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Ear pain/Pressure help

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Have been following this thread for a little while now. If only Tesla still had their 7-day return policy still in place. I am an existing model 3 owner who bought Model Y with out test driving with the assumption that there is a 7-day return policy. I got it delivered to my home so some rep dropped it off in my drive way and left. The car unlocks only after you accept the delivery. The very moment I got in an drove the vehicle I realized I am going to hate the noise. I have complained immediately and even took the car to service center within 100mi as suggested by the sales rep when I called in to complain about the noise. Long story short. No return. Service center thinks this Model Y is as it should be.

If it weren't COVID times or if I had waited till I could test drive it properly before ordering or if Tesla trusted their products well enough to keep the 7-day return window for those who did not test drive.... Though I feel it's totally my mistake to buy a car without test driving it, Tesla's silent changes to policies every other day doesn't help. At the end of the day this is probably the last Tesla I am going to get.

Now that I am done with my long rant... I am figuring out how to live the car for now (not quite ready to take a 10k hit less than a month after getting the car). Did anyone with a 7-seat Model Y try padding the quarter panels with butyl? Is the removal process any different than the 5-seater?
Right now, it isn't a 10k hit. I got an offer from zoom 1k more than I paid for the car (before taxes and fees). I'm waiting because I want to trade it in and here in Florida, taxes are based on the price difference.
 
I think my hatch needs a slight adjustment. I took delivery yesterday and when driving home on Atlanta's city streets, it gave me the ear pressure and a bit of a headache. Today I drove it to the PPF shop which was a long highway drive. No issues on the highway because it is a smoother drive.
 
I think my hatch needs a slight adjustment. I took delivery yesterday and when driving home on Atlanta's city streets, it gave me the ear pressure and a bit of a headache. Today I drove it to the PPF shop which was a long highway drive. No issues on the highway because it is a smoother drive.
That's interesting and the opposite of what I experience, which is that the pressure increases with speed. Around town I don't feel it at all. But on highways, once I get above say 60 I feel it. I did adjust the hatch bumper stops, and it actually helped a noticeable amount. Not completely, but I can live with it. Still, glad I leased so I have a firm end date for this.

ETA: for anyone suffering from this...have you ever been in a *different* MY that did not give you the same problems?
 
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Been meaning to do this and finally got around to it today. Car is modified as in my old post. I wouldn't say I solved the problem but rather reduced the volume of the sound by a considerable amount.

I held my iPhone 11 Pro in my right hand in the general area of the Tesla touchscreen and made one long video recording going down three different roads, first one ~30 mph, second ~35 mph (starting at 2:00), third ~45 mph (6:00). All concrete. Then I demuxed the audio from the video losslessly and linked it below.

In the middle of my trip down the second road, starting at 3:00 and continuing for the next minute or so, there are a couple booms as I go over particularly challenging stretches of pavement. As others have noted, specific textures in the road surface really seem to bring out the sound. I suspect it's not how "rough" the surface is but rather stuff above my education level involving resonance. In any case, what I'm trying to say is that different sections of the recording may have very different spectra. I would love to see a chart of the change over the length of the recording but I don't have the experience to produce such a diagram or the time to learn how.

Hey sorry for the delay checking these out, I'm out of town at the moment. Just got a chance to fire up my portable rig and take a peek.

So interestingly it seems you've shifted the peak from around 35Hz to around 46Hz, but it's very much still got a loud peak at that low frequency:
Screen Shot 2021-06-04 at 10.46.01 AM.png



At another time point in your recording it looks like this:

Screen Shot 2021-06-04 at 10.46.48 AM.png


So the peak is very distinct at that somewhat higher frequency.

During the calmer section of your recording the more typical 36Hz is again the dominant frequency:

Screen Shot 2021-06-04 at 10.47.29 AM.png


So the take-away seems to be that it's possible to shift the energy build-up to a somewhat higher frequency, but it's still present.
 
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Has anyone tried the cargo bay cover trick to reduce the space inside the trunk?
What about filling the trunk with acoustic foam or a carpet remnant just to see if it makes a difference.
The mountainpass coilover just minimizes the jar which reduces the boom but probably doesn't fix the root cause.
From what I've read so far, it sounds more like we're inside a large subwoofer.
 
