-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Ear pain/Pressure help
- Thread starter justobuf
- Start date
-
- Tags
- sound proofing
gundarx
Member
It comes in sheets with very strong adhesive. No tools necessary to apply except to trim with scissors but good idea to degrease/clean the surface, unless applying on top of the butyl layer; I’m a avid car detailer and use Gyeon Prep (essentially isopropyl alcohol surface prep) before applying the Noico stuff to ensure it sticks as good as possible. My Amazon order history shows I bought 3 of the PE foam kits (20sq ft, $50 each) and I’ve burned through almost all of it. I think the 4 wheel wells need about 1 and a half of kit.
@MyEarHurts the outer areas of the fenders that benefited from the butyl are not part of the rigid megacasting members on my May 2020 build car and you can see the welds attaching the sections and definitely made a lot of noise when tapping it.
The PE foam really works to keep out the noise. In fact the 3M Peltor noise protection earmuffs (https://amzn.to/3xuALtL) I use are lined with the same sort of foam right by the ears. I’ll be doing the same to our Model 3 wheel wells which suffers from road/tire noise but doesn’t have any booming issue.
Starting my soundproofing adventure. Doing the front passenger wheel well today. Butyl installed. I don't know what I'm doing, besides reading these threads. I also don't really have a sound problem, so this is really just for fun. Unless I break something. 
Next up is the acoustic foam.
Next up is the acoustic foam.Attachments
@gundarx Did you apply butyl to the outside of the front fenders? What I'm trying to say is if you tap on them from above the wheel well, did you apply anything to the other side? I did not, and concentrated on the areas behind the wheel lining. I can take the lining off and apply it if this is a critical component.
Thanks
Thanks
gundarx
Member
I applied some butyl to the inside of the front fenders also, for areas I could reach, did about 50% coverage so as not to add excess weight to the car; tapping the outside of the front fenders sounds much more solid.. not sure how much of this noise translates or can be heard to the interior cabin though but I did not want to take apart the fender for any reason in the future.
We have 2 Model Y's. Took delivery of our first one in Oct 2020. It is very quiet, no booming, no rumbling, no ear pressure. So lovely, in fact, that we went ahead and bought another one. Took delivery in early June 2021. They look the same, but they are definitely not the same car. The cooling system/heat pump in the new car is really loud, resonating throughout the cabin at a high pitch, like a vacuum cleaner running in the frunk. Even worse, when driving over even the slightest unevenness in the pavement, the booming/rumbling resonates throughout the cabin leading to an uncomfortable sensation of ear pressure. The tires are the same Contis. I've lowered the tire pressure and adjusted the hatch stops, and neither helped.
Overall, the acoustic qualities of our two Model Y's are very different. I feel as if the shockwaves are bouncing off the side windows differently, which are thicker double-glazed windows, whereas our older Model Y has single-layer windows. Perhaps this only affects a percentage of cars of every vintage. Perhaps this is worse now due to some recent design changes. Either way, it's very disappointing. Unless we find a solution, we are going to have to part with our new Model Y. Neither of us likes to drive it due to the HVAC noise and the booming/rumbling, which doesn't exist in our other Model Y.
I had an ENT surgeon friend ride in the car. He felt that it was either 1) an air pressure issue with poor balancing of the blowers/exhaust vent 2) very high frequency sound like from a motor that doesn't register to the normal human ear 3) subsonic sound that can be felt but not heard.
His advice? Sell the car.
Interesting comparison. Have you had anyone at your SC evaluate the car?
Are you absolutely sure that you've adjusted the hatch stops? Is it worth double-checking them?
For sure, my Dec. 2020 produced MY has some interesting sounds, coming from the front end (HVAC, heat pump?), but in no way is it annoying, The low-frequency HVAC rumble (oddly, seems to come from the rear?) seems loud at times, but again, certainly not worthy of selling my car.
I hope you find a solution to these sounds.
Are you absolutely sure that you've adjusted the hatch stops? Is it worth double-checking them?
For sure, my Dec. 2020 produced MY has some interesting sounds, coming from the front end (HVAC, heat pump?), but in no way is it annoying, The low-frequency HVAC rumble (oddly, seems to come from the rear?) seems loud at times, but again, certainly not worthy of selling my car.
I hope you find a solution to these sounds.
This is exactly what I experience in my new 2021 Modely Y. The Car is a beauty.. But to be honest, it's an electric drum on the wheels. The suspension is extremely bumpy and stiff. Each and every imperfection of NY / NY local roads gets amplified by the vehicles body and goes right in your ears ( head) as an attacking sound. Soundproofing and changing suspension of almost 60K vehicle is an idea I am not willing to entertain for the simplest reason - there is no guarantee that after spending additional several thousands dollars the problem will be completely eliminated. For example, I could whisper in my previous vehicle and kids on the back sites would hear me. It is very unfortunate that EV like Model Y, has such an irritable noise.
The suspension is extremely bumpy and stiff. Each and every imperfection of NY / NY local roads gets amplified by the vehicles body and goes right in your ears ( head) as an attacking sound. Soundproofing and changing suspension of almost 60K vehicle is an idea I am not willing to entertain for the simplest reason - there is no guarantee that after spending additional several thousands dollars the problem will be completely eliminated. For example, I could whisper in my previous vehicle and kids on the back sites would hear me. It is very unfortunate that EV like Model Y, has such an irritable noise.I would love to hear a noisy one, just to experience it. My only experience is my own MY. I do remember when I started the test drive, driving in the parking lot I heard the rumble, but that went away on the road. I really think my car is quiet. But I can change that by messing with the rear hatch adjustments.
