She's gone quiet on me!

[cetane]

31,500km and now my TDI is quieter than ever before! I'm used to diesels getting noisier as they get oldsr so this is a new experience for me. At tickover you can only just make out diesel clatter and in general running she's almost as quiet as a petrol engine. I've had a couple of passengers lately that had to be told it's a diesel!
Anybody else experiencing this?

[gldgti]

wow thats a surprise,

i havnt been around any tdi's with decent milage except courier vans which seem to clatter louder than anything i've ever heard, but some people comment that my mk3 is very quiet.

nice to hear that your little TDI is running in well

[bluey]

I think the higher cetane fuel make a difference - BP Ultimate or cetane improver. Random cetane variability in diesel due to crude oil variability could also explain it. Too much EGR could also explain it possibly.

I have had days when the engine is really quiet (esp on freeway) and days when not so quiet and still trying to figure out exactly what is happening and why.

Sounded a lot quieter at idle in the dealer showroom when I picked her up! Now so now at idle anyway.

[Greg Roles]

Isn't the clatter of a diesel basically the huge pressure of injection, as the injectors turn on and off?

I figured extra noise was a GOOD thing?

[bluey]

Most of it is combustion noise. See thread "TDI engine noise" for links to information on diesel clatter.

Driving home today - car definitely in "the zone" on the freeway - quiet as a sewing machine. Car had been sitting in the sun all day.