Has anyone tried the cargo bay cover trick to reduce the space inside the trunk?
What about filling the trunk with acoustic foam or a carpet remnant just to see if it makes a difference.
The mountainpass coilover just minimizes the jar which reduces the boom but probably doesn't fix the root cause.
From what I've read so far, it sounds more like we're inside a large subwoofer.
Even though I am leasing mine, I am getting this installed:



 
Even though I am leasing mine, I am getting this installed:




Where on the car will you install it and who is installing it?
 
Consider dropping your tire pressure to 38 and adjust the hatch bumpers first. They may solve most of your issue.
I have already reduced the tire pressure to ~39 (i did read the whole thread) and adjusted the hatch a bit (still needs another look). The sound improved from outright painful to just annoying.

The difficult part for me is I do not understand how much is this impacting my 3year old daughter. I know I am clearly uncomfortable with this sound. My wife says it's a bit loud but it doesn't bother her too much. We are not sure what my daughter feels. Ever since I got this Model Y, occasionally she says daddy don't go so fast I am nauseous... Now I am not sure if that is because of simple motion sickness or if it is due to the ear pressure.

@scott_mccool

Here in california the taxes + registration are more than $5K and I will lose all of it even if I trade in (as far as I know we are not taxed on the difference here). I know used car market has been super hot but $1K more than new MSRP doesn't make much sense. In any case, thanks for the heads up. I will give it another thought...
 
Hey sorry for the delay checking these out, I'm out of town at the moment. Just got a chance to fire up my portable rig and take a peek.

So interestingly it seems you've shifted the peak from around 35Hz to around 46Hz, but it's very much still got a loud peak at that low frequency:
View attachment 669525


At another time point in your recording it looks like this:

View attachment 669526

So the peak is very distinct at that somewhat higher frequency.

During the calmer section of your recording the more typical 36Hz is again the dominant frequency:

View attachment 669527

So the take-away seems to be that it's possible to shift the energy build-up to a somewhat higher frequency, but it's still present.
Thanks for these results. They match up with my subjective experience pretty well. The primary benefit I got from adding insulation was not to totally shift out of the low range but rather to dampen overall (decrease perceived amplitude). Unfortunately I think most digital recording equipment today including phones have automatic gain control that you can't disable. And I don't have a recording from before I added the insulation anyway.
 
Even though I am leasing mine, I am getting this installed:



Do not do this, I did it and spent hundreds and it’s not worth it. I applied the butyl (both same products you linked) with a roller and with the foam on top in the rear quarter panels, removed the trunk carpet and box, lined it all and even the trunk cover I hot glued it. Put thick memory foam pillows in the rear wheel wells, no noticeable difference. Save your money and consider another ev if you can. While I hate Audi I test drove an etron and what a world of a difference.
 
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Do not do this, I did it and spent hundreds and it’s not worth it. I applied the butyl (both same products you linked) with a roller and with the foam on top in the rear quarter panels, removed the trunk carpet and box, lined it all and even the trunk cover I hot glued it. Put thick memory foam pillows in the rear wheel wells, no noticeable difference. Save your money and consider another ev if you can. While I hate Audi I test drove an etron and what a world of a difference.

Ah - thank you for letting me know. It's really unfortunate. I'm just waiting for Mercedes to release their EV - right now the only reason to go for Tesla is the supercharger network.
 
@63AMG The Mercedes is nowhere near the capabilities of the Tesla in terms of lane keep assist. Mine bounces all over the place and sometimes crosses the line. The Tesla is pretty centered in the lane. No denying the fact that the Mercedes is 10 times nicer and 10 times more confortable. These two companies need to make babies.
 
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Data Point: No progress on the boominess but here's what I tried in addition to all my exahustive work. I took the foam from the tires (I replaced my tires in an earlier post to try to alleviate the problem, Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4) and put them behind the rear wheel well carpet trim where those storage cubbies are in the trunk, no difference. If you notice you tap your fingers on them it replicates the boominess. I also put butyl and foam on the contact points for trim pieces with no difference.

However based on someone's post for wind noise, I did notice less wind noise using this product.


However, it started flapping off while on the highway, so make sure if you get this, use alcohol to clean VERY well and use adhesion promoter.

 
Data Point: I reduced it by 30% in my opinion. It took a lot of work. I was able to find huge rolls of gym mat, it's a really thick foam, similar to ones you can buy at Joann Fabrics but not at Michaels. I put them under the trunk liner, all around it and cut to fit in the trunk liner itself then put my all weather mat in it then the trunk storage lid. I also removed the side quarter panels again and stuffed as much as I could into the inner wheel wells. I also put some along the rear wheel wells. The resonance of the boom is related to bumps has decreased it's tone but it's still there. My trunk liner is bent out of shape and there are panel gaps now due to the added foam but it's barely noticeable and is worth it. If I wanted to remove it, it's a few clips and the liner will straighten out again.

