faint high pitch background whine *any any speed* constant sound tied to accelerator

[Gino Bernardi]

I just started noticing a noise tied to the acceleration pedal in mine in the past week or so, but mine doesn't sound quite like this. For a while I tried to tell myself it was the motorcycle in the next lane, or the hooptie Civic three cars ahead. Alas, it's my Tesla. :frown:

At around 31k miles, I began hearing this type of noise. I too was convinced it was a civic with muffler problems constantly in my blind spot. I concluded it is indeed a sound coming from my Tesla when I realized this noise was directly tied with the use of my accelerator and that there's no such thing as ghost civics.

 

[007]

There is a known noise that tends to come at around 10 kW of power, and many cars have it (mine included). It is faint and have to concentrate to hear it (like the ambient light buzzing), and goes away at 20 kW power consumption and below 5 kW. Is this the case for you?

Yes, that pretty much sums up the case for me. The squeal is very high pitched and annoying once I knew it was there. It's not so much the sound itself as that it cuts in and out constantly during in-town driving and I feel like I need to modulate the throttle to minimize the sound toggling on and off. Any fixes for this?

 

[ATP_JD]

There is a known noise that tends to come at around 10 kW of power, and many cars have it (mine included). It is faint and have to concentrate to hear it (like the ambient light buzzing), and goes away at 20 kW power consumption and below 5 kW. Is this the case for you?

I have 8,000 miles on P13030 and I am experiencing the buzz described by the original poster under the specific conditions posted here by FlasherZ.

In addition to being audible inside the car, it's almost louder outside the car. I've found that when I drive by buildings with windows down between 5-20 kW, I hear the sound clearly echoing off the buildings.

I am from the Jacksonville, FL area, and I've asked Orlando service to give me a call next time someone is up this way to see if I can demo the sound. They were willing to send someone, but it seems so minor to me that I didn't want to waste their time until they're in the area anyway.

After they take a look, I'll post back with what I learn.

- Justin

 

[roadking40]

Same issue here. Approaching 8k miles. Issue surfaced around 5K. I plan on taking in for service sometime in June or July, close to my 1 year purchase date. Really loud with the package shelf out and seats down.

 

[ATP_JD]

I have 8,000 miles on P13030 and I am experiencing the buzz described by the original poster under the specific conditions posted here by FlasherZ. [...] After they take a look, I'll post back with what I learn.

Since I was close to an annual, I went ahead and scheduled it with the ranger service out of Orlando.

I prepared a typed summary of squawks that I asked them to take a look at. Among them was:

Hum/buzz at 5-20 kW power. Most audible at 35 mph and slower before tire and wind noise picks up. Noise is related to power, not RPM or road condition. (Sounds like a dimmed incandescent light bulb. Audible from outside car, but higher pitched. Seems to have gradually gotten louder over past few months. Other people can now hear it when I used to be the only one who could hear it.)​

Orlando Service replaced the entire drive unit, including motor, under warranty. The buzz is most definitely gone now. It sounds just like it did when I got it. Silent. Except that my P13030 (P85+) did have the balloon squeal -- which never bothered me -- but it's not there anymore either.

I wish I better understood the severity of the issue and if it was a real issue or just a very minor annoyance. Either way, I sure do appreciate the excellent service provided by Tesla. They didn't argue about it. They didn't explain it away. They just fixed it. I am impressed!

- Justin

 

[bigsmooth125]

Since I was close to an annual, I went ahead and scheduled it with the ranger service out of Orlando.

I prepared a typed summary of squawks that I asked them to take a look at. Among them was:

Hum/buzz at 5-20 kW power. Most audible at 35 mph and slower before tire and wind noise picks up. Noise is related to power, not RPM or road condition. (Sounds like a dimmed incandescent light bulb. Audible from outside car, but higher pitched. Seems to have gradually gotten louder over past few months. Other people can now hear it when I used to be the only one who could hear it.)​

Orlando Service replaced the entire drive unit, including motor, under warranty. The buzz is most definitely gone now. It sounds just like it did when I got it. Silent. Except that my P13030 (P85+) did have the balloon squeal -- which never bothered me -- but it's not there anymore either.

I wish I better understood the severity of the issue and if it was a real issue or just a very minor annoyance. Either way, I sure do appreciate the excellent service provided by Tesla. They didn't argue about it. They didn't explain it away. They just fixed it. I am impressed!

- Justin

I've had this buzzing sound for a while now and it's really annoying. The Houston service center has refused to replace the drive, stating that the level of noise is "normal." I don't see how it can be normal when it's a sound that develops as the car ages. If anyone has an idea on how to convince one service center to perform a fix that another service center has agreed to perform for others, I'd appreciate hearing it.

 

[smil3193]

I think mine has always had kind of a whistling/whine sound when I press the accelerator, noticeable especially at low speeds. It doesn't really sound like the sound clip at the beginning of this thread but that might be the sound quality listening to it on my phone. I thought the sound was normal. I'll ask about it when I next take it in for service, it will soon be time for its 25,000 mile check up.

 

[yobigd20]

I've had this buzzing sound for a while now and it's really annoying. The Houston service center has refused to replace the drive, stating that the level of noise is "normal." I don't see how it can be normal when it's a sound that develops as the car ages. If anyone has an idea on how to convince one service center to perform a fix that another service center has agreed to perform for others, I'd appreciate hearing it.

its not normal. keep pressuring them. have them record it and send it to engineering back at their HQ for analysis. they refused to replaced mine despite it being very clear until I made that recording on my phone and emailed it to them which got forwarded to their engineering dept and they gave the go ahead for replacement.

 

[David99]

I've had this buzzing sound for a while now and it's really annoying. The Houston service center has refused to replace the drive, stating that the level of noise is "normal." I don't see how it can be normal when it's a sound that develops as the car ages. If anyone has an idea on how to convince one service center to perform a fix that another service center has agreed to perform for others, I'd appreciate hearing it.

I had this noise and they fixed it by replacing my drive unit. It starts subtle but gets louder and to a point where pedestrians turn their heads. My drive unit was replaced twice because of this problem. Once at around 12k miles and again at 25k when the noise came back again. It's a little discouraging because I worry that after another 10k miles it'll become noisy again.

I also had an annoying sound when using regen at around 50 mph. Almost sounded like an ICE engine. The drive unit replacement fixed that as well.

 

[tinm]

My car developed this sound a few months ago once it hit around 22k mi. (It's now at 25k.) The sound drives me crazy; I hear it whenever I go out for errands around town because I use a lot of quiet 25mph streets, and usually have the windows partially or all the way down. The sound seems to be coming from under the rear area of the car and reflects off the road surface. But the sound reflects even more if you drive close to a curb or there's a solid wall next to where you're driving.

Like others have described, the sound's "sweet spot" seems to be if you're moving pretty slowly (so rushing air and tire noise are minimized) and you gently tap on accelerator to get about 7-10kW of juice to the motor. If I press any harder, the sound fades out quickly. If I regen gently, I can also hear this sound at around "-5 to -10" kW, but again it fades out to nothingness if there's more regen or if I come to a stop.

Thing is, the sound is slowly getting louder over time. I notice it everyday now and it really bugs me.

Unfortunately I live in a state whose legislators ban Tesla from opening any service centers, so I'm not sure what I can do about fixing this. But I sure wish I could fix it.