Multivan vibration query

[Silver Caravelle]

Hi Silver Caravelle,

Having just had the auto changed over for very rough changing and flaring (under warranty) I went through a phase straight afterwards of almost paranoia listening to ever sound, feeling every gear change just to see that nothing was wrong. Two weeks later and I would swear this replacement box is smoother than the original unit….but I really don’t know.

I find that my T5 128kW is loud on acceleration, has some vibration and then goes very quiet at cruise. I have a van with aftermarket lining throughout the cargo area so it will sound different to a Caravelle as well. I agree it does change up as quickly as possible (too quickly for economy as you suggest) and needs a real prod past the kick down switch to get it downchanging.

I also have a Falcon G6E turbo and driving styles are so different, the Ford is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and it goes from 0 to loss of licence in 5+ secs. Its engine is very smooth and the gearbox is one of the world’s best, ZF sachs. Then again the T5 would tow a jumbo and on refills can show a range of 800km+. I drive the two vehicles differently, such as how I use the throttle, I let speed build in the T5 etc…I recently had a Caddy as the loan vehicle, DSG box and that needs a slightly different driving technique to a T5 auto, eg rolls back on inclines before forward is engaged however gear changes are very smooth.

When I reset my gearbox, before the replacement, it made a huge difference and then got worse so it was a different situation. Due to my lack of mechanical knowledge all I can suggest is you just drive it for a while, try to ignore the vibrations etc and if you can drive another exact spec version make a comparison then. You’ll go crazy trying to solve something in the meantime and forgot how much fun a T5 can be, or so I discovered.

Driving in sport mode in the CBD isn't such abad idea although it does revs it's head off before changing..somewhere in between would be ideal. In Melbourne's CBD, driving in manual mode, I think I'd need three hands, those pesky pedestrians don't understand what "red flashing light means" and hook turns, keeping the turn indicator down/up and steering the wheel becomes "fun". Don't know how I did it when I had a manual...must be getting lazy...

Hi Tornado,

Thanks for the detailed response. I concurr with exactly everything you indicate.

I think have definately reached the paranoia level listening to every sound, I am sure at times my mind is playing tricks on me! Best I turn up the radio as Brian suggested!

Regards,

Scott

[Tornado T5]

Hi Tornado,

Thanks for the detailed response. I concurr with exactly everything you indicate.

I think have definately reached the paranoia level listening to every sound, I am sure at times my mind is playing tricks on me! Best I turn up the radio as Brian suggested!

Regards,

Scott

Ahh, I have a CD of mp3's and put on the disco songs of the 80'/90's to wake me up on the way to work, hides any backround noise....Nothing like a bit of "Snap -The Power" to turn over the brain cells.

[Rebuild]

Thanks Tonardo.

I reset according to the instruction. I confess to not noticing any real difference.

City driving usually means the engine tending to lug in 4th, 5th (sometimes 6th) in the say 60 to 80 Km/h range. The the tiptronic seems to be programmed to shift up into the highest gear at the earliest opportunity, hold in that gear and not go back to a lower gear too easily even on a slight incline (unless in sport mode). One has to give the accelerator a fair nudge to bring into an appropriate lower gear. I assume this is for intended economy reasons.

Whilst it will pull OK at lower revs (say 1300, to 1400 revs), it is not 'on the cam' so to speak, with plenty of annoying intake drone noise, drive train rumble/vibration when lugging along - something I have found a little hard to get use to after owning petrol engined vehicles previously. Is this normal behaviour for one of these or is there more intake drone noise, drive train rumble/vibration than there should be in my vehicle?

PS: Any thoughts regarding the non specific faint metallic noise?

Regards,

Scott

When i had my first VW service done at 60K(bought van secondhand), i asked about this reluctance to kickdown,they said it was normal.Now mostly always chuck it in TipTronic if need quick response.Don't like Sport mode due to it hanging onto the lower gears too much.

Haven't noticed any rumble or vibes on mine,but this is my first diesel.

[Silver Caravelle]

When i had my first VW service done at 60K(bought van secondhand), i asked about this reluctance to kickdown,they said it was normal.Now mostly always chuck it in TipTronic if need quick response.Don't like Sport mode due to it hanging onto the lower gears too much.

Haven't noticed any rumble or vibes on mine,but this is my first diesel.

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the response.

The relunctance to kickdown is understandable on flat running and is generally fine. But is quite annoying when it is holding in a higher gear lugging away (withsome drive train rumble) at say 1200 to 1500 rpm on an incline, (without using tiptronic or sport mode).

Yep Tornado I will pull out that 80s/90s CD...I think I have just shown my age range!

Cheers,

Scott