Ear pain/Pressure help

[ilovecoffee]

Just dropping in to say a few things.

I wanted to echo gundarx's observation that butyl "cures" or "hardens" over time. Sounds handwavy but if you hit the road right after installing the butyl (I assume you rolled it down good onto the metal), you might actually find the boomboom improved somewhat later. Personally, I'm not sure whether my boom improved after time for curing. But it certainly didn't get any worse. In other words, if you told me the butyl curing thing is real, I'd believe you. Also, butyl rubber is apparently the same thing as chewing gum. Ever noticed how, when you spit out gum and leave it there, it gets hard after a while?

Which brings me to my next point. This past year I've been impressed again and again how much human perception of volume is relative. So if you hear the boom, then you make the whole car quieter (including the boom), then the boom may sound the same to yours ears, even though it's objectively quieter. Why does this matter? I'm almost always listening to music when I'm driving. It's rare that I notice the boom anymore after installing sound deadening like others in this thread. But if the music is off for whatever reason - boom! It's back.

Unfortunately I don't think it's going to be possible to totally silence such a heavy, cavernous vehicle that wasn't even designed as an SUV in the first place (it's a Model 3 with the vertical dimension extended). Only thing I could suggest at this point is gundarx-style insulation of the wheel wells, since he reported further reduction in noise from doing so. On the other hand, as I said, maybe if you insulate the wheel wells, you will reduce higher frequency road noise, which will make the boomboom seem louder to you. Could be counterproductive, in other words, and a lot of work just to find out you made it worse.

Edit: One last thing I forgot to mention. I am 100% sure that the boom heavily depends on the road surface. Ensure you're controlling where you test. On some roads within a few miles of my house, my car is totally silent. Others it's pure hell. Seems to have to do with the texture of the road surface more than the material it's made of, but I'm less sure about that. I'm interested to compare noise level on the hell surfaces when it's time for new tires.

Yes I remember you mentioning earlier about curing.

I hope that's the case. I couldn't find any information online though to corroborate that idea.

And yes, concrete highways are hell.

I'd wonder if using the Model Y Shelf with some of those wall mounted foam sound absorbers (like they have in studios) on top of the shelf will reduce sound reflection in the cabin as a whole.

 

[PecuniaNonOlet]

From my amateur understanding of sound deadening, if you covered both top and bottom of the Model Y Shelf with loose-fitting mass loaded vinyl, you could probably reduce mid and especially high frequencies. Not so much for the very low bass that we find most annoying. But I am not confident enough in my understanding to assert this 100%. I actually own the Model Y Shelf but I do not use it because I need to store large objects in my cargo area so often (e.g. my bike) and installing/removing the MY Shelf got too annoying. So even if I bought the MLV and modified the Shelf *and* it reduced the boom, it wouldn't help me. That's why I haven't already tested it.

 

[ilovecoffee]

From my amateur understanding of sound deadening, if you covered both top and bottom of the Model Y Shelf with loose-fitting mass loaded vinyl, you could probably reduce mid and especially high frequencies. Not so much for the very low bass that we find most annoying. But I am not confident enough in my understanding to assert this 100%. I actually own the Model Y Shelf but I do not use it because I need to store large objects in my cargo area so often (e.g. my bike) and installing/removing the MY Shelf got too annoying. So even if I bought the MLV and modified the Shelf *and* it reduced the boom, it wouldn't help me. That's why I haven't already tested it.

Possibly attaching heavy MLV to the shelf would prevent the hatch from opening.

 

[ilovecoffee]

After further driving and careful re-tweaking of hatch stops and still encountering issues, I'm under the impression that adding foam blocks in the rear quarter panels may have somehow impeded airflow through this area out the bumper vents.

Is that how those bumper vents are supposed to function? My guess is that pressure resulting from the rear wheels moving up/down are equalized by the vent at the rear. I remember seeing the plastic bracket on the inside of the quarter panel. I didn't realize that there were holes in there though, it just looked like a plastic piece mounted onto sheet metal.

 

[garrett5688]

I think those are for pressure relief when closing doors

 

[ilovecoffee]

I think those are for pressure relief when closing doors

I couldn't see how though, because it's in a separated area from the rear doors, and that open cavern where that vent is, is only in the area open to above the rear wheels. I'm fairly certain it's for the rear wheels.

