Ear pain/Pressure help

[MyEarHurts]

Thank you for reaching out to me, I have since left the forum as I sold the car and couldn't deal with the boominess and the loud wind noise of the car. I went back to an ICE luxury suv. I will be looking at luxury SUV EV's in the future. I miss a lot of things on the Y but if it's not enjoyable to drive, you seem to dread it.

As for the things you've done above except for the tubing which is a genius idea, I will tell you it will not work for the boominess. It will work to reduce road noise, especially on the highway. I've put DOUBLE butyl on the wheel wells inside AND outside. On top of the butyl I put closed cell foam. All of this can be bought from Amazon under the brand Noico.

If I were to get a new Y I probably would do this all over again just for a quieter car. The solid stops helped the boominess somewhat but was still there. One thing this car needs is active noise cancellation, which it doesn't have. I read a post on this site that a new model S owner sold or thought about selling the brand new S because of the crazy road noise.

Advice:

Don't put too much butyl on the trunk hatch as the strut is really weak, if you put your fingers on it with slight pressure while opening, it will stop.

Stupid forums won't allow to edit. I meant the tubing idea is genius and I've done all the things you've done above except the tubing. Except for the tubing as I didn't try it, the above things you did won't help with the boominess is what I meant.

So the weak point that I noticed is the trunk, it's on two hinges and if you shake the trunk left to right, it's not that secure. Going over bumps will cause transmission of pressure and noise through the roof/glass. There is one thing you can try that I never got around to is putting large washers under the bolts where the trunk lid bolts to. Remove/pull down on the top trim piece and there is two nuts on each trunk arm mount. I thought putting a flat aluminum bar or washers to reinforce it a bit, it may cause less flex/pressure. Again, I never got around to it. I even went as far as putting butyl strips on the seams of the glass wherever I could fit it.

 

[Sudsington]

I've updated with some results here comparing a stock model Y.

These are honest to God the worst roads in my area and going 20km/hr on them does no justice LOL

But you'll see the stock Y has a brighter section on the low frequency side, with some more highlights on the low frequency bumps indicated by long horizontal lines stretching to the left of the graph

ALSO, as an update, my friend's Y which eventually we did this modification to as well (sorry no after video), the 3/8" OD actually resulted in a larger panel gap AND it had trouble closing at first (which is odd, since mine had zero issues). Hatch closing resolved itself after a few slams shut implying the tube had to be squished into place or something. So I suggest perhaps starting with 5/16" or 1/4" OD if you're going to attempt this. 1/4" OD may have less of an impact.

Anyone try the 5/16" or 1/4" OD tubing yet? Want to give this a shot, but am curious if it's still effective when the tube diameter is smaller.

 

[ilovecoffee]

I haven't heard of anyone on Facebook or Reddit who has used the smaller tube. This guy did do the 3/8" though with positive results:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModelY/comments/s2cn04/_/hsjpdlu

 

[BayMY]

I just purchased 5/16" tubing, but have not had the time to add it yet. I'll being doing that in the next week or so.

 

[Jay1001]

I just purchased 5/16" tubing, but have not had the time to add it yet. I'll being doing that in the next week or so.

Any update? Just got a 22 YLR, the booming is very annoying indeed. Look forward to your result!

 

[watsongrg]

I’ve had my MY for about 6 weeks. I’m experiencing constant ear and sinus pressurization and throat discomfort while driving the car. Driving slow over the smallest cracks and tar-snakes on the road surface is where the pressure buffeting is worse, but it’s creating ear and sinus pressure,and even dizziness, while driving at any speed. I’m constantly pinching my nose off to clear my eardrums of pressure.
I’ve owned dozens of cars in my life and never experienced something like this before.
I adjusted the hatch stops and gained only slight improvement.
There is a serious design flaw with this car.

 

[polyphonic54]

I’ve had my MY for about 6 weeks. I’m experiencing constant ear and sinus pressurization and throat discomfort while driving the car. Driving slow over the smallest cracks and tar-snakes on the road surface is where the pressure buffeting is worse, but it’s creating ear and sinus pressure,and even dizziness, while driving at any speed. I’m constantly pinching my nose off to clear my eardrums of pressure.
I’ve owned dozens of cars in my life and never experienced something like this before.
I adjusted the hatch stops and gained only slight improvement.
There is a serious design flaw with this car.

Sell. You will get serious value right now. I had this issue with the Audi e-tron, and felt the exact same way in the Model Y (multiple tests in different cities). It doesn't get better. My only regret is trying to stick it out.

