2014 P85 Suspension Noise - SC Can't Duplicate

[jcarp09]

Need some advice. As its gotten colder in Michigan, my car has been making an awful creaking noise when going over light bumps or entering my driveway. The colder it is, the worse it gets. When below 15F, even going over road patches and turning corners makes an awful noise. Sometimes when turning my wheel at low speeds, there is an awful grinding noise as well. My full warranty was up 2 weeks ago. I made an appointment at the SC prior to that. Took it Friday and of course it was warm out so I couldn't duplicate the noise on a drive with the tech. They lifted my car up and said everything looked fine. He understood that I was frustrated especially with the warranty being up so he offered to let me take a loaner for the weekend and he would drive it first thing in the morning. He said that these cars to make certain noises in cold weather, but I showed him these videos and mentioned that it is not normal. I just received a message that my car is ready for pickup (meaning they still couldn't find anything).

In the videos, ignore the sound of my metal cup when going over the bump. Any suggestions?

2014 P85 w Air Suspension

 

[Ostrichsak]

Air suspension? My P85D w/SaS has been making some horrid creaking/popping/grinding over speed bumps and curbs ever since it got cold here in Colorado. At first I thought it was the dreaded drive-shaft issue the performance cars sometimes get. I think now it appears to be more suspension related and it's not quite as bad as it was when it started but it hasn't been as cold & snowy so... dunno. I've seen other recent threads about this though so I think we're not alone.

 

[Alysashley79]

Air suspension? My P85D w/SaS has been making some horrid creaking/popping/grinding over speed bumps and curbs ever since it got cold here in Colorado. At first I thought it was the dreaded drive-shaft issue the performance cars sometimes get. I think now it appears to be more suspension related and it's not quite as bad as it was when it started but it hasn't been as cold & snowy so... dunno. I've seen other recent threads about this though so I think we're not alone.

I just had my drive shafts replaced for “the dreaded noise” but that noise only happens on hard acceleration.

to the op. The also changed out front axle seals and not a peep to be heard. May not be sas related at all.

in all I had
Front half shafts
Clevis mounts
Nut plate bolts
Output axle seal

I don’t know what of all that caused a similar sound to your video but mine is now gone.

 

[Ostrichsak]

I just had my drive shafts replaced for “the dreaded noise” but that noise only happens on hard acceleration.

to the op. The also changed out front axle seals and not a peep to be heard. May not be sas related at all.

in all I had
Front half shafts
Clevis mounts
Nut plate bolts
Output axle seal

I don’t know what of all that caused a similar sound to your video but mine is now gone.

When it first started it was only during hard acceleration so I assumed that was what it was. I drove it less and was waiting until it was more convenient to deal with Tesla Service center. I then went to drive it one day and purposefully was accelerating hard when previously I was trying to baby it to make sure I didn't have to deal with it until after the first of the year especially since we'll have a new service center that's not only going to be closer to our home but can't possibly have worse customer service so I'm hoping they'll take better car of us. That other options are just horrid.

What I noticed is that w/o any reason it went from only doing it when accelerating to not doing it at all under acceleration and instead doing it over large bumps/curbs even when driving slowly. It seems as though it's gotten even better on it's own and only does it when I back into or out of our steep driveway and occasionally over large raised crosswalks and speed bumps.

It's really weird but the part that rings true with what I've read on a few posts here is SaS and cold weather. Not sure if my problem is related but it sure seems that way.

I'm following threads like this closely in hopes that it sheds some light on my situation. I know it may not be exactly the same but I'm lending my experience and trying to contribute to the conversation that hopefully people like yourself can come along an offer their expertise on potentially similar situations as you have.

 

[Alysashley79]

When it first started it was only during hard acceleration so I assumed that was what it was. I drove it less and was waiting until it was more convenient to deal with Tesla Service center. I then went to drive it one day and purposefully was accelerating hard when previously I was trying to baby it to make sure I didn't have to deal with it until after the first of the year especially since we'll have a new service center that's not only going to be closer to our home but can't possibly have worse customer service so I'm hoping they'll take better car of us. That other options are just horrid.

What I noticed is that w/o any reason it went from only doing it when accelerating to not doing it at all under acceleration and instead doing it over large bumps/curbs even when driving slowly. It seems as though it's gotten even better on it's own and only does it when I back into or out of our steep driveway and occasionally over large raised crosswalks and speed bumps.

It's really weird but the part that rings true with what I've read on a few posts here is SaS and cold weather. Not sure if my problem is related but it sure seems that way.

I'm following threads like this closely in hopes that it sheds some light on my situation. I know it may not be exactly the same but I'm lending my experience and trying to contribute to the conversation that hopefully people like yourself can come along an offer their expertise on potentially similar situations as you have.

I took an extensive test drive with the tech. Here’s what I learned. The dreaded noise doesn’t actually harm the car or the drive unit in any way. He said when the drive shafts were originally designed they didn’t have the right mounts. So over time when the axles flex under acceleration they get worse. And worse. Just the noise but won’t actually break anything. (They actually just came up with the service bulletin for it)

the reason that you may hear it less in colder weather is likely because unless you drive quite a ways you can’t get the battery warm enough to allow for the hard acceleration. When I drove to the service center last week it took 28 miles and almost an hour before I could get it to make the shudder sound. It sat in the parking lot for 20 minutes waiting for the tech. We had to drive for 20 minutes with max battery on and then it would creak over every bump. And the shudder in any hard acceleration. My guess is that it’s still there it’s just being kept at bay because of the cold. The good news is that it won’t actually harm the car.

