Engine Noise

[Jerry B.]

Rookie question: I have a '17 Vegas w/6.8L V10. I'm doing some mountain driving currently and was wondering about the amount of noise from the engine when climbing these mt. grades. I 'm concerned that maybe I'm not in the proper gear or something and don't want to damage anything. Appreciate any guidance. Thanks and stay safe.

[SuperD]

Originally Posted by Jerry B.

Rookie question: I have a '17 Vegas w/6.8L V10. I'm doing some mountain driving currently and was wondering about the amount of noise from the engine when climbing these mt. grades. I 'm concerned that maybe I'm not in the proper gear or something and don't want to damage anything. Appreciate any guidance. Thanks and stay safe.

The V-10 tends to be noisy and Thor doesn't put a lot of insulation in the doghouse. Just drive and enjoy the scenery, ear plugs for the engine noise, but your wife might complain you're not listening again!

[JamieGeek]

The V-10 is designed to rev and thus can get quite noisy in the higher RPM range. The engine computer won't let it do anything that would harm it.

There are several of us on here who've installed extra layers of fatmat in the doghouse and under the dash in addition to blocking the two A-Pillars with some good results (we can have a conversation in ours now).

[axis earl]

Originally Posted by Jerry B.

Rookie question: I have a '17 Vegas w/6.8L V10. I'm doing some mountain driving currently and was wondering about the amount of noise from the engine when climbing these mt. grades. I 'm concerned that maybe I'm not in the proper gear or something and don't want to damage anything. Appreciate any guidance. Thanks and stay safe.

I am guessing that you are talking about the same noise I noticed when driving grades last summer on our Yellowstone trip. I am just guessing that it is also caused by the fan clutch doing its job to keep the engine running at the right temperature. The fan clutch makes the fan rotate at the same speed the engine is turning when the engine needs additional cooling like during mountain driving instead of free spinning and reducing drag. As one of the other members wrote, I think it goes with the territory of a gasser engine to the front right of the driver's seat. Enjoy.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by Jerry B.

Rookie question: I have a '17 Vegas w/6.8L V10. I'm doing some mountain driving currently and was wondering about the amount of noise from the engine when climbing these mt. grades. I 'm concerned that maybe I'm not in the proper gear or something and don't want to damage anything. Appreciate any guidance. Thanks and stay safe.

The 2-valve V10 doesn't make that much more power at higher RPMs, yet the noise level is much louder. I prefer to limit engine speed to around 3,500 RPMs when not in a hurry which balances performance versus noise to my liking.

"Damage" is a strong word, but there is no doubt an engine pushed hard will wear out faster. Fortunately, most motorhomes don't get driven enough to wear out a V10. Mine is at 167,000 miles, but only has to move a small and light van, so it's had an easy life. So far no major repairs -- just a recent water pump due to related coolant leak.

Even when driving larger (rented) motorhomes with V10, I ease up on throttle to keep engine RPMs to no more than 4,000. I just don't like that much noise.



P.S. -- The 2-valve V10 makes 85% of power at 3,250 RPMs.

[Jerry B.]

Thanks to all for your responses. Guess I'm a bit paranoid on our first trip to the mountains. Thanks again and stay safe.

[Kev]

Originally Posted by Jerry B.

Thanks to all for your responses. Guess I'm a bit paranoid on our first trip to the mountains. Thanks again and stay safe.

I think you will find when you are not climbing mountains and cruising flat roads the noise isn't that bad. Easy for me to say I live in Florida, not any hills here.

[Thor29.3inAZ]

We have the ACE 29.3. V10 3V. IMHO I don't think it is any more noisy than the 2V. Saying that, I have done a couple of things to try and reduce noise. I went to Home Depot/Lowes to get, what is referred to as, duct insolation. It has a rubber side that is self stick and the other side has a aluminum foil back. Works pretty good and is real cheap. Installed it under the dog house and under the wheel wells. I also installed it on the panel in front of the dog house. Just above the radiator. I also found some foam, 1" bed top foam from Walmart, and stuffed it under the dash. Use it also in the cabinets to keep things from sliding around. Helps with all the outside noise too. Now we don't have to yell at each other while climbing those hills here in AZ.

[philvickie]

Variable speed fan for cooling is louder than engine. You have to try to hurt a V10