A200 CDI resonance?

[alloam]

Hi all,

My parents just bought a year-old A200 CDI with around 12k miles. Picked it up from the dealer a couple of weeks ago. Last week they started to notice a strange sound.

They told me about it today (I had seen the car in our local dealer and recommended it to them!) so I took it for a drive. Now, this is hard as I have nothing to compare it to (though I have owned PSA diesels in the past).

There is a noticeable resonance/noise when the engine revs between 1700-2000 rpm on a light throttle. It is a slow pulsing sound coming from the engine bay.

Do any of you folks have one of these CDIs? Is this a normal diesel resonance for that model?

The car was back into the dealer last week as the engine diagnostics light came on for some kind of vacuum hose to be refitted. It was after that they noticed the noise - which may be related, or they may just have been listening more intently!

Any advice or help most welcome so I can either reassure them that it is normal, or tell them to take it back to the dealer.

 

[ddentrec]

...just remember that the dealer will not not make any money out of investigating this problem, even if it is genuine. Vibrations and rattles are a pain in the backside for dealers to sort out...DaimlerChrysler UK will typically pay 0.5 hours labour and no more.

So, expect the dealer to come up with all sorts of excuses before actually doing anything..you will have to be patient and stand up to the dealer dragging their feet.

The rattles/wind noise in my wife's new C-Class took 5 dealer visits to sort out.

Good luck - and I hope you can prove me wrong.

 

[BlackC55]

I think you might find that that noise it typical.

 

[alloam]

Yeah, that's what I wonder. It is hard for me to tell, obviously, without being able to do a back-to-back comparison with another car or with the car a couple of weeks ago whether it is a new noise or not.

To my ears it sounded more like normal diesel noises than anything. Still, a little odd and the engine is not the most refined! An old indirect injection Xantia TD we had a few years ago I remember being more refined as far as engine noise went - though I suppose everything is more compact and so NVH is harder to eradicate in the W169.

I want to take it out for a longer run along some country roads - restricted to West-end Glasgow last night. As I was surprised at the lack of urgency in second gear on a couple of occasions, whereas in third or fourth it pulled very strongly. Was this the traction control intervening? No flicker of ESP light.

Anyway, need a longer run to see what is up.

 

[BonzoDog]

My wife has a B200CDI with Audiotronic CVT. The normal operating range about town is approximately 1500 to 2000RPM and there is no noticeable vibration or resonance. At very low speeds, when cold, one can hear the diesel 'clatter' but this diappears when warm. On the motorways it is relatively smooth and quiet.

 

[alloam]

An update: I borrowed the A200 again yesterday and on my way to a meeting really noticed that it was not pulling in lower gears. Full throttle, hardly any pick up and lots of black clouds out of exhaust... then suddenly around 3,500rpm WALLOP and the turbo kicks in.

Not right!

Took it back to the dealership and they should be replacing the turbo unit today. Gulp. Bearing in mind there are only 12k miles on the car, it is a little concerning, no?

Anyway, I'll let you know if that has cured it when I pick the car back up.