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Clicking & Clunking while Parked

powertoold

Active Member
Oct 10, 2014
1,956
3,558
USA
The whirling and clicking are the fans on the front bottom of the car?! Saw it in an OCDetailing video once.

That doesn't sound good though........
 

PRSIST

Member
Sep 27, 2016
294
253
Arizona
Picked up my 3 over the weekend...I noticed that the car intermittently emits a strange sound in this order "click" - "clunk" - "bang" while it is parked.

Sounds like the clicking sound my X makes when I approach it with the fob (I think this means that the DC-to-DC converter is charging the 12V battery from the main pack). But it is much louder and scarier on the 3. And with the X we are suppose to put the fob far away or else it continuously wakes up the car but that is not feasible with phone-key.

My car is in the garage and my iPhone goes in and out of range so the car intermittently wakes up and unlocks or locks.

Just wanted to see if anyone else has a similar behavior with there 3.

When home, simply turn off Bluetooth or the app so your car doesn't keep responding when you are within range.
 

PRSIST

Member
Sep 27, 2016
294
253
Arizona
Picked up my 3 over the weekend...I noticed that the car intermittently emits a strange sound in this order "click" - "clunk" - "bang" while it is parked.

Sounds like the clicking sound my X makes when I approach it with the fob (I think this means that the DC-to-DC converter is charging the 12V battery from the main pack). But it is much louder and scarier on the 3. And with the X we are suppose to put the fob far away or else it continuously wakes up the car but that is not feasible with phone-key.

My car is in the garage and my iPhone goes in and out of range so the car intermittently wakes up and unlocks or locks.

Just wanted to see if anyone else has a similar behavior with there 3.

Have you called the service center to get your questions answered?
 

Trips

"Boring bonehead questions are not cool. Next?"
Sep 22, 2015
1,214
1,402
Omaha, NE
View attachment 268988
Elon Musk on Twitter

I think this tweet is applicable. Someone asked for a similar feature and it looks like Tesla will do it. Of course, in Elon Standard Time...

That someone was the worlds youngest self made billionaire worth about $15 billion after starting a little company named Facebook. I thought it was funny to see him part of the tweet storm when I am guessing he could have just made a few calls.
 

Isaiah F.

Member
Mar 31, 2016
17
30
Seattle, WA
That someone was the worlds youngest self made billionaire worth about $15 billion after starting a little company named Facebook. I thought it was funny to see him part of the tweet storm when I am guessing he could have just made a few calls.

He wouldn’t be a young social media billionaire if he called people, instead of using social media ;)
 

igotzzoom

Active Member
May 26, 2013
1,217
585
Mission Viejo, CA
dale-stealth-helicopters.jpg
 

shokunin

P85 & M3
Feb 28, 2012
1,199
630
Irvine, CA
I thought they didn't even use the transponder anymore, just took a pic of your plate?

Technically you don't need the transponder as you can pay by plate by referencing your account info. However, when I use express tollroads I like to use them switched to "3" HOV status.

I only have 1 transponder for 3 vehicles as I don't use the tollroads enough to justify the $2 per month per transponder fee.
 

mtndrew1

Active Member
May 12, 2015
1,313
3,677
Gardena, CA
I would put a ribbon on the air conditioning vent and see if it blows around when this series of noises takes place.

Sure sounds like an HV contactor engaging to run a variable-speed high voltage A/C compressor to me. I’m just curious if it’s a glitch actually lighting up the HVAC in the car (hence the ribbon on the vent) or if it’s chilling the pack.
 

LGA737

Member
Dec 19, 2017
63
233
NJ
I believe you are hearing the high voltage contacters which I am told a very loud in the model 3 compared to the S and X. Whenever your phone is in range, the car will power up and make those clunks. I believe there is a setting that still uses your phone as the key but only powers up and unlocks the car when you actually push the door handle in.
 

voip-ninja

Give me some sugar baby
Mar 15, 2012
4,121
4,692
Colorado
Sounds like the "your phone is the key" thing has some room for improvement.

I can only imagine the haranguing that Toyota or GM would get if their brand new state of the art EV had these kinds of issues after being in the hands of internal customers since July.

Yikes.
 

K-MTG

Sunshade Captain of TMC
Oct 24, 2015
4,815
3,437
Irvine, CA
I believe you are hearing the high voltage contacters which I am told a very loud in the model 3 compared to the S and X. Whenever your phone is in range, the car will power up and make those clunks. I believe there is a setting that still uses your phone as the key but only powers up and unlocks the car when you actually push the door handle in.

Do you know where this setting is? Would love to enable it
 

Twiglett

Single pedal driver
Oct 3, 2014
2,734
2,659
Austin
Sounds like the "your phone is the key" thing has some room for improvement.

I can only imagine the haranguing that Toyota or GM would get if their brand new state of the art EV had these kinds of issues after being in the hands of internal customers since July.

Yikes.
In fairness, if it were GM or Toyota the car would have to go back to the dealer to get the update every time.
There’s the downside to OTA capability, it means the car is never really finished.
However I know what I prefer (OTA please)
 

dsvick

Closed
Jun 10, 2016
2,198
2,214
NE Ohio
So gave this a shot...it prevents the headlights and mirrors from turning on and unfolding but the car still continues to make the clicks.

Also, those motorized vents open and close several times throughout this process.
With the walk up unlock disabled did the doors unlocks when you touched/moved the handle or did you then have to use the key card or app to unlock the car.
 

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