Weird Chugging noise

[Releive Boredum]

As I'm driving at >40mph I can hear a weird chug noise from the car. It seems to remain constant irrespective of gear but disappears at >75. The noise seems to be drowned out by loud road noise. But when on smooth roads I hear it although this is intermittent, It does sound engine based as can sometimes replicate it although much much quieter when sat going nowhere and holding revs between 1500 and 2500. Nothing seems wrong with the car driving or performance, it's just driving me mad! It's more obvious at 50mph in 6th gear but only on certain roads. Any ideas?

 

[mjstokes85]

As I'm driving at >40mph I can hear a weird chug noise from the car. It seems to remain constant irrespective of gear but disappears at >75. The noise seems to be drowned out by loud road noise. But when on smooth roads I hear it although this is intermittent, It does sound engine based as can sometimes replicate it although much much quieter when sat going nowhere and holding revs between 1500 and 2500. Nothing seems wrong with the car driving or performance, it's just driving me mad! It's more obvious at 50mph in 6th gear but only on certain roads. Any ideas?

I know you said it's engine sounding but you sure it's not a wheel bearing? My nearside rear wheel bearing went, it sounded horrendous at 30mph then nothing at 50mph but awful again at 70mph. Does the noise stop when corning a certain way?

 

[Releive Boredum]

Haven't really noticed about cornering, I can't hear it at slow speeds but I'm not in the same rev range either. It's bizarre as I can't seem to distinguish between engine or wheel esque

 

[Releive Boredum]

Ok, so this is starting to bug me, I've had the car in neutral and I can hear it at 1500-2250 rpm, it sounds like a cat purring really loudly and the speed changes dependant on revs, I took it to a garage and they seemed stumped but are now saying Timingbelt pulley tensioner but don't seem convinced? I don't want to pay for that and still have the noise :-( any ideas????

 

[mjstokes85]

What engine is your car? Is it the engine cover vibrating? My 1.2 engine used to vibrate so the garage put some sealant on it where it was wobbling. Have you got a strut brace? Is engine cover knocking against that?

 

[Releive Boredum]

I've got the 1.9TDi FR. I've took the silence cover off and still the same, the garage are frustrating me as they aren't convinced by what it is....

 

[S7UYJ]

Only thing you can do really is have a good nosey over the engine looking for anything loose, damaged or worn, could be an engine mount on its way, or maybe dmf. Certain revs will give a specific resonance that might be causing the noise from the dmf? Damaged or unbalanced pulley could be to blame.
Basically I'd look at everything that speeds up with the engine, and anything connected to those things,
Hope that helps a little!

 

[Releive Boredum]

I went to Ron Turnbull in m'boro after getting frustrated with other place, they looked all over , had the screwdriver on all different places listening to it, and took the air intake off to listen for camshaft. All showed nothing, we went for a spin and managed to get the noise which never went away when engine was turned off. Turns out I had a flat spot on the tyre and because of that I was focusing on the engine noises which were 'normal' new tyres seem to have got rid of it but I'm just a tad wary at the min. Maybe paranoid that can hear things into the normal noise of the pd engine that I've never focused on before.

 

[aceman]

I remember when I had my last Ibiza sport I had a few componants that vibrated in the engine bay. One was the boost pipes coming up from the intercooler were vibrating against the fuel filter which I cured by wrapping a bit of foam around the pipe. Another was the airbox was catching the strut brace I had fitted so if you have one check that out too. It took a while to diagnose these as they were intermittant just as you are finding but once diagnosed it was parts vibrating it was just a matter of going around and trying bits at a time.

 

[Gorbstein]

Turns out I had a flat spot on the tyre and because of that I was focusing on the engine noises which were 'normal'

Frustrating isn't it, trying to find these things, but comforting nonetheless that it was only the tyres.

Had the same problem on mine with directional tread tyres. They wore down unevenly and I got a really unsettling whirring noise, but it took me a long time to find out what it was.