 

[MY-Y]

I think covering any vents is a bad ides.

 

[Sudsington]

I couldn't see how though, because it's in a separated area from the rear doors, and that open cavern where that vent is, is only in the area open to above the rear wheels. I'm fairly certain it's for the rear wheels.

That's where the subwoofer is, maybe related to that? If it was for the rear wheels, why would it only be on one side?

 

[ilovecoffee]

I didn't cover the vent, but merely stuck in foam in behind where Sandy Munro seemed to find it, granted I went over board and really squished in big pieces in there.

 

[ilovecoffee]

That's where the subwoofer is, maybe related to that? If it was for the rear wheels, why would it only be on one side?

The vents are on both sides. Sandy also found foam blocks similar to above on both sides.

 

[Sudsington]

The vents are on both sides. Sandy also found foam blocks similar to above on both sides.

Ah, I must have remembered incorrectly from when I put in foam as well. I used the Noico foam sheets though, not blocks. I didn't notice any issues after putting in the butyl and foam sheets in those rear quarter panel areas.

 

[MY-Y]

I think what you did was fine. I used butyl and foam in there. It cut down on road noise, but didn't help the low frequency issues much.

The rigid (very rigid) stops with a fair bit of pressure when closed (the hatch has some flex) is the one and only thing thay solved the low frequency issue in my car.

 

[JonB65]

I wanted to add another data point.

I've installed the noico vinyl and foam, following @gundarx's guidance. I did all four wheel wells and the inside rear quarter panels, bucket area, and the small mini-trunk area. I have not done the hatch and have not put in the foam cubes...yet.

I have adjusted the hatch but not using the rigid stops. I don't perceive any rumbling.

I also have installed the RPM Tesla noise reduction kit and the large rubber loop around the glass roof.

I believe I've achieved about 2-3 dB reduction in noise, but of course, don't have really good before/after measurements. One sound app I was using showed 73 dB before and 71 dB after. 60mph on asphalt.

Just took a drive, and using the DecibelX app for android, mounted next to the center display, showed the following:

60 mph on asphalt: 57 dB A weighted, 80 dB C weighted.

I think the car is really quiet and am just doing this to see how quiet I can actually get it. I think most of my noise is road noise from the wheels/tires.

 

[MY-Y]

I have the wind kit as well. The majority of the noise is now, by far, tire noise.

 

[nate704]

I am wondering if Tesla can pump in specific decibel sound/noise that can cancel out the ear pain/pressure frequency through its speakers.

 

[JonB65]

I have the wind kit as well. The majority of the noise is now, by far, tire noise.

Do you have a coil-over suspension installed? I am thinking of doing that in the springtime. More for ride comfort, with any road noise improvements being a bonus.

 

[MY-Y]

Do you have a coil-over suspension installed? I am thinking of doing that in the springtime. More for ride comfort, with any road noise improvements being a bonus.

No suspension mods. I came from a dually truck, so the MY feels smooth to me.

 

[ilovecoffee]

Do you have a coil-over suspension installed? I am thinking of doing that in the springtime. More for ride comfort, with any road noise improvements being a bonus.

Not coilovers but I've got the comfort springs on pre-order from Unplugged Performance (which they have now re-labeled to mild lowering springs-- it lowers it an inch). Looks like the dual-rate allows it to be more flexible on majority of bumps but then will get quite stiff at the last stage of compression. They told me to expect them in Q1 of 2022.

 

[Sam88]

For us it seems to cause pain/pressure while we are driving. A slow build up and then feel it after we get out of the car, which led me to believe it's a seal/fit issue either windshield/roof or the hatch, but will try this today as well. I have an appointment at the service center to drive the car with one of the techs to troubleshoot some more.

Hi I came across ur post regarding the ear pressure. I got MS three weeks ago and having the same issue, extremely bad. I was wondering if you were able to solve the issue, and if so how. Thank you

 

[Sam88]

For others experiencing this, buy the shelf! 100% fixes this issue. It’s caused by the big hole in the back acting like a subwoofer. Original S had the same issue until they added the shelf. Our model y with the shelf is night and day better. I couldn’t stand driving it without it. My guess is that a future refresh will add this like the S, but it was easy to skip at launch.