(21 Plaid) Something is popping when my wheel turns or the car moves at low speeds.

[mb466]

Hi All - Greeney's fix worked!!! No more clicking which had worsened to happen at all speeds and turning of the wheel. The dealership reluctantly did the repair after I told them that I would be immediately pursuing a Lemon Law return if they failed to fix the car. To their credit, they did take the car in without an appointment and fixed the other issues that I had as well.
The dealership initially reported that the skid plate was properly torqued. They later removed the plate, pulled out some debris, cleaned the plate, and reinstalled it. Seems to have worked.

Thanks Greeney!!!

 

[Greeney]

Hi All - Greeney's fix worked!!! No more clicking which had worsened to happen at all speeds and turning of the wheel. The dealership reluctantly did the repair after I told them that I would be immediately pursuing a Lemon Law return if they failed to fix the car. To their credit, they did take the car in without an appointment and fixed the other issues that I had as well.
The dealership initially reported that the skid plate was properly torqued. They later removed the plate, pulled out some debris, cleaned the plate, and reinstalled it. Seems to have worked.

Thanks Greeney!!!

Glad it worked out!

 

[Wildcat]

That last bit *might* be normal. If so it's due to the agressive tire width and weight of the vehicle. It's actually the force of the tires skipping along the ground that causes it. If you want to test for it, drive over an expansion joint in some concrete then back over it while turning sharply, the car will "skip" when it goes over the joint which is some.of that tremendous pressure from the tire grip being released suddenly.

If not it's a loose suspension component.

I have the same issue as @killer_model_s. I took it into Tesla Service and basically received a "It's normal" followed by the same explanation that @M4H4X gave above.

 

[M4H4X]

I fixed all of my problems a few weeks ago by selling my Plaid.

 

[Zer0t]

I fixed all of my problems a few weeks ago by selling my Plaid.

Was this the primary reason for selling the Plaid?

 

[leonwu]

Was this the primary reason for selling the Plaid?

He got a fancy Taycan

 

[Zer0t]

He got a fancy Taycan

I really like the Taycan.

 

[paulchou]

Anyone else having that problem lately? Mine has it, but not nearly as bad, and mostly at aggressive turning at low speed. So pulling out of my garage everyday I hear it (and for the longest time I thought it was my dashboard creaking). I am tempted to try to fix it myself as I am so tired of dealing w/ SC and would like to know if anyone knows the proper torque for the bash plates?

Btw., I still failed to see how the lack of torque on the bash plates would cause this constant noise, particularly since the bash plates are stationary and attached to the frame?

 

[Jp617]

Anyone else having that problem lately? Mine has it, but not nearly as bad, and mostly at aggressive turning at low speed. So pulling out of my garage everyday I hear it (and for the longest time I thought it was my dashboard creaking). I am tempted to try to fix it myself as I am so tired of dealing w/ SC and would like to know if anyone knows the proper torque for the bash plates?

Btw., I still failed to see how the lack of torque on the bash plates would cause this constant noise, particularly since the bash plates are stationary and attached to the frame?

I had a service appointment on 4/19 for clicking noise which at first I thought was coming from the inside. See the videos below...curious if this is similar to what yours sounds like.... Service Center (SC) had the car for 3 hours. According to them they retorqued the bash plate and also looked at suspension in general and could not find anything. SC mentioned that it might be coming from the dash area and that sound may travel to the front...they setup another service appoint for me on 5/10 so that they can get adequate time with the car and put me in a loaner car. Their plan was to remove the dash and start looking for panels that might be rubbing together. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ This sounded a bit invasive and I mentioned that next visit they should concentrate again on the bash plates and suspension areas of the car before dismantling the dash area.

Here is another thread I am following as well -- > Plaid Suspension / Steering clicking issue

Here are some of the videos of the clicking

Model S 2022 LR Clicking #1

Model S 2022 LR Clicking #2

 

[n2mb_racing]

I had a service appointment on 4/19 for clicking noise which at first I thought was coming from the inside. See the videos below...curious if this is similar to what yours sounds like.... Service Center (SC) had the car for 3 hours. According to them they retorqued the bash plate and also looked at suspension in general and could not find anything. SC mentioned that it might be coming from the dash area and that sound may travel to the front...they setup another service appoint for me on 5/10 so that they can get adequate time with the car and put me in a loaner car. Their plan was to remove the dash and start looking for panels that might be rubbing together. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ This sounded a bit invasive and I mentioned that next visit they should concentrate again on the bash plates and suspension areas of the car before dismantling the dash area.

Here is another thread I am following as well -- > Plaid Suspension / Steering clicking issue

Here are some of the videos of the clicking

Model S 2022 LR Clicking #1

Model S 2022 LR Clicking #2

Thankfully I don't have this one, but I do have squeaking coming from my driver's side front suspension when going over bumps at slow speeds. Probably something different.

 

[paulchou]

I had a service appointment on 4/19 for clicking noise which at first I thought was coming from the inside. See the videos below...curious if this is similar to what yours sounds like.... Service Center (SC) had the car for 3 hours. According to them they retorqued the bash plate and also looked at suspension in general and could not find anything. SC mentioned that it might be coming from the dash area and that sound may travel to the front...they setup another service appoint for me on 5/10 so that they can get adequate time with the car and put me in a loaner car. Their plan was to remove the dash and start looking for panels that might be rubbing together. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ This sounded a bit invasive and I mentioned that next visit they should concentrate again on the bash plates and suspension areas of the car before dismantling the dash area.

