Clicking noise during hard acceleration

[Holo]

I've had my 2018 MS 100D for about 4 months and I totally love it! So far I have put just over 5,000 miles on the car. For the most part I'm pretty gentle. However, sometimes I like to impress friends with the cars power, which I do by flooring the accelerator from a standing start. Whenever I do this (maybe only half a dozen times in the last 4 months) there is a noticeable clicking noise which begins about 2 seconds into the run. I'm worried that the sound indicates some sort of problem with the drive train. Alternatively, maybe it's normal and is a function of the traction control keeping one or more wheels from spinning? I have not yet contacted my SC to inquire and thought I would reach out to the collective wisdom of the TMC members first. Any thoughts? TIA.

 

[Skysurfer]

Usually it is the CV joints in the front half-shafts which start making noise under hard acceleration. Bjorn Nyland made a good video demonstrating the issue. His is a fairly extreme example given the suspension settings induce a higher drive line angle with the Model X and the joints are fairly worn, the sound is more mild in the early stages.

 

[Holo]

Usually it is the CV joints in the front half-shafts which start making noise under hard acceleration. Bjorn Nyland made a good video demonstrating the issue. His is a fairly extreme example given the suspension settings induce a higher drive line angle with the Model X and the joints are fairly worn, the sound is more mild in the early stages.

Thanks Skysurfer! The video was a perfect demonstration of the issue I was trying to describe. Now the question is should I bring this up with the SC for repair?

 

[Verdi]

There's no fix for this.

 

[Holo]

There's no fix for this.

Really? I wonder how many MS owners experience this issue? Unlike the situation demonstrated by Bjorn Nyland, my "clicking noises" happen when the car's suspension is set to Standard height and are pretty noticeable! I can't imagine that this happens to all MS and MX owners, and if only some experience this then it would seem to be a fixable problem, no?

 

[Verdi]

Really? I wonder how many MS owners experience this issue? Unlike the situation demonstrated by Bjorn Nyland, my "clicking noises" happen when the car's suspension is set to Standard height and are pretty noticeable! I can't imagine that this happens to all MS and MX owners, and if only some experience this then it would seem to be a fixable problem, no?

I have it on my S 90D. It's not only "clicking noises". It creates vibrations as well. Pretty bad ones at that.

I was told by my service centre that my problems are too mild to warrant them to exchange the worn out parts and that they can only advice me to drive the car in "Always low" mode. If it's bad enough you get new original parts that are exactly the same and they will too suffer from this problem eventually. They claim that Tesla are trying to come up with stronger parts and also reduce power in High/Very High.

I'm getting my brand new 100D on Friday and my plan is to always run it in low from the start. Only like that I feel safe.

 

[Skysurfer]

Thanks Skysurfer! The video was a perfect demonstration of the issue I was trying to describe. Now the question is should I bring this up with the SC for repair?

Yes, I would mention this to the service center. They should be able to validate with a test drive.

I had mine replaced ~15k miles ago and they are still quiet.

 

[sorka]

I've had my 2018 MS 100D for about 4 months and I totally love it! So far I have put just over 5,000 miles on the car. For the most part I'm pretty gentle. However, sometimes I like to impress friends with the cars power, which I do by flooring the accelerator from a standing start. Whenever I do this (maybe only half a dozen times in the last 4 months) there is a noticeable clicking noise which begins about 2 seconds into the run. I'm worried that the sound indicates some sort of problem with the drive train. Alternatively, maybe it's normal and is a function of the traction control keeping one or more wheels from spinning? I have not yet contacted my SC to inquire and thought I would reach out to the collective wisdom of the TMC members first. Any thoughts? TIA.

Does it happen to occur from 28 to 35 MPH?

 

[sorka]

There's no fix for this.

Mine's been fixed 3 times (4th this coming October 2nd). It only ever occurs on the right side and it doesn't happen with all high powered Model S cars. There's something else wrong that triggers the repeated bad joint destruction. They need to figure out what that is. In my case, after each fix, the issue returned sooner than before.

Tesla has asked me to be patient while they investigate a permanent fix but I'm done waiting. They also refuse to tell me in email responses that it is safe and that I won't do additional damage with this issue.

The car has already been in for warranty repairs for more than 40 days and this issue has never been permanently fixed so if they don't figure it out this time, can you guess what I'm doing next

 

[Verdi]

Mine's been fixed 3 times (4th this coming October 2nd). It only ever occurs on the right side and it doesn't happen with all high powered Model S cars. There's something else wrong that triggers the repeated bad joint destruction. They need to figure out what that is. In my case, after each fix, the issue returned sooner than before.

