Drive Unit Replacement Poll

[scaesare]

Yes. I believe there are at least 2 different issues:

A mechanical issue described as "milling" or "drone". Tied to wheel RPM, not energy usage. Bearing issues ID'd as at least one cause.

An electrical issue described as "mosquito" or "buzzing" noise. Tied to energy delivery, not wheel RPM. Perhaps related to inverter issues.

Both seem to result in a replacement driveline if deemed bad enough by the service center.

 

[ohmman]

Yes. I believe there are at least 2 different issues:

A mechanical issue described as "milling" or "drone". Tied to wheel RPM, not energy usage. Bearing issues ID'd as at least one cause.

An electrical issue described as "mosquito" or "buzzing" noise. Tied to energy delivery, not wheel RPM. Perhaps related to inverter issues.

Both seem to result in a replacement driveline if deemed bad enough by the service center.

Mine was milling, and directly tied to energy delivery. Not audible on regen, but quite loud on any throttle.

 

[RAM_Eh]

the poll should have how many have not changed the drive unit also.

 

[tinm]

I received my freshly repaired car back today. RMN drive unit, nice and silent. Warranty note mentioned 'excessive milling noise', which I guess indicates there can be less than excessive noise by Tesla's standard(as some have encountered in this thread.)

I asked my advisor about the 'quarantine' and he indicated there was a new, better fix in the pipeline. For whatever that's worth.

Re the "new, better fix" -- this is exactly what Scottsdale told me. There was some "new, better fix" coming for the milling sound. I guess Denver didn't have the "new, better fix" yet so they gave me the old so-so fix, a replacement DU.

 

[evp]

@evp, was your appointment at the Denver service center?

I just had a drive unit replacement done there . . . on Saturday. Maybe I got the last drive unit? They never mentioned anything about there being a shortage or an embargo. They just determined I needed a replacement, and presto.

Yup, Denver. It seems you did indeed get the last one, maybe the last one on the continent.

I'm guessing that the nice shiny new Trinidad SuperCharger made your trip up from New Mexico a lot more pleasant.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

This maybe possible but unlikely. They can't use remanufactured drive units in a brand new car. Also, the X is heavier and with the claimed 10,000 pound towing, the drive units in the X will face way more stress than in the S. If they use the same DU, I can't see them lasting very long.

I'd be shocked if Tesla didn't use the same drive units as the S.

- - - Updated - - -

Re the "new, better fix" -- this is exactly what Scottsdale told me. There was some "new, better fix" coming for the milling sound. I guess Denver didn't have the "new, better fix" yet so they gave me the old so-so fix, a replacement DU.

Well, shoot! That means the brand new, factory-fresh DU I received in February (revision K) has potential to develop these issues again. I've already had three swaps.

 

[tinm]

Yup, Denver. It seems you did indeed get the last one, maybe the last one on the continent.

I'm guessing that the nice shiny new Trinidad SuperCharger made your trip up from New Mexico a lot more pleasant.

Nope, that was a recon mission. My appointment with Denver was for this week actually.But out of the blue, on Aug 5 they called and said any chance they could send a ranger down to pick up your car TOMORROW? I said yikes, um, okay, I guess. And boom, on Aug 6 he was here, and away the car went. So, it was flatbedded 7 hours up to Denver from New Mexico, and then flatbedded back down yesterday. They put ~60 miles on the odometer while it was at the service center, and the energy graph was a thing to behold... like 1000+ Wh/mi:

Which immediately made me think the Denver service crew took my S out for a joyride, right out of the famous scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off:

 

[qwk]

I'd be shocked if Tesla didn't use the same drive units as the S.

Since the X is offered in AWD only, the big drive units will only be used in the PXD cars. So that only affects the Sport drive unit demand.

 

[ohmman]

...the energy graph was a thing to behold... like 1000+ Wh/mi

That's how mine looked at delivery when I picked it up at the factory. It took me 15k miles to get the average Wh/mi down below 300!