Next: I'm going to open the lift gate and remove some of the butyl as it didn't really do anything and weights it down. I will fill in the crevices with this thick foam. Think of the foam as a mattress topper.

In addition to the bumps/shocks causing the noise, my theory is that it's worse because of the stupid all glass roof. I think Tesla should have made a pano SUNroof with a retractable cover. If it was a regular roof, the boom would resonate through the metal frame but deaden with a headliner. Since it can't resonate, all the boom stays in the trunk which causes the pressure.
 
HI all,
i just picked up my model Y after PPF wrapping. the guy help me pull out the interior from the trunk area without success. my model Y is 7 seats which is a new case which people never se before.

it might need to take off the 3-row seats to take off the side panel on both side. The guys feel not comfortable to take off the seats since there is marks on the screw and it might void the warranty. My Y was picked up on March 2021. I have scheduled the tesla service to see can they able to take off the 3-row to let me install the deadening matt.

As you will see the 3-row seats is blocking to side panel. Any idea what should i do next? maybe just put the deadening matt on the Black under trunk box

Here are some picture.
 

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HI all,
i just picked up my model Y after PPF wrapping. the guy help me pull out the interior from the trunk area without success. my model Y is 7 seats which is a new case which people never se before.

it might need to take off the 3-row seats to take off the side panel on both side. The guys feel not comfortable to take off the seats since there is marks on the screw and it might void the warranty. My Y was picked up on March 2021. I have scheduled the tesla service to see can they able to take off the 3-row to let me install the deadening matt.

As you will see the 3-row seats is blocking to side panel. Any idea what should i do next? maybe just put the deadening matt on the Black under trunk box

Here are some picture.

I personally would not go as far as taking out the rear seats (and asking Tesla Service to do it will likely involve them putting in a permanent note on your car's history that this operation was done and will haunt you re: warranty / resale).

If you have bothersome rattling from the car's amplifier which should be located behind the tail end of the passenger-side panel, you can put some sound deadening material in there; otherwise if you want to treat for road noise and the booming, do it from behind the wheel liner (outside the car) where you'll have better access and likely better results. Having the closed-cell foam on the outside lining should prevent a large percentage of the noise and vibrations especially from the tires from being transmitted and distributed through the car's body (where it becomes boom).

Following performing the front wheel wells ( #41 & MountainPass Performance Comfort Coilovers) which improved sound levels immensely, I did this recently for my rear wheel wells (also treated from the inside panels, though not as comprehensively) and there's a big improvement in noise reduction, especially in tire and road noise; and further reduction of booming. Performing this for the front wheel wells produces a bigger improvement especially for the front passengers; I only took pictures while performing the rear (you can see I also have the MountainPass Comfort Coilovers and MPP rear camber arms):

1 (4).jpeg


2 (1).jpeg


The outer parts treated with butyl are especially thin and resonate if tapped. Rest of the surfaces are rigid enough to not need butyl.
3.jpeg


4.jpeg


closed-cell PE foam, being careful to keep overlap to a minimum so it does not lead to issues refitting the original wheel liner:
5.jpeg


6.jpeg


all back together:
7.jpeg


.. and yes the car is finally quiet.
 
Thank you for posting this and the great pictures! I am going to start this weekend on the same thing, and will use this as a guide. My MY is not really loud or irritating to me, but I am on a quest to make it even better. I've done the hatch alignment and installed the RPMTesla sound kit. Wheel wells are next, then I may investigate the inside rear area.
 
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I personally didn't notice that much if any difference from doing what he did with the wheel wells. If you tap the area behind the wheel wells, it's really solid casting so a few piece of butyl is not going to do anything. If it was placed on something that creates resonance like a door panel for example that would help but not with the thick cast behind the wheel well. YMMV.

After driving around, the boominess is still there. Now I'm waiting for the MYP coilovers to come in. Hopefully that will solve most of the issues. Recap: I've replaced tires, butyl on the trunk lid, trunk box, pretty much the whole trunk/wheel wells and while it quiet down the ride, it's still there. There is a video on YouTube of BeardedTeslaGuy that installed seat covers, he removed the second row. If I have time and can figure out (Don't know how yet), I'll remove the second row and put foam down there. After the shocks, if it doesn't work, I'll save money and buy a new Model X or see what other EV's are in the market in a few years.