 

[MY-Y]

I’ve had my MY for about 6 weeks. I’m experiencing constant ear and sinus pressurization and throat discomfort while driving the car. Driving slow over the smallest cracks and tar-snakes on the road surface is where the pressure buffeting is worse, but it’s creating ear and sinus pressure,and even dizziness, while driving at any speed. I’m constantly pinching my nose off to clear my eardrums of pressure.
I’ve owned dozens of cars in my life and never experienced something like this before.
I adjusted the hatch stops and gained only slight improvement.
There is a serious design flaw with this car.

Adjust the stops right away to make it much better. Then look up my post on rigid stops and make the problem go away completely.

 

[VaxAce]

I have absolutely none of these issues.

 

[watsongrg]

. ….look up my post on rigid stops and make the problem go away completely.

I did, and they work! This is a legitimate fix. Easy and effective low frequency fix
Thanks !

Anybody having serious ear/sinus/throat discomfort while driving the Model Y needs to do this, and it will solve the problem.

 

[Noflash]

I've updated with some results here comparing a stock model Y.

These are honest to God the worst roads in my area and going 20km/hr on them does no justice LOL

But you'll see the stock Y has a brighter section on the low frequency side, with some more highlights on the low frequency bumps indicated by long horizontal lines stretching to the left of the graph

ALSO, as an update, my friend's Y which eventually we did this modification to as well (sorry no after video), the 3/8" OD actually resulted in a larger panel gap AND it had trouble closing at first (which is odd, since mine had zero issues). Hatch closing resolved itself after a few slams shut implying the tube had to be squished into place or something. So I suggest perhaps starting with 5/16" or 1/4" OD if you're going to attempt this. 1/4" OD may have less of an impact.

Thanks for posting.

Will this work? Doesn't say "rigid" anywhere.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/EZ-FLO-5-16-in-Inner-Diameter-x-20-ft-PVC-Clear-Vinyl-Tubing/1000365029?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-plb-_-ggl-_-LIA_PLB_142_Pipe-Fittings-_-1000365029-_-local-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=Cj0KCQiApL2QBhC8ARIsAGMm-KFESCALfdg-jc4LaYABemKddin-gKUVf7HfaSpIA30MZg6cdCMIG7QaAp-pEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[ilovecoffee]

Thanks for posting.

Will this work? Doesn't say "rigid" anywhere.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/EZ-FLO-5-16-in-Inner-Diameter-x-20-ft-PVC-Clear-Vinyl-Tubing/1000365029?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-plb-_-ggl-_-LIA_PLB_142_Pipe-Fittings-_-1000365029-_-local-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=Cj0KCQiApL2QBhC8ARIsAGMm-KFESCALfdg-jc4LaYABemKddin-gKUVf7HfaSpIA30MZg6cdCMIG7QaAp-pEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Yep looks good to me. I don't think vinyl tubing is marketed as rigid usually, it just normally is rigid.

 

[JonB65]

Yep looks good to me. I don't think vinyl tubing is marketed as rigid usually, it just normally is rigid.

I'm going to pick this up, along with the end caps, in a couple hours. Not sure when I'll get to the install, especially the tubing.

A couple questions:

Did you just push it down inside the weatherstripping?

Did you have to cut the weatherstripping to get an access point?

And did you have to re-adjust the PVC caps after the tubing?

Should I do the tubing first, then the PVC caps?

I've done the internal sound absorption, and finished my MPP comfort coilover install yesterday. Soon all that will be left to do is drive the car. ;-)

 

[ilovecoffee]

I'm going to pick this up, along with the end caps, in a couple hours. Not sure when I'll get to the install, especially the tubing.

A couple questions:

Did you just push it down inside the weatherstripping?

Did you have to cut the weatherstripping to get an access point?

And did you have to re-adjust the PVC caps after the tubing?

Should I do the tubing first, then the PVC caps?

I've done the internal sound absorption, and finished my MPP comfort coilover install yesterday. Soon all that will be left to do is drive the car. ;-)

If you're going to do both, you have to do the vinyl tubing first as that will change the closed position of your hatch stops, which will need re-adjustment afterwards.

I'd recommend cutting the tube on an angle on both sides so it has sort of a triangular shape, and then covering the tip with electrical tape or something so it's not too sharp. You'll have to slightly enlarge one of the air holes (I recommend the top middle) to start sliding it in, spraying it with something slippery all the while. You do not need to cut anything. It gets stubborn around corners but don't feel afraid to pull it out and push it back in. Spraying lube/303 Aerospace in the other holes before it gets there will help it also.

After that is done you can re-adjust your hatch stops and put some kind of rigid material like the PVC caps to match the correct height.

 

[watsongrg]

I hope the vinyl tubing doesn’t widen your hatch panel-gap. Doing both tubing and rigid stops kinda offset each other.
Rigid stops push up on the hatch, and Tubing needs to have the hatch pulled down to be effective. You could end up with a huge hatch gap and a lot of tension on the latching mechanism.

rigid stops are a great solution, when fashioned properly.