 

[Lyon]

Well, pretty soon I'm going to need to figure out how to change my vote on the poll. I've had one replacement and have another scheduled for Aug 31. I took it in several weeks ago but they didn't have a DU to swap and said they weren't going to get any for several weeks. That makes more sense now. Mine makes a high pitched whine at certain power output levels that's loud enough to hear over some songs on the radio and gives me a headache. It's a different noise than the low pitched noise the first DU made at highway speeds.

It is pretty disheartening to see folks with many, many drive unit swaps. I thought part of the point was that electric drive systems are more durable than there ICE counterparts. I still have faith that Tesla will figure this out, if, for no other reason, than that they will be stuck doing DU swaps on every vehicle for years to come.

 

[Zarwin]

I've been digging though threads, and I know its here somewhere but can't find a recording of the "dreaded clunk". Since this thread is active, though I'd ask here. My DU had been getting louder recently (at low speeds) and today after a hard acceleration, as soon as I lifted my foot off the accelerator I had a very loud POP, which the dash cam recorded (below). It clearly came from the back of the car, so I would assume the DU. The car drove fine afterwards (I was one mile from home) and is now parked in the garage. I've seen numerous reports of the "clunk" followed immediately by the car shutting down, but mine didn't and drives the same. Does this mean imminent failure is coming? Or is this something people have heard and are still able to drive on for a while? Should I be nervous about taking it anywhere?

Tesla Clunk/Pop from Drive Unit - YouTube

I'm actually already waiting to schedule my yearly service right now. Since I have low speed noise, they wanted to have a DU in stock when I brought it in for service in case I needed a DU replacement. As others have said, got the same message that there aren't any DUs and no ETA on next shipment at this time.

Edit: Sent the link to my local service center and they see nothing in the logs that would indicate an issue, so I'll just ignore it and wait.

 

[rxlawdude]

To be valid, shouldn't this poll include ZERO replacements? It's meaningless without that control.

 

[jerry33]

To be valid, shouldn't this poll include ZERO replacements? It's meaningless without that control.

Well, it's kind of meaningless anyway since the number can't be changed after answering.

 

[ohmman]

Well, it's kind of meaningless anyway since the number can't be changed after answering.

And because it's a self selecting population.

 

[bareyb]

To be valid, shouldn't this poll include ZERO replacements? It's meaningless without that control.

You're about the tenth person to say that since the thread started way back when. Lol. If there had been a "Zero" option I would have chosen it initially because I hadn't had a replacement yet. Then I got a replacement. Now what? I can't go back and revote in the Poll so my original answer would stand at Zero, when in fact Id had "One". So really, it's better they don't have the Zero option and those people can simply not vote in the Poll. Either way, these Polls are not even in the least scientific. At best they show trends.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Has anyone considered just starting a newer, better poll? lol

 

[rxlawdude]

You're about the tenth person to say that since the thread started way back when. Lol. If there had been a "Zero" option I would have chosen it initially because I hadn't had a replacement yet. Then I got a replacement. Now what? I can't go back and revote in the Poll so my original answer would stand at Zero, when in fact Id had "One". So really, it's better they don't have the Zero option and those people can simply not vote in the Poll. Either way, these Polls are not even in the least scientific. At best they show trends.

What trends? Again, the question really is, for a given S owner: will I have a drive unit failure or not? Without knowing the denominator, the numerator means less than little.

 

[tomas]

What trends? Again, the question really is, for a given S owner: will I have a drive unit failure or not? Without knowing the denominator, the numerator means less than little.

Replacement not= failure. Failure extremely rare, so don't worry about.

 

[rxlawdude]

Replacement not= failure. Failure extremely rare, so don't worry about.

Except that from my reading, replacement due to noise (milling, clunking, etc.) is proactive to prevent a full-blown, all-stop failure. The noises are prodromal.

Anyone who lived with the noise for 10,000 miles without replacing the DU want to weigh in?

And, from a pure consumer standpoint (Need for replacement)== Failure.

 

[mspohr]

Has anyone considered just starting a newer, better poll? lol

My attempt at a better poll is here:
Drive unit replacement - getting better?