Well I’ve resolved this problem for myself by selling the car to Carvana. Amazingly they paid so much over list that even with sales tax and fees factored in, I only lost a few hundred bucks. Seemed like the wisest way to cut my losses and move on.
Perhaps when the new 4860 battery cells with honeycomb packaging are placed in the Y it will add sufficient torsional rigidity to resolve this rumble issue. But honestly it’s leaving a pretty bad taste in my mouth to see them constantly sneaking prices up and even ripping away features from vehicles after orders have been placed (passenger lumbar adjust).
Anyway we will see if future revisions can solve this. Fortunately there are also more and more options coming out all the time!
Perhaps when the new 4860 battery cells with honeycomb packaging are placed in the Y it will add sufficient torsional rigidity to resolve this rumble issue. But honestly it’s leaving a pretty bad taste in my mouth to see them constantly sneaking prices up and even ripping away features from vehicles after orders have been placed (passenger lumbar adjust).
Anyway we will see if future revisions can solve this. Fortunately there are also more and more options coming out all the time!
PhotonMiles: Sorry to see you go, but from all my reading/lurking here since Sept. 2020, the "ear pain/pressure" just doesn't appear to be a fleetwide issue. I am hyper sensitive to sound variation (I'm a classical pianist, and rely on silence as a background for my music), and have always been sensitive to sound and air pressure/atmospheric changes.
After twice adjusting the support pads on the rear hatch, I'm just not hearing/feeling an issue anymore. In addition, I added a $50 noise reduction kit, effectively sealing doors, frunk, hatch. Yes, there's still low frequency rumble from the HVAC (intermittent), and certain road surfaces can create some rumbling, but no different than any previous car I've owned.
Glad you didn't take a serious financial hit!
After twice adjusting the support pads on the rear hatch, I'm just not hearing/feeling an issue anymore. In addition, I added a $50 noise reduction kit, effectively sealing doors, frunk, hatch. Yes, there's still low frequency rumble from the HVAC (intermittent), and certain road surfaces can create some rumbling, but no different than any previous car I've owned.
Glad you didn't take a serious financial hit!
Srad600Volt
Member
I have to admit that we are now having this issue. Or rather, my daughter has had this issue since we bought the Y (ear pressure/pain), but only recently told me about it. After my daughter brought it up, my wife goes, really? "I thought it was just me!". So, down the rabbit hole I go looking for a solution...
Yeah it wasn’t an easy decision to come to. I WANTED to love the car. In theory I DO love the Y, but in practice it just didn’t work out. It’s incredibly frustrating because it checks so many boxes I had for a vehicle (Although I want my dang ventilated seats!!)
I spent quite a bit of time fiddling with the rear hatch stoppers. I also managed to get in touch with an NVH engineer at Tesla in Fremont and have them send over the added bumpers/weather stripping “fix” kit pictured several times earlier in this thread. After the SC installed these parts there was some mild improvement in the 150Hz range, but the main offender at 35Hz was completely untouched.
It shouldn’t hurt to drive a car. It REALLY shouldn’t hurt to drive a nearly $60,000 car!
Maybe the Y with the honeycomb battery pack will be better. Or maybe the Ioniq 5 or EV6 will do the trick. Good thing so many great new EVs are in the near-term pipeline!
Just watched a YouTube, 7-seater MY. Reviewer says it's substantially quieter than his current MY. I wonder if it's simply the mass of the 3rd row seats, or if there is additional bracing in the frame? Maybe the 3rd row "triangulates" the open floor pan and stabilizes it?
I need to find the thread here that discusses the low frequency noise issue, with diagrams of the MY structure, and how he feels it's impossible to dampen those frequencies.
I need to find the thread here that discusses the low frequency noise issue, with diagrams of the MY structure, and how he feels it's impossible to dampen those frequencies.
PecuniaNonOlet
Member
This one? Model Y road noise/rumble primary cause
Instead of 7- versus 5-seat it could be just incremental improvements elsewhere. I watched a YouTube video about common Model 3 rattles yesterday. Owner's car was from 2018 or 2019. I was astonished by the (lack of) build quality compared with my vehicle (January 2021 Model Y). Like, Tesla didn't have foam where they have foam now. They had chattery plastic clips, loose HVAC ducts, loose windows/windshield/roof, a rattling cable in the driver's door where there now is none, and a million more sources of noise I'd never dreamed of. I've seen more than enough evidence that early Model Ys were also rattle traps compared with any vehicle from January 2021, let alone June 2021.
Another possibility is 1 out of 10 vehicles misses QA for noise-relevant steps, e.g. the missing foam behind the rear quarter panels in my vehicle. I've read some "interesting" stuff about Tesla QA. Suffice to say they do what's best for them in the short term because they won't be around tomorrow otherwise. Sell, sell, sell - worry about everything else later. That means not all vehicles are the same. So a Tesla vehicle is an "early adopter" type of product. But, as I said, that is changing as we speak. And it's set to improve more quickly with Tesla-designed and built factories coming online. I'm interested to see where we will be five years from now.
You may have mentioned it earlier in the thread, but what noise reduction kit did you get? I will hopefully get my Y next month and am slightly concerned about the sound problem because I have sensitive ears. Rented one for a day in March and didn’t have issues but I know the one I get could so I want to be as prepared as possible…
Glad it worked out for you. If I wasn't used to FSD and AutoPilot I would have sold the car too. If there is another car out there that has these features I would so switch. What car are you going to get?
I might make the switch when Rivian comes out.
I'm in the same camp, but sold off my MY to carmax (making a nice chunk of change), and getting a model 3. Happy to say that I finally received the model 3 and am thrilled with it. While there's still noise, and I do miss the bigger space of the Model Y, the constant rumbling/booming in the 30-40Hz range is completely gone, and that by itself makes a world of difference.
