Focus 1.6 Tdci Engine Noise Under Acceleration

[bigshorty]

Hi

Just bought my first Ford Focus, a 2006 1.6 TDCI, and I'm rather chuffed with it so far. However, not ever owned a Focus before I am a bit unsure what the actual drive noise is like. There are no unusual knocks or bangs, a bit of road noise when driving along, but nothing out of the ordinary. The main sound that I experience that I would like to know if its normal or not is a low, throaty, growling sound that happens when I accelerate, that changes with engine revs. It's not really loud, although is louder than road noise. Car is quiet when idling, and travelling along at a steady speed, the noise only happens when accelerating. The car pulls fine, quick and responsive, and it only had MOT a couple of months ago, passed first time with only advisories being tyres, so this should eliminate exhaust issues.

I just want to know if the sound I have explained is a normal driving noise for this model of Focus, or whether it could be something that needs a bit more looking into.

Any views on this would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[dezwez]

mines a petrol and has quit a bit of road noise

thinking of different tyres see it that helps

[bigshorty]

I find the road noise not too bad, although I'll be getting tracking checked when I get my new wheels on, that might help it more. My query is more about the noise under acceleration that I get. I know all cars make an increased engine noise when putting foot down, I just wasn't sure whether the noise I get, a growling sound that gets higher as revs go up, was a normal sound for the 1.6 TDCI. Not ever owning one before, I have no idea what sounds are normal and what one's aren't. To me the first few hundred miles always seem to be the most edgy when getting a new car!

[bigshorty]

Hi All

Just a bit more info for you, in the hope someone could help with this noise.

Definitely not tyre / road noise, had new tyres put on and sound is still there.

The noise is a low pitched whining / groaning noise that happens, and goes up in pitch, with accelerating / revving the car, at any speed and in any gear, although the faster I go, it does quieten down a bit. It seems louder inside the car than it does outside. If inside the car, the sound comes from the passengers side, almost like its coming from the footwell. If I coast at a steady speed, or slow down the sound is not there, as is when car is idling. I also think it could be ambient temperature related. Made an early morning journey last weekend, when the weather was cool, and the sound was there but very quiet. When driving in hotter weather conditions, the noise is significantly louder (not sure if this could be relevant).

Any help with this query would be greatly appreciated. My instinct is telling me transmission problems, but it could be so many other issues.

Cheers in advance

[Dee_82]

So its not making the noise in Neutral? only when engine engaged and under load?

Its probably worth considering changing the transmission oil, ford say it doesn't need changed but that's a lot of nonsense, get it out, get some new stuff in and see what happens, this engine and transmission is a noisy couple at the best of times but changing the oil wont hurt and can only make it better

[bigshorty]

Thanks for the reply Dee.

I agree with with you about the transmission oil never needing changing, seems absurd really, but it is a good idea and will do that next opportunity, I very much doubt mine has been changed in its lifetime, and it has done just over 103k.

The noise isn't anywhere near as bad in neutral, but definitely worse under load, and louder still when the weather is hotter. The car can be hard to get into gear sometimes, didn't know if that could have anything to do with the noise. I also thought that the sound may have been exhaust related as it can sometimes sound quite throaty, like there is a slight blow in the exhaust, but coming from the engine compartment. Only thing is MOT was only done in March, surely that should have picked up any leaks or problem areas, but then again, in my experience holes can appear any time!

When you said 'the engine and transmission are a noisy couple', does this mean that these models of Focus are normally quite loud to drive?

[Dee_82]

mine is :)

the gear box seems to have lots of knocks and whines an from what other folk say, ford say its usually normal.

the engine is noisy, ive been working on reducing that and ive got it to an all time low through using 2 stroke oil in the fuel, adding ar9100 to the engine oil (can be used in the gearbox too so ill do that one day too) and install some more insulation under the bonnet

[bigshorty]

Cool, thanks again for your help.

I'll do a gearbox oil change done in a few days, and then update this thread with the results.

[bigshorty]

Just a quick update on this thread.

Changed the gearbox oil a couple of weeks to go, and there is no change in the throaty/growling sound under acceleration, its still there. I have noticed that the sound is louder on hot days, when the weather cools down there is a definite change in the sound and is hardly noticeable. Don't know if this could suggest something. The car itself seems fine, and drives without any issues whatsoever, so I'm more inclined to think that this is just normal running noise.

On the plus side, the gear changes are so much smoother than they were, now and again the car wouldn't go into gear properly, but haven't had that issue and driven a good 500+ miles since the oil was changed.

Any other ideas or advice on this would be appreciated, but as I said, I'm beginning to believe this is just normal running noise, just odd that it seems louder when weather is hot.

Cheers

[dezwez]

think of changing my gear box oil see if it makes any different sometime hard to get in reverse

[Dee_82]

I wonder if its oil related, pug uses 10w40 oil which is heavier I believe.

Mine goes through some weird cycle of quiet and noise depending on how warm the car is, cold idle is noisy but heavy acceleration is quiet, after about 10 min it gets noisier under load after about another half hour it gets quieter again.

Heat would affect oil density, perhaps that has something to do with it.

No idea, she's a noisy girl, short of having her stripped down I have a feeling its just a make do with it situation. Old cars get noisy, some more than others.

[Dee_82]

I changed my oil and can back up Paul's comments, its quieter on the box and easier to change, I had some cold morning 1st to 2nd issues but its been fine ever since I changed it pre xmas

[dezwez]

I will give it a go and let you no if it makes any difference

[TomsFocus]

Has it been recently serviced? I noticed these have a nice growly induction noise with a new air filter...thought I'd left an air pipe off mine after a service haha!!

