Ear pain/Pressure help

[mightaswell]

Last night I tried a few things. I did this on a short stretch of freeway that consistently causes ear pressure and pain.

First, I tried wearing a pair of heavy ear muff/protection (I wear them at indoor shooting ranges). The are over-the-ear, seal reasonably well. It did provide some relief, not much. They also have a mode that will electronically let through low volume sounds, and interestingly I could hear some occasional booming/buffeting, like a bass speaker, which I can not hear at all without them. As I I have said, in normal driving I do not hear any offensive noises, whatever is causing this pressure/pain is not audible to me.

Then I tried some over-the-ear active noise canceling headphones. It was similar to the muffs, provided some relief, maybe a little more, but still allowed pressure/pain. But the bass/buffering sound was much clearer. It was like some kind of interference with the noise cancelling.

Then I tried soft foam ear plugs. Squished them up and jammed them in. I keep these as a back up when I go to the shooting range. Normally I find them very uncomfortable to wear. But they definitely provided the most relief. Not a total cure, but real relief.

I think next I need to try driving with the hatch open. If the hatch is causing this, that should be the clearest evidence, right?

And yes I think I will just remove all the DIY stuff, and make a service appointment. I have nothing to lose at this point.

 

[atlchamp]

Last night I tried a few things. I did this on a short stretch of freeway that consistently causes ear pressure and pain.

First, I tried wearing a pair of heavy ear muff/protection (I wear them at indoor shooting ranges). The are over-the-ear, seal reasonably well. It did provide some relief, not much. They also have a mode that will electronically let through low volume sounds, and interestingly I could hear some occasional booming/buffeting, like a bass speaker, which I can not hear at all without them. As I I have said, in normal driving I do not hear any offensive noises, whatever is causing this pressure/pain is not audible to me.

Then I tried some over-the-ear active noise canceling headphones. It was similar to the muffs, provided some relief, maybe a little more, but still allowed pressure/pain. But the bass/buffering sound was much clearer. It was like some kind of interference with the noise cancelling.

Then I tried soft foam ear plugs. Squished them up and jammed them in. I keep these as a back up when I go to the shooting range. Normally I find them very uncomfortable to wear. But they definitely provided the most relief. Not a total cure, but real relief.

I think next I need to try driving with the hatch open. If the hatch is causing this, that should be the clearest evidence, right?

And yes I think I will just remove all the DIY stuff, and make a service appointment. I have nothing to lose at this point.

Keep us updated man nobody should have to wear earplugs when driving a $70,000 car

 

[YNoVA]

Last night I tried a few things. I did this on a short stretch of freeway that consistently causes ear pressure and pain.

First, I tried wearing a pair of heavy ear muff/protection (I wear them at indoor shooting ranges). The are over-the-ear, seal reasonably well. It did provide some relief, not much. They also have a mode that will electronically let through low volume sounds, and interestingly I could hear some occasional booming/buffeting, like a bass speaker, which I can not hear at all without them. As I I have said, in normal driving I do not hear any offensive noises, whatever is causing this pressure/pain is not audible to me.

Then I tried some over-the-ear active noise canceling headphones. It was similar to the muffs, provided some relief, maybe a little more, but still allowed pressure/pain. But the bass/buffering sound was much clearer. It was like some kind of interference with the noise cancelling.

Then I tried soft foam ear plugs. Squished them up and jammed them in. I keep these as a back up when I go to the shooting range. Normally I find them very uncomfortable to wear. But they definitely provided the most relief. Not a total cure, but real relief.

I think next I need to try driving with the hatch open. If the hatch is causing this, that should be the clearest evidence, right?

And yes I think I will just remove all the DIY stuff, and make a service appointment. I have nothing to lose at this point.

Ask your SC to order parts for and install the cargo cover. Should help with noise coming from the liftgate.

 

[MickY]

Here you go! Firstly, guys, please be gentle---- this is my first YouTube video lol. And it was a lot more difficult than I expected to make one!

I should clarify that this doesn't contain any NEW information that isn't already on this forum. But it's a good summary of every effective noise reduction method discussed here.

...and that image of Elon in the thumbnail, I made with Stable Diffusion's AI image generator LOL.

Thank you for doing this. I had tried everything you mentioned except for the wheel well insulation. I'm doing that right now!

