The escalation process has been a waste of time so far. Circular conversations going nowhere. I’ve been told that sound is “subjective” (it really isn’t), and the SC have said they’ve “heard worse”, which I take to mean suck it up because others have it worse than you. I’ll keep pushing, but i’m running out of energy!
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Gear or drive unit noise on new 75D. Help?!!!
- Thread starter Jimrod
- Start date
So after much back and forth via the Executive Care team, the Vancouver Service Centre has finally, and begrudgingly it seems, agreed to change the gearbox fluid in an attempt to fix the constant whine/whistle. They were quick to remind me that engineering still considers the sound “normal”, but I struggle with that as it’s a conclusion seemingly drawn from an audio clip alone, and perhaps for the standard motor noises that is valid, but what if it’s something else making the noise? Can engineering diagnose all problems just from a sound clip, even if it’s gear related, or something else?
My brother drives a 2018 Model S 75D and was in our car this weekend and was quick to confirm the noise is annoying and definitely not present in his car.
Will post an update later in the month once the car has been in for service.
My brother drives a 2018 Model S 75D and was in our car this weekend and was quick to confirm the noise is annoying and definitely not present in his car.
Will post an update later in the month once the car has been in for service.
I thought you earlier said you took someone from the SC for a ride? Did that not happen?
Yes, did the ride along. That’s when the audio recording was made. The service tech wasn’t sure what it was. Suggested trying different things (fluid change, adjusting cabling etc), so I was left with the impression they’d go under the hood to investigate further, but then nothing happened. It seems they rely heavily on engineering’s input based on the recording alone. I realize these are very different to regular cars, so I don’t pretend to know much about what might be making the noise, but it just strikes me as odd that they’d make a determination without a closer inspection. At least that way they could say something like “We looked and it’s the front motor that’s making the noise. We consider it normal even though not all motors make the same noise”. Then i’d know for sure. As it is head office has suggested it might be the gears, so i’m hoping a fluid flush improves things a bit. If i’m stuck with the noise I at least want them to make a good faith effort to address it.
Worth mentioning that I had the chance to play with toggling range mode on and off on a quiet road today and the constant pitched whine/whistle clearly went AWAY when range mode was turned ON and I didn’t have my foot on the accelerator pedal. When I pressed the accelerator the noise would come back, but no louder than before, and when lifting my foot it would go away again (it would chirp on and off a bit when hovering on the accelerator trying to keep a constant speed). Makes me think the noise is from the rear motor. I’ll mention this to the service centre.
Wanted to close out this thread with an update on the noise our Model X was making. The fluid flush didn't improve things, so I continued to complain and Tesla finally agreed to replace the FRONT motor (it was their belief that the noise would be coming from the front motor, not the rear). They pointed out to me that it was a one-time, goodwill replacement, almost as though they didn't really think there was a problem but were going to do the work because I was so adamant about it and not happy with our car. Long story short, it's been more than 2 months now of smooth and very quiet driving ever since they replace that front motor. Very happy with how things turned out, but a bit sore that i had to spend so much time and energy getting them to deal with the issue. That said, i recognize there is probably some variance in the production of the motors and some people's hearing is probably more sensitive than others, but it really took a look out of me pushing for action, making recordings, not taking no for an answer etc. Credit to Tesla for fixing the problem, but you will have to persist with them if you believe you have an issue that needs addressing. The happy resolution to my situation gave me the confidence to order our new model 3 performance!
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