Advice needed, weird noise appeared

[Rolf68]

Its probably a bearing on the casing to the output shaft. These would be serviceable due to the simplicity of the transmission

I don't really understand what your're talking about as I'm not mechanic at all, but I'll tell that to my friend. The proble is probably more to find the reference of any piece to be changed...

best regards

 

[X.l.r.8]

The bearings are in the casing, the far left one is the diff/output bearing. Even a small amount of wear will sound really bad

 

[Rolf68]

Oh I see now, thanks.

So this picture is from an actual Roadster or for illustration? Any way to know the references of all thos bearing in case we want to swap them for new one?

Kind regards

 

[Rotarypower]

I would definitely pull the gearbox and disassemble it. Bearing should be easy to find. If it is a gear with tooth damage then that might be more difficult. You would probably need to get that from B&W.

 

[Rotarypower]

So check out this video, at about the 55 second mark you will see the assembly of the Borgwarner gear redux unit for the roadster. This is what you need to open up. Not too complicated.

Home - BorgWarner

 

[X.l.r.8]

The closest cousin for the tesla roadster transmission is the 31-03, the 31-01 was bought up by tesla, however the gears are nothing special and even the differential can probably be swapped with one from the 31-03 boxes. a lot of convertors use the 31-03 for their cars because its strong and plentyful. The gears are just cast and not hardened but again the bearings would be the first area to look. Any pitting on the races would sound pretty bad. If there looking good just stick some methane blue on the gears and check the meshing. I have not seen anywhere sudgesting preload settings but I'll look a little deeper.

 

[X.l.r.8]

This is the actual 31-01 with the bearings Still on the differential so you can plainly see where everything is.

 

[Rolf68]

Wow, great stuff thanks !!!!

I'll send all that to my friend, he'll find this valuable for sure. Tomorrow we'll change the oil, and then with those references we'll be able to plan for a better repair. You guys are incredible, thumbs up

Best regards and have a nice sunday

 

[Rolf68]

Hello guys. So here the news.

This morning my friend lifted the roadster again and flushed the old transmission oil. He promptly said the oil did become real bad, too liquid and coloured with particles. Then he refilled the box with new oil and we were done. I took a quick test on the parking , turning in circles, and it sounded good (aka no sound at all). Unfortunately, a few hundred meters later the noise came back

I think that now the only option remaining is to open the box and change what's inside

I'm not sure if that would help identify further the problem, but I noticed that when the car is "hot", after driving like 30-40 km on a motorway, the noise tend to soften, and even disapear. I hear it at most in the morning when The car goes out of the garage, with all temperatures gauges are on the far blue left.

Noy I'll start to seek some replacement parts/kits... Any advice greatly appreciated

Best regards

 

[X.l.r.8]

Bearings will be identifiable by numbers on both parts of the races. They may be different numbers but easily cross reference
You will need to pull the case apart before you can buy parts though, but bearings are available everywhere

 

[Rolf68]

Bearings will be identifiable by numbers on both parts of the races. They may be different numbers but easily cross reference
You will need to pull the case apart before you can buy parts though, but bearings are available everywhere

Hi X.l.r.8

First thanks for all your help, it's great to have support I understand part would be easily identifiable once the box opened, but I'd rather have them in advance in order to optimize the Immobilisation time to the minimum, if possible.

In another post you're talking about some "preload", is it the force you put on the pieces before closing the box ?

Last question, how long do you think it's safe to drive the car with this problem occuring. According to what you says that any little amount of wear would sound bad, can I continue ti drive the car for some time? It's my daily driver and I have none other

Thank you

 

[Rolf68]

Update.

I contacter BorgWagner to ask for references / parts. Here's the answer

"We do not supply any parts for that transmission, or have any reference material available. The dealer is likely your best option in this case."

Depressing :-/ I had the same problem with the suspensions where Bildstein didin't want to supply a new set.

I'll have to find people who actually opened the box, or find a functionning salvaged one as Tesla will certainly be out of my budget :-(

 

[jeremyz]

Maybe you could contact EV West. They sell the Borg Warner gearbox and might know.
Borg Warner 31-03 eGearDrive 8.28, EV West - Electric Vehicle Parts, Components, EVSE Charging Stations, Electric Car Conversion Kits

 

[Rotarypower]

My opinion is that you need to stop driving the car until it is repaired. The gearbox is sealed, and if you have a simple and readily available bearing come apart, that could lead to catastrophic damage to other not so easily replaced parts. Why wait? It isn’t worth it. Get the gearbox disassembled now and don’t wait and let this become a much bigger issue.

Good luck! Please take lots of pictures and share. We are quickly getting to the point that we can’t depend on Tesla anymore.

 

[X.l.r.8]

The bearings will be a stock size. Tesla bought up the rights to that gearbox, but parts can be remade. The 31-03 is a different transmission but the internals may be the same. Only one way to find out.

 

[X.l.r.8]

A

 

[Rolf68]

Ok I'll see what I can do to rent a replacement car. My friend told me he knows a place where he could get any bearing, even custom ones. Now we need to find the right way to pull the motor out of the car ans also find time to repair all this, as he's very busy.

Thanks everybody, I'll make update when possible

 

[Mitrovic]

Well when I had this issue, Tesla told me I can go on driving. But on the other hand they replaced the whole gearbox, anyway...

 

[Rolf68]

Well when I had this issue, Tesla told me I can go on driving. But on the other hand they replaced the whole gearbox, anyway...

Ok, thanks for the info . I plan to drive 3 more days from home to work, and then I'll rent something. I hope my friend will find some time to repair this soon.

How long did it take to get the replacement if I may ask ?

Best regards

 

[Mark77a]

FWIW Borg Warner Gearbox catalogue > Borg warner gearbox
Roadster is model 31-01 but there seems to be a family of similar gearboxes