 

[Noflash]

I have found the issue to be highly-road specific. About 80% of the roads I drive are fine and there is no issue driving the car. Unfortunately all the roads around my neighborhood have asphalt "seams" that boom away. I've tried dynamat-type insulation in the rear quarter panels, rigid tubing in the hatch seal, rigid bump stops, and 18 inch wheels with oversized Vredestein Quatrac Pros. Nothing takes the boom away. For me, the best solution is to remind myself this is a sports car that brings joy in so many ways.

 

[MickY]

If I climb to the trunk, close all doors, lay on the trunk, face up, head by hatch, and tap the plastic walls of the trunk with my fist (hatch and trunk walls), I feel ear booming and discomfort fairly strongly.

Can someone please confirm this can be replicated on your cars?

If the trunk booms like that, even when the car is stationary, wouldn't the issue be related to some or all internal surfaces such as glass and not-carpeted plastics acting like a drum?

Would then filling all cavities behind all plastic parts (wheel wells, etc) with some type of foam eradicate the issue completely?

This issue prevents me from enjoying the Tesla. I know we will eventually get to the bottom of this. With out without Tesla's help. I know Tesla monitors this forum.

I'm not giving up on my Tesla Y. Best car ever (except for this issue).
Stay tuned.

 

[Happy Hippo]

Thanks for the tubing idea and the great tutorial you put together, ilovecoffee.

We just got our Y a couple months ago and the boominess was immediately obvious and in some cases painful. Driving to work out of our neighborhood everyday is an exercise of patience til we got to high speed road. We tried adjusting the stops and the envelope trick since that's the easiest first thing to test.

Then I found this thread and the very useful and well explained vinyl tubing and we just tried this today. We were able to get the tube to go about 80% of the way around with no issue. So only needed a 2 piece solution.

However that extra girth made it so the hatch would not latch when it closes (receded the stops completely to be sure). While we can push it shut after the auto close motors stop, it was clearly too much pressure, changing the gap, as you noted, and popping out when unlatching in a way that indicated a lot of pressure on the latch when closed.

We decided to pull it back out, but for science, we went for a test drive first. And I can say that it for sure resolved the problem in the low frequency range (where the pain comes from). You could still hear a cavernous reverb from the large cabin, but that super low air-pressure boomy effect was pretty much gone from what we could tell across the same paths where we heard it clearly before.

Our next test is going to be some 3D printed hatch stops that stop just short of the rubber when the envelope calibration is implemented, hoping that the rigidity will prevent travel of the hatch and preventing the subwoofer effect, without putting the added tension on the latch and cinch motor.

I cannot believe this. I have a model Y on order and now not sure to even take delivery for a problem like this to occur. I can handle the panel gaps and checking the car upon delivery but this issue where you can get dizzy and have pain while driving? I have no words..

 

[MickY]

I cannot believe this. I have a model Y on order and now not sure to even take delivery for a problem like this to occur. I can handle the panel gaps and checking the car upon delivery but this issue where you can get dizzy and have pain while driving? I have no words.

Do a test drive and judge for yourself. This may not be an issue on all cars for all humans.

 

[JonB65]

Do a test drive and judge for yourself. This may not be an issue on all cars for all humans.

I have gone through all of these fixes, just out of curiosity. My car never really had this issue that I noticed, though I did notice it on my test drive, but only in the parking lot.

I was able to make my car do this by (mis)adjusting the hatch stops when I increased their length during my first attempt at the envelope adjustment. Turning them back in made the buffeting go away.

Eventually, I did all the fixes mentioned here, including soundproofing material everywhere. My goal was just to see how quiet I could make the car and have a fun project. If I was getting the buffeting all the time, I would be pretty unhappy.

All of this to say, I agree with @MickY, not an issue for all cars, or all humans. But is for others.

 

[skyworxx]

Picked up my Y a few days ago (MiC, Australian Spec [i.e. not the updated trim, no parcel shelf]) and I can hear and feel the boominess. It is not extremely painful, but sure enough, Spectroid showed me a peak at 41Hz. I installed a parcel shelf and adjusted the stops, but it is still fairly pronounced:

(camera didn't like being in splitscreen after a while)

Tomorrow I will insert the tube and readjust the stops.

 

[skyworxx]

I tried insetting the larger tubing but had a hard time. Yet to do a test drive, but I probably won't keep it in. Hatch doesn't close at all, even after about 20 times shutting it close with force. Might try the smaller tubing.