 

[Ostrichsak]

I took an extensive test drive with the tech. Here’s what I learned. The dreaded noise doesn’t actually harm the car or the drive unit in any way. He said when the drive shafts were originally designed they didn’t have the right mounts. So over time when the axles flex under acceleration they get worse. And worse. Just the noise but won’t actually break anything. (They actually just came up with the service bulletin for it)

the reason that you may hear it less in colder weather is likely because unless you drive quite a ways you can’t get the battery warm enough to allow for the hard acceleration. When I drove to the service center last week it took 28 miles and almost an hour before I could get it to make the shudder sound. It sat in the parking lot for 20 minutes waiting for the tech. We had to drive for 20 minutes with max battery on and then it would creak over every bump. And the shudder in any hard acceleration. My guess is that it’s still there it’s just being kept at bay because of the cold. The good news is that it won’t actually harm the car.

So the drive shaft issue symptoms present BOTH under hard acceleration & bump navigation? If so, that's definitely what I have then and what you described about difference in temperatures makes perfect sense and also backs up this assumption. This was my guess the very first time I heard it and the recent shift in when it presents planted a few seeds of doubt and made me lean more SaS issue but I'm back firmly in the drive shaft camp.

Other than stripping performance cars of power via software updates do they have a better fix for this year? I think I saw they developed a better driveshaft solution as a result of lots of these grenading but I'm skeptical on just how long these will last and what they will cost once I'm off of warranty.

 

[Alysashley79]

So the drive shaft issue symptoms present BOTH under hard acceleration & bump navigation? If so, that's definitely what I have then and what you described about difference in temperatures makes perfect sense and also backs up this assumption. This was my guess the very first time I heard it and the recent shift in when it presents planted a few seeds of doubt and made me lean more SaS issue but I'm back firmly in the drive shaft camp.

Other than stripping performance cars of power via software updates do they have a better fix for this year? I think I saw they developed a better driveshaft solution as a result of lots of these grenading but I'm skeptical on just how long these will last and what they will cost once I'm off of warranty.

they created a service bulletin for it in June of 19. Sb-19-39-001

From what I’ve been told is that it should fix the issue.

It’s also not a P thing like it was previously thought. It’s a front motor issue on all cars. We P cars just tend to stomp on it more often.

I was also relieved to know. It’s just noise. While it’s super annoying my silent DU was making noise. It’s not something that will keep the car from performing. Even with all the crap. I still was pulling 3.1 0-60 times.

 

[Ostrichsak]

they created a service bulletin for it in June of 19. Sb-19-39-001

From what I’ve been told is that it should fix the issue.

It’s also not a P thing like it was previously thought. It’s a front motor issue on all cars. We P cars just tend to stomp on it more often.

I was also relieved to know. It’s just noise. While it’s super annoying my silent DU was making noise. It’s not something that will keep the car from performing. Even with all the crap. I still was pulling 3.1 0-60 times.

I knew it wasn't just the P cars but more common on them due to higher amounts of torque. You're saying it was the front ones though? If that's the case I'm back to not being sure because my noise is coming from the rear.

 

[Alysashley79]

I knew it wasn't just the P cars but more common on them due to higher amounts of torque. You're saying it was the front ones though? If that's the case I'm back to not being sure because my noise is coming from the rear.

Fwiw the “creaking” I was hearing sounded like it was coming from the middle of my car and not from the front. But they did nothing to the rear of my car and it’s completely silent now.

there was a Rear DU mount issue on the older cars but I think that was pre awd.

 

[jcarp09]

Drove to the SC today to pick it up (because they couldn’t reproduce). Found some old threads about how it’s worse when the suspension is set to Very High. As soon as we got in the car, I set it to very high and voila, clunking and creaking. Circled back around, had a tech listen, he apologized for us having to drive 4 hours to the service center today and we continued on with our loaner. He said we won’t get it back till it’s fixed.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Fwiw the “creaking” I was hearing sounded like it was coming from the middle of my car and not from the front. But they did nothing to the rear of my car and it’s completely silent now.

there was a Rear DU mount issue on the older cars but I think that was pre awd.

Mine definitely comes from the right rear even to the ears of those sitting in the back seat.

Drove to the SC today to pick it up (because they couldn’t reproduce). Found some old threads about how it’s worse when the suspension is set to Very High. As soon as we got in the car, I set it to very high and voila, clunking and creaking. Circled back around, had a tech listen, he apologized for us having to drive 4 hours to the service center today and we continued on with our loaner. He said we won’t get it back till it’s fixed.

I was going to mention that not only does mine seem to get louder/worse in higher suspension settings (I first noticed it when i was from the second setting from the top "High" during a heavy snow) but it also gets louder/worse with people in the back seat. The added weight and increased height really seems to make things worse.