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Brake Release issues when putting car into Drive

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Hi Folks,

Recently I've noticed some disturbing behavior with my Late 2015 Model S and was wondering if anyone else had experienced anything similar.

If the car has been parked for awhile -- say, overnight, or for more than a day -- when I put it in D, the car does not set off smoothly. It's as if the brake is still engaged. I can press on the accelerator, and eventually it "snaps" itself into Drive, but it is NOT smooth, and in fact sounds, and feels, like the brakes are being "ripped" free in order for the car to start moving. Once the car starts moving, everything is fine.



This has been happening pretty consistently for me for the past couple weeks. At first I thought it was maybe just a one-time quirk. But it seems to happen pretty consistently.



Anybody else out there experience anything similar?

Model S 70, delivery late Dec 2015.

Thanks all!
 
Hi Folks,

Recently I've noticed some disturbing behavior with my Late 2015 Model S and was wondering if anyone else had experienced anything similar.

If the car has been parked for awhile -- say, overnight, or for more than a day -- when I put it in D, the car does not set off smoothly. It's as if the brake is still engaged. I can press on the accelerator, and eventually it "snaps" itself into Drive, but it is NOT smooth, and in fact sounds, and feels, like the brakes are being "ripped" free in order for the car to start moving. Once the car starts moving, everything is fine.



This has been happening pretty consistently for me for the past couple weeks. At first I thought it was maybe just a one-time quirk. But it seems to happen pretty consistently.



Anybody else out there experience anything similar?

Model S 70, delivery late Dec 2015.

Thanks all!
If you press the brake more than softly when you are putting the car into drive, hill hold is activated which puts on the brakes. They are then released when you lightly tap the brakes again or press on the accelerator. An icon shows on the instrument cluster when hill hold is activated. Take a look and see if that is what is happening. When this feature was implemented (version 7.0?) I had to learn to press the brake more softly when starting the car.
 
If you press the brake more than softly when you are putting the car into drive, hill hold is activated which puts on the brakes. They are then released when you lightly tap the brakes again or press on the accelerator. An icon shows on the instrument cluster when hill hold is activated. Take a look and see if that is what is happening. When this feature was implemented (version 7.0?) I had to learn to press the brake more softly when starting the car.

I like that theory. As a sanity check, I will give it an explicit look next time. Only thing is, I'm normally very vigilant about checking my instruments, and if Hill Assist were on, I'm almost certain I would have noticed. Also, when accelerating out of Hill Assist during normal driving, it is a smooth and seamless release (whether tapping brake or accelerator). The "ripping" I'm experiencing getting the thing to go from Park, is loud and jerky and sounds and feels nothing like the release from Hill Assist.

Thanks for the tip tho. I'll definitely give it an explicit check next time I'm setting off. Cheers!
 
Is the car parked under cover (garage)?

It sounds like the brake pad on one or more wheels may be sticking. That seems quite common on the EVs I've driven as we use the brakes so little so they don't get the exercise and build-up on the disks doesn't get rubbed off.

I suggest to have a look at the disks. Do they look good, or rusty?
 
just to clarify on some firmware features before we go on:

----------------- HILL HOLD FEATURE EXPLAINED ---------------
since the cars got the 7.1 update, there's a Hill hold feature, it is denoted by a capital "H" in a circle when it is active. you can activate it by pressing harder on the brake pedal.

When the "H" is active, you can take the foot off the brake pedal and the car will hold its position. you can do either of the following to take the car off "H":
1. press and release the brake pedal
OR
2. press on the gas pedal

as far as i know, both will tell the car to take off the Hill Hold feature and let the car go forward.
----------------- HILL HOLD FEATURE EXPLAINED ---------------


my Model S was delivered to me at around the same time (late dec 2015), and i do not experience the issue that you have whatsoever. when Hill Hold is active on my car, and i press-and-release the brake pedal, the car would start creeping forward as it is expected in a very smooth way. there is no jerk, no weird sound etc whatsoever. It is also a smooth start when i release the Hill Hold feature via the gas pedal. My car is always parked outdoors, and i don't think i've ever braked hard enough to "clean" the brake pads/discs either - i've always only used no more than 20% of the brake pedal since regen is so good, so if brake dust/ rust buildup is an issue, it REALLY should happen on my car. it hasn't, as far as i can tell.

i'd call in or drive to Tesla HK to have it looked at if i were you.
 
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This is pretty normal for me if I park the car, even overnight, after it has been raining. It doesn't happen in dry weather, so I think it is related to the combination of not using the brakes a lot and the rotors and pads drying out while engaged. The brakes are also a little noisy until the surface of the rotors is cleaned off by braking.
 
For anyone else who may be experiencing brake "clunking " noise after not driving your Tesla for a few days -- here's an update on my recent service appointment:

Took the car into TML service center, they kept the car for a day, did a check on the brake system, and called me the next morning to say everything is fine, nothing mechanically wrong. The "clunking" sound after putting into D after the car has been sitting for a couple of days -- even though it may sound (and occasionally feel) pretty nasty -- is, they assured me, harmless. More likely to come about during periods of high humidity, and may be exacerbated if the car is parked closer to shore. (in my case, I live right on the coast, so this seems to hold up). The tech also mentioned that other owners in HK had reported similar behavior, and it tends to happen more to cars that are physically closer to the water. I guess there's just more humidity and/or salinity in the air near the coast, which, the theory goes, can cause the brake pads to get "stuck" if they haven't been used for awhile.

I'll take that as a reasonably good explanation for now. Glad I checked it out, at least. Can certainly say that the service level is high, and the turnaround time very reasonable. They gave the car a complementary clean & vacuum, a supercharge, and even gave me a firmware update (though seemingly still with no AP / smart cruise control, unfortunately, despite others on this forum claiming to have received that update in the past month -- c'est la vie).
 
(though seemingly still with no AP / smart cruise control, unfortunately, despite others on this forum claiming to have received that update in the past month -- c'est la vie).
Autopilot is an optional extra when you build your car*


It's different for newer cars now. The HARDWARE is now always installed, but you pay to have it activated and be usable. Tesla is also pushing out a scheme to let users test out autopilot on their AP-hardware-equipped car for a month for free