Creaking suspension

[Jonslatt]

Last couple of weeks started with creaking from the front offside suspension. Booked a service appt but closest was 8th October. Today it is really bad and making a noise even when I turn the wheel.

Spoke to Tesla tonight and they tell me it is a known issue with the M3. They are trying to get me fitted in tomorrow with the Birmingham service centre as I am concerned about driving the car any distance.

Anyone else had this issue? Do you know how long it takes to fix? An hour or a few as trying to plan my day tomorrow.

Jon

 

[NorfolkMustard]

Had it, but not that bad. Mine only creaked while accelerating or decelerating hard - sound coming from the rear. Fixed at the same time as a charge door replacement and both took only a couple of hours in total.

 

[Bonze]

Who did you speak to when you tried to book it in earlier?
Had the same problem with my M3 last Friday.
I've got it booked in for next Monday, but am expected at a wedding this weekend.
I'm worried about driving any distance (although I did drive about 60 miles yesterday)

 

[TM88]

I had the problem for over 2 months and driven over 1000 miles with the very annoying sound before Tesla got round to fixing it. It took less than 3 hours for the repair. The sound goes away when wet as the moisture/water gets into the joint and acts a lubricant. I was told it's a common issue by the GoZero driver that took me home after dropping off the car at the service centre.

 

[UrbanSplash]

There is another tread on this somewhere. My 3LR had this issue and parts were replaced. Took a while as the parts were in demand. It’s safe to drive though.

 

[AntCahill]

I Don't know if mine is suspension but when on full lock moving forward/backwards i get a loud knocking noise...

Had it booked in for 2 months now, keep getting pushed back due to shortage of parts.

Sounds horrendous too ...

 

[Bonze]

Thanks for the replies, I'll carry on driving then in what sounds like a Victorian pram.
Every bump in the road gives out a squeak/groan.


I'd also noticed that when I drove it home on Sunday that the sound was hardly noticeable, but got worse along the way

 

[mnobleuk]

I had this "fixed" about 6 months ago - all they did at that point was grease the joints. Now the noise is back and I'm booked in for a control arm replacement on both sides. I'd suggest checking your estimate to see if they are greasing or replacing.

(Edit : The noise for me comes and goes - if you're like me its easy to ignore when it goes away but it will come back ! Also I found the opposite to one of the respondents here - I got the noise when it was wet and/or humid rather than dry)

 

[Ticked]

Have recently had this fixed at Gatwick SC. Took approx 5 weeks for parts to come through and work to be done. They said they had done a lot of these. They also ordered the parts for and did the trunk lid harness while the car was in. Estimated it would take 4 hours and work completed in less than 2.

The squeak/groan came on suddenly one morning and was continuous on narrow local roads but couldn’t be heard at speed. Suspension much firmer now. We were told by the SC it was ok to take on long road trip while we were waiting for parts.

 

[Bonze]

Service Centre contacted me this morning to push it back to end of July due to lack of parts

 

[Avendit]

Edinburgh told me probably July for some of the parts, but were happy to inspect to confirm it's ok to drive. Duly inspected and given the A-OK, but they won't do the work due to after market coilovers . Could argue, but they sold me both upper control arms for just over £100 and I'll get my guy to do them.

What I'm not sure about is what other parts they may be short of? Or maybe they get a collection of parts ready as it could be many different creaky joints?? I just got lucky the ones I have a problem with were in stock?

If the creaking is causing much stress, take a video as evidence, then get a local garage to fill the problem joint with grease? It'll give you a few weeks of relief.

 

[DeejUK]

We've got a 2017 Model X which does a fair bit of creaking, but at Fully Charged Live we heard lots of Model 3s during the day, and we noticed that almost all of them creaked when turning to park. The missus was like "well, it seems it's just a Tesla thing and not only ours!"

 

[Adopado]

If the creaking is causing much stress, take a video as evidence, then get a local garage to fill the problem joint with grease? It'll give you a few weeks of relief.

Even if not creaking it's important to get the joint greased ASAP to prevent the issue in the first place. The requirement for this was recognised a while ago and even though there wasn't a specific recall the job has been included (obviously for free) whenever the car goes into the SC for any other purpose. I'm presuming that the newest cars have had the suspension adequately greased in the first place. ("Sealed for life" suspension parts are fine and well but oh the joy of a simple grease nipple ...)

 

[GPDP]

I had that problem a few months back, it's the bushes in the drive control arms. They come from USA as unsealed, so when you drive through puddles etc the water washes the grease out over time and that's the resulting sound. Mine got so bad that I refused to drive it and my local service centre eventually agreed to give me a loaner until it was fixed. There was a prolonged issue in getting the correct parts as they were out of stock, so I had the loan car for a few weeks. I had to argue with them that the car was unsafe to drive (never mind embarrassing as hell sounding worse than Onslows car) ... my argument for this was simple... would it pass an MOT the way it was?.... not a chance... therefore the car wasn't roadworthy.

 

[Adopado]

I had that problem a few months back, it's the bushes in the drive control arms. They come from USA as unsealed, so when you drive through puddles etc the water washes the grease out over time and that's the resulting sound. Mine got so bad that I refused to drive it and my local service centre eventually agreed to give me a loaner until it was fixed. There was a prolonged issue in getting the correct parts as they were out of stock, so I had the loan car for a few weeks. I had to argue with them that the car was unsafe to drive (never mind embarrassing as hell sounding worse than Onslows car) ... my argument for this was simple... would it pass an MOT the way it was?.... not a chance... therefore the car wasn't roadworthy.

Here's the story ... there are loads of youtube videos about it ... upper control arm ball joint. They do come sealed but some don't appear to contain adequate grease in there:

 

[kuruma]

Reported this issue about three weeks ago (on our Sept 2019 M3) and have mobile service scheduled for the 20th of July to replace just the LH control arm. Issue fixed for free under warranty. They did mention that the service is provisional on them getting the parts which they are struggling to do at the moment. Initially, I was going to have to drive an hour to SC so I'm very grateful they can do it on the driveway.

 

[Plagued]

I had mine booked in for squeaky suspension which they said they could fix with a ranger coming out to me until I pointed out that I'd reported rear suspension not front (they'd just automatically assumed it was this issue) it sounds like an old bed/clown car at low speeds. Unfortunately it was booked in to the SC last week right when their chauffeur service contract fell through and no one told the SC. So I was stood there while they worked out why I didn't have a lift back..... attempt 2 next week.