15k seems excessive, I normally see $7300 as the number. qccharge claims about $4k rebuild in socal. 2013 model s owner here and yes, these failures are pure bullshit for a vehicle that is over $100k new and new DU's every 30-50k is ridiculous. If they failed every 100k I could live with that even at the $7k pricetag. I'm just glad I don't have two motors to deal with on my p85.
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2013 rear drive unit failure
- Thread starter Aceprince425
- Start date
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Gosh, totally amazing I’ve gotten to 150,000 miles on a single large rear drive unit when they fail every 30,000 miles.
geordi
Mr Fusion V.1
On a road trip right now and I ran into a guy with a model 3 who claims to be on his 8th drive unit, and the shortest duration was less than 10k miles. They were all replaced under warranty.
I don't know what he was doing to the car, but it was on coil springs and looked like it was lowered, and at least on the highway, he was driving at high speeds (although this was in the west where there's a whole LOT of nothing between points. Cruising at 95mph is the only way to stay sane)
This is crazy though, the milling problem I can at least understand as a design defect.... But what is happening to all these units?
I don't know what he was doing to the car, but it was on coil springs and looked like it was lowered, and at least on the highway, he was driving at high speeds (although this was in the west where there's a whole LOT of nothing between points. Cruising at 95mph is the only way to stay sane)
This is crazy though, the milling problem I can at least understand as a design defect.... But what is happening to all these units?
You are the exception. What make/model/year do you have? I have a 2013 model s p85. I talk to other model S owners at superchargers, one other 2013 model s owner has had his replaced 4x now at 115k miles that I spoke with last week who went all the way from Medford, OR to Chico, CA as this was his closest service center. He was in his 70's and took very good care of his car. My unit was replaced in 2020 w/ 47k miles. I am kind to the car and don't punch it very often and many days I can keep my Wh/mi below 300 when going back and forth to work. The last time I was at the supercharger a 2016 model s w/ the dual motor had the front a-arm fail during the backup to the supercharger and the tow truck could not get the tow hook in place, so the front tire was destroyed in the process getting it on the trailer and the owners were in a state of shock. I offered to give them a ride home but they had already called an uber.
geordi
Mr Fusion V.1
That really doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the PAID replacement that they want to do on my sister's 2013 P85 single motor....
geordi
Mr Fusion V.1
I haven't talked to them, but I'll give them a call (or an email) tomorrow and see what they say. The last guesstimate from the Tesla SC was like $6000 with labor. Thus far, the other third party places I have spoken with have all said that price is way better than they could do.
The problem doesn't seem to be the typical bearing related noise, the drive motor is making a sound like an arc welder, only higher-pitched. It sounds like higher pitched frying bacon. This happens EITHER when power is being sent to the wheels OR during regenerative braking, but NOT when in neutral or coasting in gear and not generating power. It sounds like an electrical noise.
Jsvette56
Member
henderrj
Active Member
It is far from the exception to need drive units only once every 100,000 miles or more. I had my original replaced around 40,000 mi at another one replaced around 90, I am now at 250,000 miles. Obviously if everybody had to replace it at 30,000, there would be a recall by now. Unfortunately it does happen though.
I would contact wk057 tech and see what they have to say. It might cost a lot to have your car shipped there and back, but it might be better.
That's great you have 150k out of the last unit. I am curious what version you have. It would be nice to know if the 3 lip seal on the coolant is present on these vehicles here which get 150k out of the drive unit. Another user here, ucmndd also has claimed to get 150k out of his 2016 or so model s with the large drive unit. It has been discussed on other boards that doing high accelerations from a stop is likely going to accelerate damage of the drive unit seals - so driver behavior is a factor here.
That would be very important information for all model S owners - I would think qccharge would be the place to go after warranty even if the price matched Tesla's if they are putting in the proper seals. I am sure they learn a lot from trial and error over the years and seeing what shows up in the shop. According to qccharge, the newer drive (2019 and newer) dont have the 3 lip seal as was present on many original units. I am sure Tesla refurbishes everything they get back. QC Charge makes sure you have the 3 lip seal, hybrid ceramic bearings and emergency drains so the inverter does not get cooked by another coolant seal failure. Effectively the coolant washes the grease out of the bearings and eventually destroys them. Earlier units without the hybrid ceramic bearings suffered from electrical currents causing pitting and damaging bearings due to the high voltages being discharged from the rotor shaft through them. From what I have learned I would use qccharge's service for an after warranty replacement hands down over another refurbed drive unit from Tesla. The price for a qccharge rebuild is about $4k and if you catch the coolant leakage by checking the speed sensor early your unit should be rebuildable.
I was going to ask you about maintenance - how often have you done coolant drain/fills of the system as well as gearbox (ATF) changes? Your unit is special and I would love to know if you happen to have a triple lip, double or single lip seal for the coolant seal.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Late 2016 RWD car. Not sure which revision drive unit I have.
I did one gear oil change at ~12 months as was then recommended by Tesla as part of annual maintenance. Nothing sense then.
geordi
Mr Fusion V.1
Also good info... I haven't done any maintenance on mine either, is there a spec sheet somewhere of what is required based on the motor / mileage?
I need to find out tomorrow. They should require some kind of maintenance specially on the freaking drive unit. Also the service at Tesla sucks.
henderrj
Active Member
Neither have I. At least in those areas, since they put that drive unit in 150 some thousand miles ago. We did live in the Pacific Northwest, where it stays pretty cool.
Bearings are cheap, but the whole rear cradle has to come off for the replacement.
geordi
Mr Fusion V.1
Sure.... And the service centers don't want to replace just the bearings b/c the whole motor and inverter has to come apart to do so.... They make WAY more money charging for a full drive unit replacement and then keeping the old one to refurb and sell again.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Yeah but this is basically every first party service organization these days. They replace components. Nobody repairs. No way every Tesla service center can employ someone capable of R&Ring a drive unit. Service centers replace, central repair depots repair. Or the independent shops step in.
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