2023 MY Ear Pain Survivor checking in. What and unbelievable thread this is! I'm so grateful. I'd like to pay it forward and share my story, hope it helps someone else.
I got my car 10 days ago, drove it home and when I got it home I had a throbbing headache. This is pretty uncommon for me and I just chalked it up to a big day. Then I drove my car to various places over the next couple days and each time I got a headache (or ear pain if trip was short). I was baffled.
This started my research into trying to put into words my experience. It was difficult to explain and search, until I found this thread and ilovecoffee's youtube video. It was like he was speaking directly to me.
I went to the hardware store yesterday, picked up 5/16 OD tubing and some silicone lubricant. I pushed the tube all the way through in 1 pass after 30 minutes of wrestling. Then I spent another 20 mins on the 4 rubber stops. After everything was where I thought I wanted it, I went on a ride for the moment of truth.
You know when you are expecting to get hit and you flinch or tense up? That was literally me the entire drive. Just sitting there in my car waiting for the "Boom" to get me. It never came. My car is seemingly fixed and it is absolutely ridiculous this simple tube can fix such a debilitating issue. No more headaches and I can drive my car.
Thank you ilovecoffee! Words can't express how much I appreciate your video and help as I read through the thread. Thanks to all the others, your messages and experiences were helpful as well.
Two questions:
1 - ilovecoffee - Have you sent anything to Tesla? Like with all these different experiences and your fix? I feel like they should know and attempt the fix this. This car is far too expensive to have this issue, even if it only impacts some people.
2 - To anyone - The only issue I have in this end state, for now, is the trunk is a bit hard to latch. The first 10 closes, the hatch wouldn't latch by itself. I had to slam it shut. Now the auto-closing mechanism will squish the door shut, but you can tell it is working with stress. Then when you open it, the latch really pops with some sound and conveys some pressure there. So the question is: does this get better and is this expected? Should I have used a softer and less ridged tube? Is there any risk in keeping the latch under this tension for the life of the vehicle?
Thanks!