Even Chevy Volt uses large, supportive, rigid hatch stops. See below



(And Tesla uses a tiny spiral cut rubber bumper. It’s a pathetic design)

 

[ilovecoffee]

I hope the vinyl tubing doesn’t widen your hatch panel-gap. Doing both tubing and rigid stops kinda offset each other.
Rigid stops push up on the hatch, and Tubing needs to have the hatch pulled down to be effective. You could end up with a huge hatch gap and a lot of tension on the latching mechanism.

rigid stops are a great solution, when fashioned properly.

even Chevy Volt uses large, supportive, rigid hatch stops.

View attachment 770839

If you read through the thread. I've done both (and have both currently installed). I created 3d printed rigid hatch stops.

Ultimately if you have them adjusted properly it won't matter much in terms of gap. Also the tubing does add a bit, but nothing extreme. I've had worse with just fully extended hatch stops while experimenting different depths where water got through.

Ulitmately the point is you're trying to stop movement of the hatch against the gasket so having both would help as long as you do tubing first and then adjust rigid hatch stops. As long as you have a water seal, anything helps.

Rigid stops for me (I've done probably 30x depths in terms of millimetre differences) didn't accomplish as much as just stiffening up the gasket itself. That nearly eliminated everything.

 

[JonB65]

If you're going to do both, you have to do the vinyl tubing first as that will change the closed position of your hatch stops, which will need re-adjustment afterwards.

I'd recommend cutting the tube on an angle on both sides so it has sort of a triangular shape, and then covering the tip with electrical tape or something so it's not too sharp. You'll have to slightly enlarge one of the air holes (I recommend the top middle) to start sliding it in, spraying it with something slippery all the while. You do not need to cut anything. It gets stubborn around corners but don't feel afraid to pull it out and push it back in. Spraying lube/303 Aerospace in the other holes before it gets there will help it also.

After that is done you can re-adjust your hatch stops and put some kind of rigid material like the PVC caps to match the correct height.

Thank you for the detailed and informative response! I'll dig into this after it warms up a bit. Yesterday was 65F here in Maryland. Today is 39F, very windy, and falling temps. Not a good day to fool with this. ;-)

 

[Noflash]

I put a dent in the frunk the first day I had it, despite watching all of the YouTube videos and speaking to others. $100 later and dent master the dent was out. Tesla service came out to the house to do a adjustment of the latching mechanism and put some lubricant on. Closes fine now. The Technician showed me how to close it with my hand spread out along the frunk and NOT to close with palms on it as they do in most of the YouTube videos. I did adjust the spacers originally as other people mentioned but noticed it cause a gap from the frunk top to the top of the fenders....adjusting back closed the gap.

Anyone try the 5/16" or 1/4" OD tubing yet? Want to give this a shot, but am curious if it's still effective when the tube diameter is smaller.

I just purchased 5/16" tubing, but have not had the time to add it yet. I'll being doing that in the next week or so.

Any update? Just got a 22 YLR, the booming is very annoying indeed. Look forward to your result!

If you're going to do both, you have to do the vinyl tubing first as that will change the closed position of your hatch stops, which will need re-adjustment afterwards.

I'd recommend cutting the tube on an angle on both sides so it has sort of a triangular shape, and then covering the tip with electrical tape or something so it's not too sharp. You'll have to slightly enlarge one of the air holes (I recommend the top middle) to start sliding it in, spraying it with something slippery all the while. You do not need to cut anything. It gets stubborn around corners but don't feel afraid to pull it out and push it back in. Spraying lube/303 Aerospace in the other holes before it gets there will help it also.

After that is done you can re-adjust your hatch stops and put some kind of rigid material like the PVC caps to match the correct height.

I tried the 5/16" of an inch today. Hatch wouldn't close on its own. If I forced it to close, there was a loud pop on re-opening. I have all these holes in the weather striping, so i suppose I could try 1/4", but this didn't even seem close. Maybe rigid hatch stops next...

 

[ilovecoffee]

I tried the 5/16" of an inch today. Hatch wouldn't close on its own. If I forced it to close, there was a loud pop on re-opening. I have all these holes in the weather striping, so i suppose I could try 1/4", but this didn't even seem close. Maybe rigid hatch stops next...

Interesting. But I'd give it some time opening and closing before removing.

I had this happen on my friend's Y when I first installed 3/8" and then it resolved itself after about 10 open and closes.

 

[Noflash]

Interesting. But I'd give it some time opening and closing before removing.

I had this happen on my friend's Y when I first installed 3/8" and then it resolved itself after about 10 open and closes.

I just tried 3/16" and even though I still get the pop when unlatching it does not help with the boominess. Seems if the latch is popping then it must be forming a rigid connection. Not having a lot of success today. I also bought the 1/4", maybe I'll try that next.