XC90 T8 Engine Noise

[Markm87]

I have recently purchased my first Volvo so am new to this forum.



We collected our 2018 XC90 T8 Inscription Pro (35,000miles) the weekend before last and it has been great so far covering my daily commute in Pure mode using no fuel with a single charge once a day.



A couple of longer journeys so far have required the petrol engine to kick in though and this has raised some concern with the engine noise as there is a sound coming from the engine which sounds a bit like piston slap.



I have read mixed opinions of the T8 engine noise online, some of which state that its very quiet, smooth and refined whilst a couple of others have described some strange noises but have been confirmed to be normal.



I have attempted to capture the sound in a video, and although the noise I am referring to is audible, it comes accros quieter on the video. I will try to get a better recording later. Could any owners of a T8 XC90 share their opinion of the noise in the video, do they all sound like this? If not, has anyone else experienced a problem which resulted in this?



https://vimeo.com/750488183



Many Thanks

[Volvocano]

Smooth and quiet? There must be a few deaf Volvo drivers around! The Volvo Engine Architecture engines are neither! Quite gruff sounding. This isn't because they are a bad engine - they have direct injection and run quite lean, they literally run on the brink of detonation for maximum efficiency which leads to this "knocky" tone, running very advanced timing is always to the detriment of smoothness and noise. Also by modern standards they are quite a long stroke motor which is going to further add to the vibes - that gruff sound you can hear is perfectly normal for these engines. If it's under warranty warm it up nicely (drive in power mode for a few miles) then give it a good thrashing to make sure it isn't on the brink of exploding - if it survives a few stretches to the redline then forget about it. That's the noise of the engine.

[Markm87]

Originally Posted by Volvocano

Smooth and quiet? There must be a few deaf Volvo drivers around! The Volvo Engine Architecture engines are neither! Quite gruff sounding. This isn't because they are a bad engine - they have direct injection and run quite lean, they literally run on the brink of detonation for maximum efficiency which leads to this "knocky" tone, running very advanced timing is always to the detriment of smoothness and noise. Also by modern standards they are quite a long stroke motor which is going to further add to the vibes - that gruff sound you can hear is perfectly normal for these engines. If it's under warranty warm it up nicely (drive in power mode for a few miles) then give it a good thrashing to make sure it isn't on the brink of exploding - if it survives a few stretches to the redline then forget about it. That's the noise of the engine.

Many thanks for your detailed response, that makes sense and is quite a relief to hear!

It has the Polestar upgrade, so I believe the "Polestar Engineered" mode replaces the "Power Mode". I have already had a go at this once it had warmed up and it seemed fine, in fact, the engine sounded fine when pushing it hard, it is only when driving gently around town that it sounds bad.

I noticed at the time, the kick-down switch on the accelerator pedal appears to be sticking too, assuming this isn't also normal! A second or so after releasing a fully depressed pedal the kick-down switch pops out with a loud pop, sounding a bit like a stone hitting the windscreen!

[JasperVan]

Originally Posted by Markm87

I have recently purchased my first Volvo so am new to this forum.



We collected our 2018 XC90 T8 Inscription Pro (35,000miles) the weekend before last and it has been great so far covering my daily commute in Pure mode using no fuel with a single charge once a day.



A couple of longer journeys so far have required the petrol engine to kick in though and this has raised some concern with the engine noise as there is a sound coming from the engine which sounds a bit like piston slap.



I have read mixed opinions of the T8 engine noise online, some of which state that its very quiet, smooth and refined whilst a couple of others have described some strange noises but have been confirmed to be normal.



I have attempted to capture the sound in a video, and although the noise I am referring to is audible, it comes accros quieter on the video. I will try to get a better recording later. Could any owners of a T8 XC90 share their opinion of the noise in the video, do they all sound like this? If not, has anyone else experienced a problem which resulted in this?



https://vimeo.com/750488183



Many Thanks

Hi Mark. I came across your post from last year. I am experiencing the same with my XC90T8 from 2016. It sounds like a Diesel to me. I read the Volvocano's comment which was also a relief to me. But I was wondering if you have any further updates on your engine sounds? Thanks