Sunflowerhippi

I have been told by a few people at car meets and my dad who was a GM tech that my engine is very loud on start up. My dad worked at a Chevy dealer when the HHR's came out but not the SS so he is comparing it to the engine noise from the base model. However after the recent failure of my whole turbo unit (13k miles) I worry about what other parts are not messed up. My exhaust tip is actually burnt somehow. As in thick black caked on will not come off with a brillow pad caked on, and where i did get it 1/2 clean the chrome is discolored still.

Anyone have any ideas what could cause it to idle loud? No check engines anymore (had 2 different ones form the turbo, just got it back Friday)

Thanks

acolddark0

Your car should idle high on a "cold start" just to warm up everything. If you sit there for a minute or two the idle should return to normal. Mine idles at about 1500-2000 rpms then returns back to about a 1000.

Sunflowerhippi

Yeah the idle is around 900-1000 once it settles but the engine with the hood open is still louder then expected and what I'd consider normal.

HHR_SS_QC

Could it be the direct injection clicking noise you're hearing? The injectors on the LNF seem to be making a loud noise on startup, and they become quieter once they're heating up. Just my 0.02 cents.

Don06

I don't know about your start up noise but an early turbocharger failure in any engine is almost always caused by the operator. The turbo charger is spun by the exhaust so it gets very hot. Engine oil is pumped through the turbocharger bearing to lubricate and cool it. You need to let the engine idle for a minute or two before shutting it off so the exhaust temperature drops and the oil has a chance to cool the housing. If you shut off the engine without a cool down period, the oil in the bearing gets too hot and burns, turning to carbon which will ruin the bearing. As the bearing play becomes excessive, oil leaks past the seals into the exhaust and intake of the turbocharger causing the caked on oil you see in your exhaust. Most of today's computer controlled heavy equipment use a pyrometer to sense the exhaust temperature and won't allow the engine to shut down until the exhaust temperature drops to an acceptable level for a set amount of time.

Electric oil pumps have also been tried but high exhaust temperatures can still cause problems.

Sunflowerhippi

Don I just bought the car on May 22nd it went in for a turbo not even a week later. So I now know the previous owner was an idiot. Also my wastegate had also failed as well. (a different thread)

I am not an idiot and I know that for the turbo. However I can not remove whatever damage the previous owner did due to her stupidity. I am now just trying to make sure that everying else is okay on the vehicle.

peevlos

our turbos are water cooled... with normal driving no cool down is needed, won't hurt but not needed. if you were beating on it let it cool down for 1-2 minutes iirc.

mine is quite a bit louder at start up -motor and exhaust- but after warm up the rpm's drop and it is much quieter... been that way since 38 miles on the odometer

wastegate was probably not the previous owners fault. mine broke... its a little plastic POS

just my 2 pennies

Sunflowerhippi

It actually ended up wasn't just the wastegate needing to be fixed. She had broke the whole turbo. (was the owner of the dealerships mothers car) After my local dealer fixed the wastegate they got another code that the turbo failed.


Thanks for the info though. I need to find another local one to actually hear in person. Maybe it is just louder then the cars I have been around before (mostly LS engines) I just need to find one to compare it with.