Here is another thread I am following as well -- > Plaid Suspension / Steering clicking issue

Here are some of the videos of the clicking

Model S 2022 LR Clicking #1

Model S 2022 LR Clicking #2

Wow! are the clicking sound that loud or was it just the video? If it's actually that loud, then perhaps mine is really a dash creaking sound instead...

Also, glad you have such a responsive SC. I have to fight tooth and nail for every issue I brought up - to be fair I did bring up quite a few. (but in my defensive I've done extensive research here on every one of them before raising them).

Lastly, still don't quite understanding how bash plates can cause that sound while steering....

 

[tmichelena]

It was very difficult to get my dealer to check skid plate bolts. But, I think they did. Can anyone validate this by this picture they sent? Looks like it's definitely the front area...

Thanks,
Tom

 

[n2mb_racing]

It was very difficult to get my dealer to check skid plate bolts. But, I think they did. Can anyone validate this by this picture they sent? Looks like it's definitely the front area...

Thanks,
Tom

I can tell that's the underside of the front of the car. Did it fix the noise?

 

[tmichelena]

I can tell that's the underside of the front of the car. Did it fix the noise?

Not sure yet. Will pick it up in an hour or so. They refuse to tell me if they "torqued the bolts."

 

[Jp617]

Not sure yet. Will pick it up in an hour or so. They refuse to tell me if they "torqued the bolts."

Tom, thanks for posting. I hope they fixed this for you. super curious to hear what they tell you. I am preparing for my service appointment on the 10th. A few folks over on this thread are pointing to a "Loose subframe bolt" I also had some folks direct message (DM) me saying it's a loose subframe bolt and retorque helps.

Plaid Suspension / Steering clicking issue

Plan of attack for me is to have SC look at the following...

• loose subframe bolt
• under-torqued front bash/skid plate

 

[tmichelena]

Tom, thanks for posting. I hope they fixed this for you. super curious to hear what they tell you. I am preparing for my service appointment on the 10th. A few folks over on this thread are pointing to a "Loose subframe bolt" I also had some folks direct message (DM) me saying it's a loose subframe bolt and retorque helps.

Plaid Suspension / Steering clicking issue

Plan of attack for me is to have SC look at the following...

• loose subframe bolt
• under-torqued front bash/skid plate

I think it's fixed! My Vegas shop was super cool when I went to pick up the car. When I took it in last month for this complaint, I think they did a bunch of suspension bolt checking. And, I think they pulled the frunk insert and checked bolts from that angle as well (not sure why else they would have had the frunk open). I don't know what the specific loose subframe bolt is, but I hope they checked that one while checking all the suspension bolts.

They aligned it again for me and it drives straight as an arrow. I hope your appointment goes well. Keep me posted.

Best,
Tom

 

[Jp617]

Happy to report that it's FIXED! no more clicking sound! Greeney was right on with what the fix was. My experience with services was exactly what mb466 experienced......I had to focus them again on that area of the car. They finally removed the plate and found debris behind it...they cleaned it up and reinstalled, then torqued it. This is what the invoice looked like. I think they meant "bash" instead of "dash" ...but when they described it to me...it was exactly in that area of the car.

Thanks everyone for the support and responses!

 

[paulchou]

For so long I thought it was a dashboard creaking, until I actually took a video of the car from the outside. Yup, exact same clicking noise. Once evidence is shown to the Service Center, they were very responsive in getting it fixed. I have to say, TMC board has been a great help for me on this issue.

Thanks everyone!

 

[SDRick]

After about 1000 miles I started developing the same clicking sound. I too thought it was coming from the inside dash area. So is the fix torquing the bash plate or some bushing in the suspension?

I would like to avoid taking the car in. Is this something either mobile service can do or can this be a DIY with a torque wrench with the car on ramps?

 

[paulchou]

After about 1000 miles I started developing the same clicking sound. I too thought it was coming from the inside dash area. So is the fix torquing the bash plate or some bushing in the suspension?

I would like to avoid taking the car in. Is this something either mobile service can do or can this be a DIY with a torque wrench with the car on ramps?

I thought about that route at one point as well. I don't think it's hard but you have to be able to remove the plastic covers first in order to expose the bash/skid plate/front suspension. And once there you just need to be able to untorque the bash plate and tighten it again.

But to be honest, if I were you I'd just have someone take a video from the outside and use that as evidence. It's quite a common problem for the refreshed S and any reasonable/knowledgeable service technician should know exactly what you are talking about as soon as you mention "bash plate clicking noise". Mine did right away - he even went on to explain that the bash plate is part of the front subframe and when you turn there's torque applied to it - so if it's too tight or too loose, you will hear noises.

Yeah I feel sad about the state of Tesla Service - when ppl like you and me are *afraid* of going in, even when we have legitimate concerns. At the end of the last visit the service technician asked me to do a survey - of course I gave him the highest rating possible, as I knew he tried his best and I know these results are tied to his pay. But in doing so I am also aware that I am perpetuating to Tesla service management the notion that everything is just fine...