But otherwise, I find it is quite a gruff engine note, possibly due to the shape of the DPF can, mine sounds a lot rougher than any other diesel I've owned under load, and a lot of engine noise in the cabin as well.

[bigshorty]

I have serviced the car recently, had a new air filter put on a couple of months ago, the day after I'd bought it, and needed a new breather hose at same time. I can't really remember what the test drive and drive home was like (too excited I guess, new car and all!), but I'm sure I would have mentioned it during the test drive, and I didn't, so maybe it could be put down to the air intake changes I made.

If, from what I've found, the running noise is quite pronounced, then maybe I should be counting myself lucky, its not that bad really, quieter than the TDI Passat I had previous.

I do recommend gearbox oil change if there is the odd problem selecting gears, mine was quite bad, would happen in any gear, but now the gearbox feels slick and effortless, and not one gear change problem. Easy to do as well, hardest part was finding some tube to fit in the filler hole and over the funnel.

Cheers for all the comments and advice.

[TomsFocus]

Was it a 1.9PD Passat? If so, yeah they're pretty loud and agricultiral lol, characteristic of being PD unfortunately...more efficient than the 1.6TDCi in my experience though. Miss my old Golf tbh, 180bhp remap and easy 60mpg average, 65+ cruising on the motorway... Yet the 110bhp Focus struggles to maintain 55mpg avg and gets less cruising on the motorway.

On the subject of engine noise though - does anyone else get a horrible clattering noise up near the redline? I don't tend to rev mine much, rather ride the torque, but when I do occasionally push it up towards 4k, it really sounds like the big ends are about to drop out! Been the same for nearly 10k miles though so I assume it's nothing too bad lol... Around the same revs I also get a noise that sounds like paper in a fan, I assumed it was the turbo but doesn't seem to be any excess play in it...just wonder if they all sound this bad?

[bigshorty]

Yes it was a 1.9PD Passy, and you're right, definitely more efficient than the Focus, but did sound like you were driving a John Deere!! One thing I especially liked about it was knowing that as soon as you start the engine, it would never stop until you switched it off, and do that every time you got in it.

As for your clattering noise, no idea bout that one, I don't really redline the cars I've owned, the only car I ever felt I could do that in without doing any damage was my Primera GT. I get a rattle / clatter sound, that lasts for a second or two, when I pull away and don't give it enough revs, no idea what this is, but again, everything seems in order and it runs fine, so not causing any grief. As my mechanic mate always tells me, if it ain't broke, leave it alone!

[TomsFocus]

One thing I especially liked about it was knowing that as soon as you start the engine, it would never stop until you switched it off, and do that every time you got in it.

Totally agree there!! Mine still ran and drove with a smashed hydraulic lifter...was a little more tappy than normal though...

[bigshorty]

Pretty impressive mate, especially with a shot hydraulic lifter! And you could still drive it like that? Gutted I had to get rid of my Passy, but missus hit a bus in it and made bit of a mess of the front end, but it still did a 20 odd mile journey to get her home, leaking all sorts of fluids in the process. Not happy!! She did always complain it was too big for her, so maybe I should have expected it.

[TomsFocus]

I could still drive it yeah...just lacked power lol. Fortunately I was on my driveway when it finally smashed through on a cold start (ironically was on my way to help fix a mates car!)...took it half a mile to see if there would be any improvement as I didn't know what it was at the time but just no power lol. Took it home and guessed immediately what the issue was, it's common on the 150TDi...so I was unlucky with it on a 130TDi (albeit remapped to ~180ish). Broke it for parts for more than I'd spent on it so wasn't all bad! Been wanting another ever since though...

Lol, oh dear, she hit a bus!? They're usually big enough to see!

[bigshorty]

My thoughts exactly, and it was my first question to her, I failed to ask if she was alright, that didn't go down well! She managed to call me and tell me what had happened, so she was obviously ok. Women! Always manage to turn it around, even after crashing your car. I wouldn't have minded if the Passy had been bog standard, but I'd spent out on it with tuning, styling, etc. Sorely missed car...RIP!

Surprised you managed to drive your Golf at all, most other cars wouldn't have even started, let alone drive. Shouldn't really praise VW too much on a Ford site, but I just feel they are made to a much higher standard than most other manufacturers. That said, after owning my first Focus for a few months now, it has impressed me, good car. Although the seats feel quite hard after driving for more than half an hour, so I've bought myself a massaging seat cover just to make it a bit softer. Could be just showing my age I guess!

[TomsFocus]

Haha, yeah I can imagine how that went down!

It surprised me as well tbh, when I stripped the engine I couldn't believe how bad it was inside, top end was wrecked, the camshaft lobes had worn so much they were egg shaped rather than being 'pointy', no chamfer left on the cam edges so had just been bashing up the lifters because of it. It's partly to do with the valve cams having to be thin to fit in the PD injector cams...but personally I also blame longlife oil services, will never use longlife again!

I'll be honest, if I could've afforded an equivalent Golf to my Focus (Tit X with a few extras) I would've bought one...but the price difference was just daft really lol. The Focus isn't a bad car though, I wish I'd bought one with the 2.0TDCi and climate control, but other than that can't really fault it. I've got electrically adjustable full heated leather seats in mine...don't have a problem with comfort myself haha. :P