Noise coming form behind driver side headlight?

D3SIGN3R

Member
My audi 1.4 tdi has started making a whining sound, sounds a bit like a fan is running and is intermittent. If i'm driving locally it comes on and when i turn my heating off it sometimes goes away but is very weird and not sure what triggers it and what makes it stop.

I have taken the bonnet off and its a unit behind the driver side headlight that the noise seems to be coming from.

Anyone had this problem or know what it may be?

Thanks
 
Do you get smoke coming from under the engine on the off-side as well?!
This sounds like the auxiliary Webasto heater - this is a little diesel-powered boiler basically that is used to provide additional heat to the car when the ambient temperature drops below 7C. Because our little 1.4TDi engines generate so little waste heat themselves, there's little spare heat to go around, and that's made worse when the engine is cold and it's cold outside, so Audi provided an extra heat source.

On later cars (2003 onwards) it was replaced by an auxiliary electric heater element which draws several KW of power.
 
Just to add to what Dan is saying, you can turn the webasto off by clicking the 'econ' button (it may take several seconds to spin down).
 
Most likely the Webasto, mine sounds like a muffled jet turbine when at full power. It turns on/off according to the temperature of the engine and the heat required in the cabin. Love the (o_O) look i get when getting out of the car and the heater is turning off, generating a puff of smoke from beneath the engine.
 
Is it this little beauty ?

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If yes then its the Webasto

Phil
 
just to echo what as already been said sounds exactly like the Webesto Aux heater, a great little addition by Audi as without it my A2 TDI does not get to a reasonable operating temperature until I have done about 15 miles if the outside temp is around 3deg C
 
just to echo what as already been said sounds exactly like the Webesto Aux heater, a great little addition by Audi as without it my A2 TDI does not get to a reasonable operating temperature until I have done about 15 miles if the outside temp is around 3deg C
Phew that's a relief!, I'm struggling to get mine up to temperature unless I drive it reasonably hard for 7 miles (ish) as nsl +speeds despite changing the thermostat and that's in temperatures about 10 degrees.. Agreed the little a2 had some superb design and engineering

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Phew that's a relief!, I'm struggling to get mine up to temperature unless I drive it reasonably hard for 7 miles (ish) as nsl +speeds despite changing the thermostat and that's in temperatures about 10 degrees.. Agreed the little a2 had some superb design and engineering

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

is that with the Webasto switched on or off ?
Mine comes upto 80Deg with the Webasto on in about 5 miles on my commute to work, which is all 30mph roads with an ambient temp of around 7 to 8 Deg C, I if get on the motorway which is about 3 miles from home and cruising at 70mph gets the temp up to 90 after about 4 miles (3 miles @30mph + 1 mile @70mph)
If I turn the webasto off at motorway speeds it will hold 90deg C, but drive around town it will drop from 90deg C to off the scale (60deg C) if the temp is around 0 deg C to 4 deg C - I was quite alarmed by this behaviour at first, but was then put right my Timmus who explained that the TDI puts out so little 'extra' heat that the Webasto is an absolute must have.
It does however have an adverse affect on the fuel consumption, but so would running the engine very cold as the fueling maps inject a lot more fuel into the cylinders when the engine is running cold
 
is that with the Webasto switched on or off ?
Mine comes upto 80Deg with the Webasto on in about 5 miles on my commute to work, which is all 30mph roads with an ambient temp of around 7 to 8 Deg C, I if get on the motorway which is about 3 miles from home and cruising at 70mph gets the temp up to 90 after about 4 miles (3 miles @30mph + 1 mile @70mph)
If I turn the webasto off at motorway speeds it will hold 90deg C, but drive around town it will drop from 90deg C to off the scale (60deg C) if the temp is around 0 deg C to 4 deg C - I was quite alarmed by this behaviour at first, but was then put right my Timmus who explained that the TDI puts out so little 'extra' heat that the Webasto is an absolute must have.
It does however have an adverse affect on the fuel consumption, but so would running the engine very cold as the fueling maps inject a lot more fuel into the cylinders when the engine is running cold
Thanks for that depronman, I have not had the car long so this was my first try with the webasto cutting in.. Not had a chance to ten running it yet with cool temperatures will do tomorrow morning, also I didn't realise that if you switch on the eco light it turns off the webasto, can't believe how long it takes to heat up the engine on these little cars, looking forward to trying the car tomorrow, will report back, it's only a little run about as I have my own business which involves me driving a van all the time so with this week off and it being colder ill get a chance to try it out more thanks for your help and sharing your experiences with me
 
Many thanks for this post. I was getting annoyed with this humming noise that was echoing around the cabin thinking I'd forgotten something behind the dash before I put it in (oh my I wouldn't like to fit the dash again) so all I do is click econ and I'll see what the outcome is in the afternoon cheers guys

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is that with the Webasto switched on or off ?
Mine comes upto 80Deg with the Webasto on in about 5 miles on my commute to work, which is all 30mph roads with an ambient temp of around 7 to 8 Deg C, I if get on the motorway which is about 3 miles from home and cruising at 70mph gets the temp up to 90 after about 4 miles (3 miles @30mph + 1 mile @70mph)
If I turn the webasto off at motorway speeds it will hold 90deg C, but drive around town it will drop from 90deg C to off the scale (60deg C) if the temp is around 0 deg C to 4 deg C - I was quite alarmed by this behaviour at first, but was then put right my Timmus who explained that the TDI puts out so little 'extra' heat that the Webasto is an absolute must have.
It does however have an adverse affect on the fuel consumption, but so would running the engine very cold as the fueling maps inject a lot more fuel into the cylinders when the engine is running cold
Hi depronman, I can confirm that within about 3 miles @30-40 I was up to 80 degrees with the webasto on so happy days

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