Front vibration when accelerating - accelerometer graphs....

[sorka]

Just had my 50K service done(the only service I'm paying for). I had 13 issues for repair/correction.

The vibration issue was of course at the top. They told me that they verified it again but that this time was caused by worn wheel bearings so they replaced front bearings and hubs and noted that this completely fixed this issue.

I was very skeptical as the characteristics were identical to the first two times. After picking up the car I immediately as I pulled out and accelerated moderately that the issue was completely unfixed.

What was fixed was a barely audible metal on metal noise coming from the front right that I could only hear before while going over rough pavement with the drivers window down so this did fix something apparently.

I notified the service adviser and he said he ordered the cv shafts but that they are on back order and it will take several months. No duh. They are on backorder because until they limit torque when these joints are at angles of anything more than 5 degrees, they're going to self destruct and spread the splines causing free play.

 

[sorka]

Just got notified the shafts were in and are now replaced. I had it in for something else that I broke due to my stupidity and they ended up fixing it for free(Goodwill) which is super awesome as I was expecting a $1000+ bill for that.

So now the real question is how to avoid ruining the CV joints again other than being super careful to never accelerate hard unless in a straight line and with suspension on standard or low.

 

[sorka]

The vibration returned 6K miles later at 56K miles. This makes a total of 4 sets of CV halfshafts that have failed on my car with this issue. The last attempt, they also replaced the front hubs and some support plate related to holding the front DU in place. They REALLY wanted to fix it but the issue has returned.

I was very careful this time to never accelerate hard unless I was on low suspension and in a straight line. Totally bummed out.

 

[InternetDude]

I had reported earlier in this thread that I had what felt like a front end vibration under full hard acceleration. It was fixed recently when the service center replaced all 4 lower control arms in the front.

 

[sorka]

19K miles later and the problem is so severe now that it happens badly even during mild acceleration between 28 and 35 MPH. As long as I don't accelerate any more than gently between that range it doesn't happen.

I've been going round and round with Tesla since April. It returned in late April shortly after being fixed. They acknowledged the issue said Tesla is working on a permanent fix. I've queried them multiple times on what the status was of that fix and if the car was safe to drive. They've never responded to my questions and the few times they have responded they've said I should bring it back to the service center even though I told them the service center asked me to wait until a real fix was figured out.

Only the right side CV joint goes bad. The left one is always fine. It's almost certainly the case that the CV joint going bad is a symptom of another issue in the suspension on the right side like a loose ball joint or bad bushing causing excessive play. Each time it has been fixed, the issue has returned sooner than before. This last time I started to notice it returning just 3K miles after it was fixed with it as bad as it had been any previous time at just 6K miles after the fix.

So I'm bringing it back to Fremont on October 2nd. I can't wait any longer for a real fix. If they can't figure it out this time for real, I'm going to hire a lemon law lawyer. The car was out for warranty repairs for way longer than 30 days and they have been unable to fix this single problem ever.

 

[sorka]

It's in for the 4th repair attempt. Really hope they get it this time for good.
The tech easily reproduced (since it's 100% now).

 

[sorka]

They are lowering the car 1.5 centimeters. I mentioned to the current tech, after he told me the lower the car is, the less likely the CV joint will go bad agai.

I mentioned to him, and forwarded an email I sent last year to service, that my Model S measured 1" higher than other cars with air all on standard setting.

They replied last year that they did the calibration and that they found no difference in height. But then this morning, after I mentioned this yesterday, they said it was too high and they would mess with the calibration until they could lower the car to the right height.

So if this works, it may also fix my suspension is too hard issue that has plagued me since the beginning.

 

[sorka]

So they did NOT lower the car. The tech said that the car does measure a bit higher than the others he compared it to. He just assumed that it would lower when he did the ride height calibration but it did not.

Additionally, the front right side, on perfectly level concrete at multiple locations just to rule out surface imperfections, measures about 1/4" higher than the left.

I ended up lower the front by 1" using longer sensor links (56mm vs stock 50mm).

The front right is still 1/4" higher than the left.

Now the car could have geometric imprefection that results in the front right being higher normally.

The only way to tell for sure would be to measure the weight on all 4 corners on a perfectly flat surface.


The 1" lowering decreased the angle on the CV joint by 3.3 degrees which is actually quite a bit. If the issue was this angle, then the greater height on the right side might explain why the right cv joint is the only one to go bad.

 

[Rickrides]

I picked up my MX 100D on Friday 11/23 with 11 miles on it. I felt the shudder twice on the way home from Fremont. Today I felt it again while driving 48 MPH on cruise control on a surface while changing lanes, I haven't accelerated fast and I was in standard height. The car now only has 48 miles on it.

 

[RDoc]

Uggh, ours just started doing it, I believe on the left side. Interestingly, the SC just replaced a control arm on the left front after we had the right front one break several months ago. I don't know if they messed it up, or if it's just coincidence, but I'm going to record it tomorrow and the schedule an appointment.

I'm getting to know the SC a bit too well.