I also made a real mess out of the seal and ripped it in a few places. Does anyone know the part number of the rubber seal that goes all around the trunk?

Screenshot-2022-09-08-082344 hosted at ImgBB

Image Screenshot-2022-09-08-082344 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

 

[skyworxx]

Part number turns out to be MY(1497681-95-A) and it costs AUD 24.55 and AUD 27.00 for installation

I installed the smaller diameter tubing and it's gotten much better. Still going to replace the seal and doing is all over again, but I am happy where the boominess is now. Maybe in the future I will install the butyl sheets, but for now I enjoy the car a little.

For the metric folks here, the best tubing is 6mm internal diameter. I got mine from Bunnings. The 8mm internal diameter tubing (the closest to what 3/8” OD would be) is too large and you will wreck your seal.

 

[Happy Hippo]

Part number turns out to be MY(1497681-95-A) and it costs AUD 24.55 and AUD 27.00 for installation

I installed the smaller diameter tubing and it's gotten much better. Still going to replace the seal and doing is all over again, but I am happy where the boominess is now. Maybe in the future I will install the butyl sheets, but for now I enjoy the car a little.

For the metric folks here, the best tubing is 6mm internal diameter. I got mine from Bunnings. The 8mm internal diameter tubing (the closest to what 3/8” OD would be) is too large and you will wreck your seal.

Is this something that you can bring to Tesla to replace the tubing?

 

[skyworxx]

Tesla won't insert the tube, but that is easy enough if you get the correct size

Tesla will however replace the trunk seal.

 

[Happy Hippo]

Do a test drive and judge for yourself. This may not be an issue on all cars for all humans.

I had two test drives on two separate model y and did not hear it. Or I may not have noticed it it or was aware to listen for it..is it noticeable right away or is this boominess sound gradually happens over time? I’m afraid if I take delivery I would have this issue!!

 

[PecuniaNonOlet]

You would need to do a test drive on the same roads you're planning on driving your car on. Textured pavement is the worst.

Some of it is also expectations. If you are coming from a small car, the sound of a larger/heavier vehicle like the Model Y may surprise you.

And finally, some lucky people don't notice or care no matter what. Maybe you are one of those people.

 

[YNoVA]

Is this a new problem? I never noticed any ear pain/boominess issue in my previous Standard Range Model Y.

 

[ElectricAnt54]

I had two test drives on two separate model y and did not hear it. Or I may not have noticed it it or was aware to listen for it..is it noticeable right away or is this boominess sound gradually happens over time? I’m afraid if I take delivery I would have this issue!!

It is noticeable very quickly. My ear/head pressure issues were solved by Tesla after they sent my car to body shop to fix my door & trunk/lift gate gaps. They also readjusted the rubber stoppers on lift gate. Just drive the car a few hours after getting it. Don’t worry about the rumored 100 miles to report issues. I reported my door gaps, trunk gaps, and trunk that made banging sounds with 300 miles on odometer.
My 2022 model y performance boominess drastically reduced around 5,000 miles. Perhaps tires and suspension needed to be broken in. Occasionally older rough asphalt roads with large gravel are noisey but that is normal considering I have MYP with 21” low profile tires currently. The roads in the area of Los Angeles where I live are pretty good (I know a shock) and tend not to use large pieces of gravel.

 

[reystar]

So is this issue still a thing? it hasnt been resolved by Tesla?

 

[ilovecoffee]

If the trunk booms like that, even when the car is stationary, wouldn't the issue be related to some or all internal surfaces such as glass and not-carpeted plastics acting like a drum?

Would then filling all cavities behind all plastic parts (wheel wells, etc) with some type of foam eradicate the issue completely?

I bought foam cubes (you can see them sitting in my trunk in my YouTube video lol). I actually stuffed my rear quarter panels full with foam at first. Like Sandy Munro who found a foam cube in his Model Y, I didn't have one and I took it to an extreme.

Anecdotally I'd say somehow...it made it worse. I'm not sure how that could be...but it definitely wasn't an improvement.

On the other hand, those who have blocked off the rear trunk completely have noticed an improvement immediately.

I'm not sure if air flow is required to get through the rear quarter into the rear air vents (which are meant to balance air pressure) although they seem to be somewhat covered by the lower side storage carpet trim pieces so I'm not sure how that works.