Hi everyone, 

We are lucky enough to have a new Ford Kuga PHEV. It's been great, but in the recent hot weather I've noticed a very loud buzzing noise from under the bonnet when I turn it on. I'm pretty sure it's linked to the air con/fans as it gets quieter and quieter as the car cools down. You can't really hear it from inside, only when you're outside the car. 

A short video of the noise can be found here. 

I just wanted to know if this was normal? Should our car be making this noise or is it a symptom of a problem?

Thanks in advance! Matt

Just been to a technician with my air con problem, as I've learned over the past few days it could be any number of things. You might find my posts useful, hope all goes well for you👍

On 7/13/2022 at 5:32 PM, mnt23 said:

a very loud buzzing noise from under the bonnet

Agreed !!

On 7/13/2022 at 5:32 PM, mnt23 said:

Should our car be making this noise

I'd say NO.

The good news is you have a warranty so get it back to the dealer ASAP

It's probably just something minor like a piston con rod getting ready to smash through the side of the engine. I'm sure your dealer will let you know about the recall.

Sounds like you’ve left a vacuum cleaner on in the engine bay. Clearly not right. Unfortunately I’ve no idea what it is. My Kuga diesel has a high pitched noise, if I open the car but don’t start it, like a relay kicks in, but eventually goes off. Nothing like the noise of yours though. 

That don't sound right at all 

Hi,

I was googling for noise and ford kuga, and found your queston.
 

I have the same problem here, my 2 year old Kuga Phev which I bought 2 months ago here in the Netherlands . It makes a lot of noises, and one of them is at startup. You can hear it at this link Noise airco

my car dealer says it is normal. I wonder if this is true. 
 

The Kuga is very noisy overall, in the interior I cannot listen to the radio, there is so much road noise, much more then in my old Volvo V70.  And there is also a resonance noise in the car, and I cannot find where it is coming from. It is very very annoying and making me crazy.
 

again my car dealer says it is normal! I asked them if there perhaps is missing some insulation? And they looked and said yes… they placed new insulation, but I really don’t think this is a Ford part: Insulation   This is at the drivers side for Europe…. 
 

In my opinion, this official Ford dealer is joking with me, but for me it is not finished yet. 
 

Matt, have you been to your car dealer ? And what did they say? I am very curious.

and is there anybody who can tell me something about the sound inside the car? And this funny bag of insulation material? 
 

thanks in advance,

with kind regards,

Frits  from the Netherlands 

The insulation in a black bin bag is genuine Ford insulation !!!

They use the same insulation inside the front wings of the Focus Mk4

Thanks for your reply!  I have looked for images of the kuga phev engine room on the internet, and I could not find any with this part installed, so it might be that it is then only used for the Focus mk4, and my garage used this now for my Kuga… Unfortunately it did not help 😩

 

 

It's the air con fan - sounds like a jet engine! MIne does it as well and I understand from other forums that many other PHEVs do too. If you turn off the a/c and then turn it on again after a few seconds you may find the noise diappears. If you leave it, the noise will go after a few minutes anyway. It's a powerful fan that comes on full blast at the start to cool things down in the cabin in hot weather. 

Hi Everyone, I’ve just bought a 2021 phev and mine make the same noise as in both your videos (Matt and Frits) did you guys get a resolution to the noise?