I started noticing this sound a couple weeks ago on my car. Should I bother trying to get it fixed by the service centre?
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Clicking noise when accelerating
- Thread starter Oceans808
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- clicking noise
From my invoice. Concern section is my words. Rest is theirs. Just an FYI. They made me do a test drive with a tech to confirm the noise. It happened in my case with high frequency 90%+ even at low speeds, we didn't even make it out the service center parking lot before it happened multiple times. It can happen under any regen really but harder regen seems to cause it to happen more often. Accelerating didn't have to be very hard either since I could trigger it within the confines of a parking lot. It either sounds like a click or a crack depending on who you talk to. I did not ask about the implications of leaving it unfixed. My driving habits are extremely relaxed (209 Wh/mi on RWD, everyone says AWD so far in here) BUT "high miles at 16k/year" so I don't know if it is a usage consequence. You MAY hear multiple clicks if you accel briefly then let off immediately.
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Concern: When accelerating under normal load there is a clicking sound that appears to be coming from the rear axle just
when the car begins to start moving. It may happen under regen at around 30-40 mph as well.
Lubed rear sway bar and re-torqued to spec. Lubed both rear axles. Torqued axle nuts to spec. Test drove vehicle - Noise
no longer present.
Correction: General Diagnosis
Pay Type: Basic Vehicle Limited Warranty
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Concern: When accelerating under normal load there is a clicking sound that appears to be coming from the rear axle just
when the car begins to start moving. It may happen under regen at around 30-40 mph as well.
Lubed rear sway bar and re-torqued to spec. Lubed both rear axles. Torqued axle nuts to spec. Test drove vehicle - Noise
no longer present.
Correction: General Diagnosis
Pay Type: Basic Vehicle Limited Warranty
I think we picked up our car around a similar time, I'm at under 7km's as a reference, how many km's are you now?
Wouldn't hurt to bring it in, maybe there is an issue with our batch of cars as it's the first gen with front motors. I brought it in a month ago and they told me all they did was retorque my wheels, which was odd because I'm pretty sure I torqued it to 129lb's. It was fine for maybe a week or less and the clicking started to happen again. I can't tell if the sound is coming from the front or the rear, I was hoping to figure that out before going back to them.
I'm at 6.3KMs on my car. Mine is consistently coming from the rear. I also hand torqued my wheels back in April when I switch over from the winters to summer set.
Mine is a LR not an AWD. They tried the same fix on mine when I first took it into service (~12kmiles). The noise came back in two weeks (~1000 more miles). The second time I brought it back they replaced the drive unit and an axle sealing washer, which fixed the issue. Don't be afraid to take it back if the noise returns. I have a feeling that it is a bearing or CV joint design problem that Tesla is still trying to diagnose.
Not sure if you booked your service yet. I had a mobile tech (unrelated visit) determine it was my right rear making the sound. He thinks it might be the axle nut and will come back another day to lubricate the axle and retorque the nut.
Yeah I've already book an appointment and tried to see if mobile service can take care of it. The Vancouver Service Centre says they probably need a lift to correct this issue which the Powell Street location does not have.
On the paperwork, the fix was stated as "Performed re-torque of front and rear axle nuts." The problem is gone now.
Since then, I've had other issues that included the left turn blinker not working properly and one of the plastic exterior pieces next to the side mirror was coming apart. They replaced the module for the blinker and the exterior piece. Was done in a few hours. Everything covered under the warranty.
I had my service performed at the service center and they replaced the axle nut. The sound was back about 2 weeks later. I pulled the service manual section on disassembly/reassembly of the rear end so I may just try tightening it up on my own next rotation. However if I recall correctly the service manual says that axle nut is one time use like a crush washer.
scubastevo80
Member
Just scheduled my LR AWD for service. I'm a 103xxx VIN and the noise appeared around 9000 miles and has gotten slowly louder. When the tech comes, I'll reference what others have mentinoed in this thread and the other.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
In my P3D I get quiet tapping from both front wheels (I can hear it slightly from inside the car). It is only upon initial loading of the drivetrain that it occurs. When I had the wheels off to rotate them, I was able to reproduce the tapping simply by rotating the rotor back and forth. (Each time I start moving the rotor in one direction, there is a single tap. Then when swapping directions I get another tap.) . The tapping actually seemed to be coming from the motor itself, kind of like there was just a bit of play in each direction due to gear lash, and the tap is simply the gears loading up.
I did try torquing the axle nut (just did 129 ft-lbs - it was not enough to move anything and I didn't try more), so it did not seem to be loose at all. And as described above, for me the axle nut torque appears to not be the issue. I didn't detect any noise or play in the actual axle/hub interface, and I didn't detect that the tapping was coming from either of the CV joints (though it would be very difficult to tell to be honest, particularly if it were from the inner CV).
It's not clear to me how my single-tap clicking noise is similar or different to those described above.
I did try torquing the axle nut (just did 129 ft-lbs - it was not enough to move anything and I didn't try more), so it did not seem to be loose at all. And as described above, for me the axle nut torque appears to not be the issue. I didn't detect any noise or play in the actual axle/hub interface, and I didn't detect that the tapping was coming from either of the CV joints (though it would be very difficult to tell to be honest, particularly if it were from the inner CV).
It's not clear to me how my single-tap clicking noise is similar or different to those described above.
Good info. My wife has an SR+ and there is zero clicking up front, obviously no electric motor up there either. On my M3P is does pretty much what you are describing, mainly when transitioning to a stop while turning and then putting it in reverse while turning the wheel. I was just chalking it up to gear lash or something like that. Maybe it is just a characteristic of the AWD? I don't feel it, I only hear the click. In fact, if the car had an ICE based engine and exhaust note I wouldn't even be able to hear the noise at all. If it gets worse I will bring it and have them check it out but it is too minor at this point to have them tearing into it.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
Yeah if I'm playing music I don't even hear it.
I agree on just monitoring it; I can't see how they would address this without either a drive unit replacement or half axle replacement, which would be insane to have touched, so I figure I'll just monitor it for getting worse. If it's a lash issue and not a CV issue, presumably at some point it'll wear out or break the gears, if there really is "too much" lash.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
My question is two-fold:
1) Wanted to confirm whether your problem was the "single tap" noise upon acceleration, and upon deceleration. Or was it slightly different symptoms?
2) Wanted to see whether you're still hearing this noise even after the half-axle replacement?
If it did go away with the half-axle, it seems like that would imply some excessive play in the CV joint - this wouldn't be a gear lash issue.
I guess I should have thought of some more experiments when I had the wheels off the car. Biggest impediment, honestly, was not being able to safely go under the vehicle - could not put my ear up against the motor to identify the source of the tapping.
For me, the "sound" is less like a "tick" and more like "the clang of tap dance shoe" hitting the floor and/or what you imagine it sounds like when the brake pads hits the rotor (I don't know what that actually sounds like but it's somewhere in between those). Sometimes the sounds "burbles" like you get with a higher end ICE car exhaust. The sound isn't 100% repeatable but it has a higher chance of occurring during light acceleration and/or in mid-regen.
I haven't driven the car that much since I took my car back from service as I'm currently trying to burn off the old gas in my old ICE car. I will be driving a lot more this weekend I'll report back here if this fix actually address the problem or not.
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