I Found Out How To Make My Turbo Whistle Louder! - Page 4 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Squiggle Dog · #46 05-28-2011, 11:09 PM

When I do modify my vehicles I like them to look factory. For example, there weren't any 300SDs made with manual windows, manual heat, or manual sunroofs, Euro lights, etc., but other models came with these options and someone who wasn't an expert on the model would never know I had customized it.

#47 05-29-2011, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squiggle Dog

When I do modify my vehicles I like them to look factory. For example, there weren't any 300SDs made with manual windows, manual heat, or manual sunroofs, Euro lights, etc., but other models came with these options and someone who wasn't an expert on the model would never know I had customized it.

That works, I have euro lights on the 240D and they look correct. Personally, I wouldn't downgrade to manual features because the original automatic stuff is pretty cheap and easy to maintain; but to each his own.

Skippy · #48 05-29-2011, 01:58 AM

I'm ambivalent about power windows. The crank kind are lighter and hardly ever break, but it's nice when someone walks up to the passenger front window and you can actually roll it down to converse without having to set the parking brake and crawl over to roll the window down.

Manual climate control>ATC.

Manual vs electric sunroof: No real preference. I'd actually prefer no sunroof at all.

Power locks are great when they work right, but I really don't see a need for the weight penalty. At the moment mine don't work right. If it ever stops being winter here I'm going to fix that.

And of course manual transmission>>automatic.

#49 05-29-2011, 02:07 AM

It depends on the type of car; in a sedan I'll keep the auto transmission all the power features, especially the climate control (I have one of each and I hate having to screw around with the manual controls in the 240D). In a sports car, I'll take a manual transmission and no features at all.

The automatic stuff in my W123s is very simple to work on and very cheap to repair/replace, there is no reason to downgrade it.

Squiggle Dog · #50 05-29-2011, 02:22 AM

The power features are very, very nice when they are working. It's nice to be able to roll down all windows with the push of a switch and to set the climate control and have it maintain the desired temperature.

However, when the car is 30 years old and all of the power components are broken, it becomes a nightmare and very expensive to fix all of the ailments. That's when the manual components are very nice.

But if one has the money and knowledge to repair and maintain the power components then they are nice to have. I tend to get overwhelmed with cars that have so many power accessories and I'd rather have manual options, but I can understand enjoying the power options.

I used to have a Getrag 5 speed and I had every intention of installing it. However, I hate having to shift gears and I feel that the automatic adds greatly to the driving comfort of the vehicle. So, in this case I opted to stay with the automatic transmission, even though it was bad and I had to replace it!

I had thought about getting rid of the power locking system but it is very convenient and is simpler and easier to repair than one thinks. If the expensive vacuum pods are dry-rotted one can repair them with bicycle inner tubes and hose clamps.

#51 05-29-2011, 02:59 AM

The power locks are pretty simple, when mine first started acting up I just replaced all 5 actuators so I wouldn't have to play with it for a while.

The most common problem with the climate control is the pushbutton unit, which can be replaced in about 5 minutes.

dirtcurt · #52 09-15-2011, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig

It's just silly.

Turbo noise is annoying, especially on trucks. My ideal vehicle would be silent.

I wish I could hear turbos! But due to to much turbine whine, 10,000 rounds of 308 and 223 a year, and riding a motorcycle with no ear plugs(wind) I can no longer hear turbo whine and I wish I could. My hi freq. hearing is so bad I can't hear brake squeal or wear indicators dragging or engine ping due to bad gas. The last turbo I could clearly hear was my 99 F-250. It sounded like a jet landing on the roof! Then I bought a 2000 F-250 with a different turbo and goodby whine. My wife and kids could hear it! The 300SD is silent as far as turbo but I can sure feel it. I can still hear knocks/slaps which sucks.

anarchy · #53 09-25-2011, 12:44 PM

ok heres what I did when I was 18 to make my turbo sound louder... either drive on a gravel road without an air filter and tear up the turbo or bend the fins on the turbo on the edges so it whistles

Squiggle Dog · #54 09-25-2011, 07:19 PM

Joking aside, I just wanted to be able to hear the natural sound that the turbo makes; not having it be obnoxiously loud, just barely audible like all other turbo diesel vehicles because I find it interesting to listen to as the speed is increased. Mercedes made these turbos almost completely silent but I'd rather be able to hear them a LITTLE.

It seems that I'm one of the few that appreciates being able to hear the sound of the machinery instead of driving a car that is completely silent. Sometimes it's just nice to have at least a little show to go with the go.

epowers777 · #55 09-26-2011, 01:57 AM

Peachpart is a good forum. Just alot of jerks who think they know everything. I love turbo whistle and good for you. Just try to ignore everyone. I put a cone filter on pm me if you want pics. That pipe is a sound buffer my Powerstroke had a sound buffer on the intake side. It sounds like a jet after I put the whistling wheel in. My wife loves it my grandpa hates it everyone is different. The dodge laser has a similar turbo as the benz and that sucker whistled soooo loud everyone would look when I drove by I loved it!!! Have fun bro!!!

