Any Aussies with front suspension rattle?

[meloccom]

I had my 2014 Model S85 in for service and a CCS2 upgrade.
I asked them to look at the rattle from the front suspension and I was preparing myself for the cost of new air suspension struts.
It went in yesterday and they rang to say it wasn’t the struts but the lower control arm bushing on the RHS.
So that was going to be $1400. Ouch.
Today they test drive it and the noise was still there so it stayed a bit longer. In the end they put the original lower control arm back on and my tech and the senior service guy took another look.
Turns out that all the washing I had been doing to keep the wheels clean had washed the grease out of behind the brake pads allowing them to rattle on their pins. They re-greased the back of the pads and the rattle has gone. They charged about $300 for diagnosis fees and I’m pretty sure they spent a lot more time than they charged.
Now the car is as quiet as it’s first day.

 

[Brissienew]

My model 3 SR’s front suspension is noisy over bumps since day 1, is that normal?

 

[doctorwho]

My S85 has had that rattle since day 1

 

[begg]

Talking of rattles is there a easy fix for a rattle that appears to come from the front left door.

 

[meloccom]

Talking of rattles is there a easy fix for a rattle that appears to come from the front left door.

This is how you take the door trim off.

 

[begg]

Thanks meloccon. I'll pull the trim off and have a poke around.

 

[meloccom]

My model 3 SR’s front suspension is noisy over bumps since day 1, is that normal?

My S85 has had that rattle since day 1

If it sounds like a bolt rattling around in a tin can, ask Tesla to reapply the brake grease behind your front pads.

 

[doctorwho]

If it sounds like a bolt rattling around in a tin can, ask Tesla to reapply the brake grease behind your front pads.

Yes it does, but only audible over speed bumps or when I drive down my cobbled lane, and I can only hear it with the window down so I keep forgetting about it

 

[paulp]

The other source of noise that sounds like suspension is the front passenger seatbelt buckle. When retracted my buckle goes right up to the inlet hole rather than sitting down at shoulder level. It then makes a knocking noise that I thought for weeks was a suspension problem.
Indeed we only found it when I went to tesla, and we eventually worked out that the noise never occurred when I had a passenger.

 

[begg]

Now there's an idea. I'll check that next drive and report back. The car is just so good in all regards these little noises stand out. Ta.

 

[meloccom]

Yes it does, but only audible over speed bumps or when I drive down my cobbled lane, and I can only hear it with the window down so I keep forgetting about it

That almost exactly describes my experience too.

 

[lonewolf313]

I had my 2014 Model S85 in for service and a CCS2 upgrade.
I asked them to look at the rattle from the front suspension and I was preparing myself for the cost of new air suspension struts.
It went in yesterday and they rang to say it wasn’t the struts but the lower control arm bushing on the RHS.
So that was going to be $1400. Ouch.
Today they test drive it and the noise was still there so it stayed a bit longer. In the end they put the original lower control arm back on and my tech and the senior service guy took another look.
Turns out that all the washing I had been doing to keep the wheels clean had washed the grease out of behind the brake pads allowing them to rattle on their pins. They re-greased the back of the pads and the rattle has gone. They charged about $300 for diagnosis fees and I’m pretty sure they spent a lot more time than they charged.
Now the car is as quiet as it’s first day.

Kudos to Tesla. Had this been a Ford or Holden service, they would have done everything as above, but still charge you the $1400 which was quoted

 

[simonchew]

My model 3 SR’s front suspension is noisy over bumps since day 1, is that normal?

Me too but mine seems to only be coming from the front drivers side. I have an AWD LR.

Have a service booking for Monday where i will raise this. Will see what they say.

 

[T3SL4A]

Me too but mine seems to only be coming from the front drivers side. I have an AWD LR.

Have a service booking for Monday where i will raise this. Will see what they say.

I also have noisy front right suspension when going over speed bumps.
I’m interested to see what they say/do for you.

 

[Brissienew]

Have a service booking for Monday where i will raise this. Will see what they say.

So what did they say? I know yours is a LR AWD and mine is a SR+ RWD, and they suspensions are likely to be different.

Mine is noisier than expected, just not sure whether that’s due to the design or mine is faulty, might have to book in for an inspection. My car also came with a paint chip on the front bumper, and the right side of the front bumper is poorly aligned to the front guard. I really should get Telsa to rectify that.

 

[simonchew]

Service Technician came out with me for a test drive to confirm the noise i'm referring to. He confirmed that he could hear what i was hearing but did not comment on whether it was considered normal. He did acknowledge that the right side presented more noise than the left. The technician indicated that there are no known suspension bushing issues.

They proceeded to re-torque the suspension and asked me to monitor whether the condition has improved. I don't have any info on what they did and didn't re-torque but i if there is any improvement, it's very minor (possibly just a placebo effect). I've had them note that the Technician confirmed the noise and i'll monitor whether it gets any worse over the coming weeks. If so, i'll rebook for another assessment.

Unfortunately, i can't say Tesla managed to resolve the issue completely.

There were some other items i asked them to look at (door alignment), which they completed to a satisfactory level.

 

[Brissienew]

Bumping this, as I finally have this issue resolved, nearly 3 and a half years after receiving the car.
Recently, the car started making a loud squeaking noise from the passenger side front suspension. Telsa changed the control arms of both sides, and the rattle is gone. My car was obviously delivered faulty, as the rattles were there from day one and I was wondering how Tesla could have designed and produced suspension so poorly. The frustrating thing is, I took the car to Tesla twice to complain about the noise and the technicians just said it was normal on both occasions.
Meanwhile, my wife who drives the car on a daily basis is none the wiser, she couldn't tell the difference!

 

[aegidius]

Noises started appearing after a little gutter bump (Aug 2016 S90D, just post facelift). Turns out that one of the lower links cracked and it started working loose as the crack opened up. Had all 4 links on both sides replaced - Tesla service told me that was SOP for cars that age (still arguing with insurance about what gets paid for, but that's another story)

 

[begg]

My P85S has always rattled in the front end. Been to Tesla a couple of times and said nothing wrong, so I have just put up with the rattle. 130 000km now and still passes rego inspections. Life goes on but would like a life without rattles.

 

[paulp]

My P85S has always rattled in the front end. Been to Tesla a couple of times and said nothing wrong, so I have just put up with the rattle. 130 000km now and still passes rego inspections. Life goes on but would like a life without rattles.

Tesla tell people a problem is ‘normal’ as their diagnostic ability is not strong. Once you can demonstrate another ‘abnormal’ car that does not have the problem they accept the issue and get on with solving it, often by trial and error. My front suspension rattle went away after tesla tried new shock absobers. After it was done tesla admitted they had a known design fault in a batch of ahock absorbers.