Tesla has asked me to be patient while they investigate a permanent fix but I'm done waiting. They also refuse to tell me in email responses that it is safe and that I won't do additional damage with this issue.

The car has already been in for warranty repairs for more than 40 days and this issue has never been permanently fixed so if they don't figure it out this time, can you guess what I'm doing next

As I said, there's no (permanent) fix for this. I'm sorry to hear about your problems. My problems are very mild and on this Friday I'm picking up my brand new S 100D. I will be very careful so I don't end up with this problem again. Always low for a start...

 

[Holo]

As I said, there's no (permanent) fix for this. I'm sorry to hear about your problems. My problems are very mild and on this Friday I'm picking up my brand new S 100D. I will be very careful so I don't end up with this problem again. Always low for a start...

First, congrats on getting your new S 100D! I hope it brings you years of trouble free enjoyment!

So, my take-away from all this discussion is that the problem does not appear to pose an immediate safety issue and that a permanent fix has not yet been developed. Seems reasonable, therefore, to wait a while and see how things develop. Maybe I'll wait until my 1 year service appointment to have this repaired. Maybe sooner if things get worse or if a permanent fix is identified.

Thanks for everyone's input! By the way, what does the CV in "CV joint" stand for?

 

[Russell]

Thanks for everyone's input! By the way, what does the CV in "CV joint" stand for?

Constant Velocity

 

[Mobster]

I've had my 2018 MS 100D for about 4 months and I totally love it! So far I have put just over 5,000 miles on the car. For the most part I'm pretty gentle. However, sometimes I like to impress friends with the cars power, which I do by flooring the accelerator from a standing start. Whenever I do this (maybe only half a dozen times in the last 4 months) there is a noticeable clicking noise which begins about 2 seconds into the run. I'm worried that the sound indicates some sort of problem with the drive train. Alternatively, maybe it's normal and is a function of the traction control keeping one or more wheels from spinning? I have not yet contacted my SC to inquire and thought I would reach out to the collective wisdom of the TMC members first. Any thoughts? TIA.

Had my 2016 P100D in for service and I have experienced the same problem (it still happens). It was a pretty weird service call. They first said it was normal. Then as I disputed that, I had three to four service people around me in the discussion and the service manager whom I have known for years finally said "It is a known 'situation' by engineering and they are working on a fix". Wow ...it took an hour to get there. Then they said they did not know what to do and in any case the car is safe. Hmmmm. It is still doing it and I am still not happy...but I love the car.

 

[pedriscoll]

I have noticed the exact same sound in my new 100D, only with hard acceleration. I don’t launch very often, but never noticed this in my previous 85D in 3 years and 63,000 miles. Unhappy to hear that there is no fix.

 

[michal54]

Hello all. First post. I looked into this issue because my 2018 MS 100D has had this noise since the first day of delivery. I first thought it might be in the design and was an anti slip mechanism or something. The noise became more prevalent with softer and softer accelerating. The car is now at SC and a technician and I took a test ride to create the sound but the roads were wet from rain and the car didn't make the sound. I told the tech to drive it when roads were dry and when car was "cold". The next day they said they were able to duplicate the sound and were now "trying to figure out what is causing it", as stated in a text from the service rep. I hope they fix it without further complications. This thread has me worried Tesla doesn't have the problem solved on a permanent basis.

 

[Holo]

So I went ahead and scheduled an appointment for tomorrow with the service center to fix the CV problem and also a problem with intermittent speakers on the driver's side of the car. I too am concerned that Tesla does not have a permanent fix for the CV problem. I guess I'll get some color on that tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed!

P.S. Thanks Russell for defining CV!

 

[Holo]

There is no question that this issue is real. I took the service tech for a drive to demonstrate the problem and it only took a few minutes to confirm. As previously mentioned by other posters, there does not appear to be a real permanent fix yet. Both my front axles were replaced and the wheels aligned. That fixes the problem but does nothing to prevent the same thing from happening again. For me, the answer is to avoid "launches". I pretty much only did that to impress non-Tesla owners and I'm not willing to damage my car again just for that!

 

[Cutwolf]

Is there still no fix for this? Starting to have this issue in my P100D. Inexcusable in a $100k+ car.

 

[sorka]

Does it happen in the lowest setting?

 

[Cutwolf]

Does it happen in the lowest setting?

Yes. Just tested in low a few minutes ago. Not as pronounced but present.