i went home and raised the front end 30mm up from the lowest thread on the coilovers, and went on a quick test run...same problem!

rang big boys toys and they said that as its a rumble/vibration rather than a knocking....its probably NOT the arb and the driveshaft, but could be the exhaust.

so, took out a couple of m8s for their thoughts, and they both reckon its the exhaust too. after a breaf inspection, one ** thinks the down pipe looks really close to the heat sheild, and while on the spot applying a load to the engine, it all moved quite a bit, so i think that the exhaust is hitting the sheild.

I'm going to get it booked in, for the garage to have a further inspection though.

Any thoughts welcome guys.

 

[rashcupra]

if this is so get it up on a ramp/axle stands and bend the heat sheild out the way i had to do this for my 3" downpipe!

 

[Rosco906]

keep us informed about this,

if its coily's to fault then i wont be ordering them on monday

 

[rashcupra]

yer you will

 

[dasmith83]

yer man, don't let this stop you! even with the noise i don't regret fitting them at all! the handling is awesome!

 

[rashcupra]

let alone the looks

 

[Rosco906]

well i have approx £340 this month to spend and im suppose 2 buy tyres so i can get the 4 wheels on the beeza.

But with the 10% day off soon i should buy them lol

Also are the HnR droplinks shorter?