Squiggle Dog · #56 07-01-2017, 12:05 AM

This is a late update, but the ridges of the turbo-to-exhaust coupler filled up with carbon in short order and the faint whistle shortly went away. I've since rebuilt the turbo and reinstalled the tube that goes inside the coupler. So, I don't recommend removing the tube inside.

When I ran the engine with the air cleaner off after installing the turbo, I could not hear any turbo noise when revving the engine, so I don't think that anything before the turbo is going to help with making the whistle heard. I also don't want to put any holes in the exhaust.

It's interesting that my previous 300SD had such a loud turbo whistle. It's possible it had a leak somewhere after the turbo that was letting out the sound. I noticed it had some strange large round metal gasket at the housing that I haven't seen on other Mercedes turbos.

At some point I may delete the muffler and resonator. I have a hole in the muffler, anyway. Like I said, I don't want the engine to be louder, I just like turbos when they spool up, like on every other brand of diesel. I tightened up the wastegate spring until I was out of threads, but the most boost I am getting is 12 psi, barely above stock specifications.

R-3350 · #57 07-01-2017, 12:42 AM

as another option if you want turbo sound to match a 737 at takeoff you could do what i did and swap in a holset HE221W with 14" of 4" exhaust dumping straight down and out (it doesn't bother me and i had a full exhaust system on it for a while and lost a good deal of power so i just ended up running the down pipe only. plus the 617 sounds quite good over 5000 rpm.)

fauxwiehl · #58 06-21-2021, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squiggle Dog

This is a late update, but the ridges of the turbo-to-exhaust coupler filled up with carbon in short order and the faint whistle shortly went away. I've since rebuilt the turbo and reinstalled the tube that goes inside the coupler. So, I don't recommend removing the tube inside.

When I ran the engine with the air cleaner off after installing the turbo, I could not hear any turbo noise when revving the engine, so I don't think that anything before the turbo is going to help with making the whistle heard. I also don't want to put any holes in the exhaust.

It's interesting that my previous 300SD had such a loud turbo whistle. It's possible it had a leak somewhere after the turbo that was letting out the sound. I noticed it had some strange large round metal gasket at the housing that I haven't seen on other Mercedes turbos.

At some point I may delete the muffler and resonator. I have a hole in the muffler, anyway. Like I said, I don't want the engine to be louder, I just like turbos when they spool up, like on every other brand of diesel. I tightened up the wastegate spring until I was out of threads, but the most boost I am getting is 12 psi, barely above stock specifications.

Digging up an semi-old post, but I've recently had a couple issues pop up after replacing the manifolds on my 82 wagon with these same SD manifolds and it may be the same issue. In fact my bay looks exactly like this down to the buffer heat shields, albeit on an 82 engine. Almost as clean even save for soot at the rear now. First off the slight buzz/resonance and now sooty rear RH bay had me re-tightening the up pipe coupler at the back of the turbo mounting bracket yesterday. Mine was not uniformly secured at all three bolts. In the process of all the work that was previously done(replaced starter, rebuilt turbo with new cartridge, replaced drain seals and also the manifolds/gasket–and oh yeah, fixed the sheared wastegate hose) I may also have nudged the up pipe a few too many times in the wrong direction and caused a rupture or weakened the flange to the point of failure. I haven't pinned down the source just yet. But it gets me to another issue with the turbo. I am not 100% on the trim that the replacement cartridge is. I could hear the turbo relax and wind down prior to re-tightening the up-pipe, but now that it is more properly secure, I am getting a sharp whistle-chirp to quiet under heavier, more purposeful acceleration when I use more of the lower gear before allowing up shift to occur. That is something I do a bit more on our wagon as it's got a 2.24 rear end vs a stock 300D ratio. I do have a boost gauge finally coming in the next couple days to check my boost levels.

I'm sure that the perceived sound of the turbo is partially due the fact that the wastegate hose was no doing anything, and that a nice tight turbo with good seals is more efficiently working. I do not want to risk damage to anything with an improperly functioning setup. Is there anything I should do after changing from the stock EGR setup to the EGR-less one I currently have? I've cleaned the banjo. I used the sensor on the intake manifold that was on already installed for the SD. I suppose I'm not really sure the turbo is "thinking" there is an egr valve hooked up, but I didn't think that had any impact on the level of boost as it's exhaust pressure that determines that.
So basically:

How concerned should I be of the sharp spike of the turbo whistle>chirp>silence?
Is it directly related to an exhaust leak after the turbo?
How important are each of these to fix?
Should I avoid driving the car on surface streets or freeway if my boost levels end up being in a normal zone(or just keep it off the boost and plan an extra ten minutes to get to work)?