Rough vibrating sound when heat is on

[preilly44]

Maybe I should just go to your dealership...I'm in Bethesda, MD. Small world!

Did you feel like DarCars knows what they are doing with the E-Golf? Orsman in Bethesda didn't seem to have a clue.

 

[idris]

Meh, I think everyone is in the same boat.. they were trained on eGolf, but nobody has experience (understandable, I suppose). Anyway, they've dealt with this issue before, so it may be worth a try. Are you able to reproduce the issue now that it's hot out though?

 

[preilly44]

No, I haven't had it happen since it got warmer out.

 

[Darren996]

Is your car the SEL model? The SEL has an additional heat pump. I'll bet a nickle that is what you are hearing.

-Darren

 

[preilly44]

Yes, I do have a SEL model. Interesting.

 

[schleppy]

Any update on this? I just picked up a used 2015 SEL, and the heat pump definitely makes a whistly sort of vibration when the heat is on, and only intermittently. If I shut the heat off the car is silent.

The heat seems to work well, and the noise isn't loud. I'm guessing it's just how the heat pump sounds?

 

[idris]

After a few trips to the dealership, I was finally able to reproduce the issue while driving with a technician. They ended up taking stuff apart and moving some things around.. I think it was some wires just bumping up against other things.

At any rate, it's fixed now. There's still a noise from vibration, since the heat pump vibrates, but it's "normal" and not super loud/annoying now.

 

[schleppy]

Glad to hear it. The noise I am hearing is definitely not super loud. Just "different" than what I'm used to.

Edit: Brought the car to the dealer for something else, and they also confirmed that the noise I was hearing was normal for the heat pump. It sounds almost like a faint gurgling air conditioner on a hot day.

Thanks!

 

[schleppy]

Update. Yesterday the temperature went down into the teens, and I did a fair bit of driving. The heat pump noise was louder than it has ever been. So much so that I had to turn the radio up to drown it out. I called VW of America to discuss it with them, and to have a more e-golf knowledgeable dealer look at it. I will hopefully get an appointment early next week. I will update this thread later.

 

[schleppy]

After a lot of back and forth with VW of America and Colonial VW in Medford MA, they did replace some parts of the heating system. Dealing with VW corporate was actually a pretty nice experience, and they certainly helped moved things along. Colonial VW is another story. They made a lot of pretty odd mistakes throughout the process, though the tech that actually worked on my car was a big EV advocate, and seemed quite knowledgable.

I am waiting for the final list of what was done, but it looks like these two parts were the main issue:

Element - 5QE-819-013-P
https://parts.vw.com/p/Heater/64431585/5QE819013P.html

Auxillary Water Pump - 5G0-965-567
https://parts.vw.com/p/Volkswagen__/Aux-pump-Engine-Auxiliary-Water-Pump/52645875/5G0965567.html

It hasn't been as cold here as it was when I originally encountered the loud noise, but it has come close. And on those days it was freezing cold the heat was a good deal quieter than before.

I will update this thread if anything else changes.