How noisy should it be?

[rodthrutheblock]

Two posts in a day. You can tell I am having a quiet one..........
I am pretty new to Surfs having owned dozens of Land Rovers but don't hold that against me. Before Christmas I bought a 1995 3.0TD auto and absolutely love it. My question is this: How noisy should it be under acceleration?
Mine is quite loud when accelerating, but quiets right down when dropping into top or keeping the revs constant at any speed.
How loud is loud? It sounds like my mate's auto Sprinter, which is a. a commercial vehicle and b. you sit over the engine.
Am I expecting too much? It sounds a bit too much like a commercial vehicle under load (and that coming from an ex-Land Rover owner!).
It is not an exhaust blow or anything. Just general diesel engine noise.
I have searched a lot of threads but cant find anything similar enough. Probably looking in the wrong place.....
Do I just turn the radio up? I can't hear the little voices in my head..............

[laser_jock@work]

Time for an engine re-build? That's what I'm considering soon.

[da SLUG man]

a sprinter's quite a quiet van... the engine's in front of you with them too.

transit's noisier.... and same engine as a mondeo... now they're a noisy diesel!

my mondeo 2.0 sounds like a generator!

[mickey]

i've had resonation noises due to the airfilter bouncing around in the housing..sometimes its noisy, sometimes not..other sources of engine noise discussed on the forum have been the timing belt tensioner having come loose or the air temp sensor having popped out from the filter casing..of course, noise is a pig to describe on a message board..i'm becoming quite adept though..like you point out, how noisy is noisy?

mine gets a bit rowdy at around 55 mph and just before getting into top..maybe the noise you are hearing is normal..but when its "droning" due to the filter resonating in the box its worse..

does yours sound like unmuffled induction noise? some of the guys have reported splits in the convuluted pipe that runs from the solid plastic intake over the engine to the turbo?

[rodthrutheblock]

Hi Mickey,
Thanks for that. Sounds a good place to start to check. Hearing the words 'engine rebuild' has put the wind up me a bit. I bought a Surf because of the legendary reliability. I know no vehicle lasts forever, but a couple of months of trouble-free motoring would be nice. I won't mention the Cosworth Merc I owned last year. It ran 'occassionally' and the price of every spare part had 3 noughts at the end of it....................
I might just try and find another Surf locally and take a ride in it. There must be one on a forecourt somewhere. Might just set my mind at rest if mine's normal.
It doesn't smoke and oil pressure is reasonable and in line with what others on here have said. Starts very very well. Runs really nice. Engine sounds ****** magic generally. I hope it's just the comparison between the Surf and my wife's Galant V6 which is whisper quiet and I've just forgotten the reality of a diesel truck.............
Wish me luck.

[Gizmo]

Its going to be a bit noisier as the age of the vehicle and dont forget [I may be incorrct here] but the engine is not Direct Injection which seem to be quieter?

[NFC]

Sprinter = 2.x litre (Common Rail) Direct Injection Turbo,
Toyota = 3.0 litre Direct Injection Turbo,
so the engines will be about as noisy as each other (and Direct Injection is noisier than indirect). Don't know how much soundproofing a Sprinter has, but the last time I drove one it was fairly quiet by van standards.

Check for any blow on the exhaust and around the turbo.
Check for any rattles while the engine's running.
Check gearbox and axles have enough fluid.

At speed, I hear the tyres more than the engine, but I do have aggressive tyres. Under acceleration, however, I can definitely hear the diesel and the turbo. Don't know about other users, but I love the sound of a diesel working - it's nearly as nice as a V8 to me

[laser_jock99]

Hi Mickey,
Thanks for that. Sounds a good place to start to check. Hearing the words 'engine rebuild' has put the wind up me a bit.

Sorry mate- just a wind up! Main reason I wan't the top half of my engine out is to sort out an oil leak.

The noises my engine makes seem to vary from trip to trip. Sometimes it's as sweet as nut and seems to be light and loaded with power. Other times it's 'orrible and lacking power even after the 'start up clatter' has died down. But listening to other diesel 4x4's it doesn't really sound any worse or indeed any better.

[benza]

well mine 3.0td sounded noisy for me too untill i drove brand new Peuogeot boxer van, so after that was ok If mechanicaly all good i think its just normal lack of soundproofing, older fachion truck thats all.

[rodthrutheblock]

well mine 3.0td sounded noisy for me too untill i drove brand new Peuogeot boxer van, so after that was ok If mechanicaly all good i think its just normal lack of soundproofing, older fachion truck thats all.

I've kind of got used to it now. Amazing really since my last truck was an ex-MOD 90 LR. The trouble is they are so loud you can't hear how loud they are - if you know what I mean................It's because the Surf is really quite refined by comparison (I am currently holding a bone china teacup with a dainty grip and pointing my little finger outwards).

[smego]

I've kind of got used to it now. Amazing really since my last truck was an ex-MOD 90 LR. The trouble is they are so loud you can't hear how loud they are - if you know what I mean................It's because the Surf is really quite refined by comparison (I am currently holding a bone china teacup with a dainty grip and pointing my little finger outwards).

I had the same experience with mine. Seemed loud on hard exceleration yesterday, and as quiet as a mouse at constant speed. Normal I suppose. I put 250ml of STP diesel treatment in a full tank of DERV, did about 50 miles and noticed that it had quietened down a little more under harsh exceleration and power felt like it had picked up abit too. Don't forget your cream cake with your cuppa .

[white akita]

hi, yesterday i swapped my 02 mondeo tddi for a 1996 3.0 td auto ssrg and im very happy with it, it sounds almost whisper quiet compared to the mondeo now they are a awfull sounding engine !

[Apache]

Two posts in a day. You can tell I am having a quiet one..........
I am pretty new to Surfs having owned dozens of Land Rovers but don't hold that against me. Before Christmas I bought a 1995 3.0TD auto and absolutely love it. My question is this: How noisy should it be under acceleration?
Mine is quite loud when accelerating, but quiets right down when dropping into top or keeping the revs constant at any speed.
How loud is loud? It sounds like my mate's auto Sprinter, which is a. a commercial vehicle and b. you sit over the engine.
Am I expecting too much? It sounds a bit too much like a commercial vehicle under load (and that coming from an ex-Land Rover owner!).
It is not an exhaust blow or anything. Just general diesel engine noise.
I have searched a lot of threads but cant find anything similar enough. Probably looking in the wrong place.....
Do I just turn the radio up? I can't hear the little voices in my head..............

Change yer oil. It'll quiet right down

[rodthrutheblock]

It's a funny thing, it is only thrashy sounding revving through the lower gears. Becomes like a quiet nice lovely thing in OD top when it changes up at 50 or so. I change the oil quite frequently, every 5,000ks or so. Perhaps I should change brand.....

I tell you what has made a difference though. I have switched entirely to Bio, generally either B90 or B100 when avaiable and that has made a hell of a difference. Not at all so thrashy sounding under load.

[internetsurfer]

mine is really quiet doing 60 mph , just like a petrol car infact.

but then its only just covered 10.000 miles.