2021 Tesla Model 3 Loud Clunking Noise When Slowing Down

[Plonchar]

Feb 2021 Video Part 1:

Sep 2021 Video Part 2:

Feb 2021 Video Part 1 (YouTube Description):
I was pulling into my garage for the very first time with my brand new 2021 Tesla Model 3 and I heard this loud clunking noise coming from the front of the car. It sounded like the car was falling apart.

This loud clunking sound has been happening intermittently since I took ownership in February 2021. It was for the most part tolerable and I've given it plenty of leeway over the past six months. However, the noise has been happening much more frequently with more intensity. It”s loud enough that other drivers and pedestrians stare over at me. It’s very embarrassing to be driving a luxury "green" vehicle when it makes this sound.

I reported this to Tesla soon after I got the car and they asked me to bring my car in to the service center. Two technicians went for a test drive with me but I could not get the car to make the loud clunking noise, of course. I showed them this video and they told me they had heard of a similar noise happening before and that it was most likely due to a factory tag on the condenser fan. The technicians stated the tag should eventually wear away or fall off.

Well, it has been over six months now since I first reported this issue to Tesla and to date, I have not received any updates from them. I am really getting concerned that the noise is damaging my car, it shakes when the clunking happens. This is unacceptable for any new car, especially with the
high quality of a Tesla!

I am going to get this resolved with Tesla and will post periodic updates to hopefully assist any other fellow members of the Tesla family with a similar issue. Please respond in the comments if you yourself or no of anyone who has experienced a similar noise from a Tesla and I will pass it along to them. Thanks!

Feb 2021 Video Part 2 (YouTube Description):

Here is the latest occurrence of the loud clunking noise coming from the front of my 2021 Tesla Model 3 that I happened to capture on video while slowing up to a stop light on September 24th, 2021.

I have heard this noise dozens of time over the past six months. If you or someone you know has experienced this noise please respond in the comments as I would like to provide Tesla with this information.

I am going to get this resolved with Tesla and will post periodic updates to hopefully assist any other fellow members of the Tesla family with a similar issue.

 

[happydad]

sounds like the auto brake lever kicking in on and off. i heard of this on my car before but very rarely, only during auto-pilot on surface street and when it is unsure to go or not at traffic light.

 

[Plonchar]

sounds like the auto brake lever kicking in on and off. i heard of this on my car before but very rarely, only during auto-pilot on surface street and when it is unsure to go or not at traffic light.

Thanks for your response!

 

[NathanLew]

I have EXACTLY this same issue, THANK YOU for uploading the video, I've been trying to replicate this myself and record it but it happens so intermittently and being on my own I don't want to try and record while driving. I'll be booking my car in and showing them this video if you don't mind, this has been driving me nuts and I swear it's only been getting louder. I do also have the issue of the same wheel clicking when I turn to the right, don't know if they're related in my case or not.

 

[NathanLew]

Hey so I don't know if you ever got this issue fixed but I finally managed to get it sorted it out.
For anyone else that may come accross this post with a similar issue then maybe this'll help. I've not had the issue since.
The mechanic stated this on the invoice 'carried out diagnosis and resolved it as hub delamination cleaned areas and this has resolved the issue'

 

[Plonchar]

Hey so I don't know if you ever got this issue fixed but I finally managed to get it sorted it out.
For anyone else that may come accross this post with a similar issue then maybe this'll help. I've not had the issue since.
The mechanic stated this on the invoice 'carried out diagnosis and resolved it as hub delamination cleaned areas and this has resolved the issue'

Thank you so much for posting this Nathan! I haven’t had this happen since last Fall until just a few days ago. I had almost given up on getting this fixed and then I saw your post come through this morning. I am going to put in a service request to Tesla and hopefully get this fixed once and for all. Thanks again!

 

[Plonchar]

Thank you so much for posting this Nathan! I haven’t had this happen since last Fall until just a few days ago. I had almost given up on getting this fixed and then I saw your post come through this morning. I am going to put in a service request to Tesla and hopefully get this fixed once and for all. Thanks again!

Thank you so much for posting this Nathan! I haven’t had this happen since last Fall until just a few days ago. I had almost given up on getting this fixed and then I saw your post come through this morning. I am going to put in a service request to Tesla and hopefully get this fixed once and for all. Thanks again!

Hey Nathan, did you have this issue fixed by Tesla? I just took my car into the Tesla Service Center to get this loud clunking noise fixed. I was unable to replicate the noise on the test drive but they did take it in to be looked at. If you did have Tesla fix this, would you mind providing me with the service order number? I would like to pass this along to Telsa which may help them resolve this quicker for me. I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[Adam3]

Weird, haven't seen this one before.

 

[Plonchar]

Thank you so much for posting this Nathan! I haven’t had this happen since last Fall until just a few days ago. I had almost given up on getting this fixed and then I saw your post come through this morning. I am going to put in a service request to Tesla and hopefully get this fixed once and for all. Thanks again!

 

[Plonchar]

Hey Nathan, did you have this issue fixed by Tesla? I just took my car into the Tesla Service Center to get this loud clunking noise fixed. I was unable to replicate the noise on the test drive but they did take it in to be looked at. If you did have Tesla fix this, would you mind providing me with the service order number? I would like to pass this along to Telsa which may help them resolve this quicker for me. I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[Plonchar]

Sorry for all the duplicate responses here, I’m new.

7/5/22: TESLA WAS FINALLY ABLE TO DETERMINE WHAT WAS CAUSING THE LOUD CLUNKING NOISE THAT I’VE BEEN EXPERIENCING WITH MY 2021 MODEL 3!

I took my car into Tesla and they were finally able to duplicate the noise. The service techs determined that there was a broken part inside my driver side headlight. The mobile tech came out and replaced the headlight today. We took it and shook it and you could hear a loud clunking and rattling noise. What an ordeal! Took it for a test drive and no noise! This was an intermittent noise so only time will tell but I think this issue is finally in the past. Hope this post can help someone else with what I believe to be a very rate issue.