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Audible/feelable "thump" when going uphill around 40MPH

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Yonki

Member
Supporting Member
Mar 31, 2015
629
1,815
Pacific Grove, CA
When going uphill around 40MPH, our Dec 2020 Model Y will make a thump that you can hear and feel if your feet are on the floorboards. Steering seems tight, and it feels like it is coming from under the floorboard slightly in front of the front seats (which I think would be the battery). It sounds/feels a lot like going over a bump or a mild pothole, but the road is super smooth where it's happening (that's the weird thing - it doesn't seem to be triggered by an irregularity in the road). We've found a section of road where it happens pretty much every time, though not at the same spot every time. Seems to want to be going uphill. It also occasionally happens other places.

My wife says she's noticed it since we got the car in December, but didn't tell me about it until a few months ago. I've been waiting for it to get worse so we are more likely to be able to reproduce it for the service center (the hill where it happens is some distance from the service center), but it doesn't seem to be getting any worse. I can't find anyone else in the forum reporting a similar issue, but I thought I'd check here anyway before we open up a service request.

Anyone else run across this?

Cheers
 
Is it this?


The battery pack will make a pop/bang sound as the sheet metal case expands and contracts when going uphill or when supercharging. It is most prominent in cold weather but can do this even in warm weather.

If you’re climbing a substantial hill or mountain pass routinely, the occurrence can be pretty repeatable as you’ve experienced.
 
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When I first approach car of a morning and open a door there is always at least one slight bonk noise from under. I presume it is something to do with preparation of the battery system for the day's work. Always the same, and when preparing to charge, similar. I'm not bothered... should I be?
 
When I first approach car of a morning and open a door there is always at least one slight bonk noise from under. I presume it is something to do with preparation of the battery system for the day's work. Always the same, and when preparing to charge, similar. I'm not bothered... should I be?
Normal. That’s the sound of the high voltage contactors closing and energizing the system. It’s two distinct clicks in quick succession, as there are two contactors.