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High pitched noise from drive unit

Toke_Holledig

Member
Apr 4, 2019
38
10
Denmark
Apologies to everyone, I forgot to update the thread.

The drive unit engineers again stated that this was completely normal. Tesla Service added some sound dampening material in my trunk and that made a minor difference to the noise but it is definitely slightly more muted than previously. The company's official stance on this matter is that noise is a normal part of the car.
Hi. I have the same issue as you. Going to the service center here in Denmark next week. Will keep you posted. I am seriously selling the car if they are not fixing it. Have they checked the windshield, side mirrors etc ?
 

Tony_YYZ

Tezler Guru
Apr 7, 2016
1,937
2,084
Caledon, ON Canada
Hi. I have the same issue as you. Going to the service center here in Denmark next week. Will keep you posted. I am seriously selling the car if they are not fixing it. Have they checked the windshield, side mirrors etc ?
Good luck!

My driver side mirror was causing some turbulence due to it not being properly affixed to the car but they had adjusted that. It was not related to the drive unit noise.
 

GolanB

Supporting Member
Sep 22, 2018
618
714
NYC
I took that test and could start hearing from around 20-21k.

You're definitely in the high-frequency range there. I can start to hear in the upper ranges as well, but it doesn't begin to really bother me until it gets to about 16k. I believe you are probably in the minority of Tesla owners, and some people may simply not be aware or bothered by the issue at all because of differences in their hearing.

Interestingly, Bose has done a lot of research in the area of reducing noise in the automotive industry and has a solution which works together with the audio system. From their web page: "Carmakers can leverage Engine Harmonic Cancellation to automatically reduce undesirable noise from the powertrain. The algorithm uses the car’s audio system to generate acoustically opposite sound waves, reducing the unwanted noise." Active Sound Management - perhaps we'll see better insulation and sound management on the Model 3 in the future (I'm certainly hoping so).
 

M109Rider

Active Member
Apr 8, 2018
1,489
1,518
Kitchener, Ontario
Apologies to everyone, I forgot to update the thread.

The drive unit engineers again stated that this was completely normal. Tesla Service added some sound dampening material in my trunk and that made a minor difference to the noise but it is definitely slightly more muted than previously. The company's official stance on this matter is that noise is a normal part of the car.

Thanks for the update.
So did they say WHY one car might do this and not others. ?
Did they say where the sound was coming from ?

Mine just started doing this recently as well.
 

Tony_YYZ

Tezler Guru
Apr 7, 2016
1,937
2,084
Caledon, ON Canada
Thanks for the update.
So did they say WHY one car might do this and not others. ?
Did they say where the sound was coming from ?

Mine just started doing this recently as well.
They just kept saying this is within the technical tolerances that Tesla has documented. While they wouldn't confirm exactly, it's either from the drive unit or inverter.

According to them, all the cars make this noise and it's not an issue at all. I do believe Tesla is trying to reduce warranty claims on Model 3 drive train and as such has very wide tolerances for this issue. If they claim it's within their own documented spec then it's not an issue for them.
 

Toke_Holledig

Member
Apr 4, 2019
38
10
Denmark
Good luck!

My driver side mirror was causing some turbulence due to it not being properly affixed to the car but they had adjusted that. It was not related to the drive unit noise.

Hey


Just a quick update.


My Tesla mode 3 is at the service center and have been there for a week. Good news is, that they have confirmed that the car has some kind of gear/whine/whistle noise by comparing it to another model 3.


Bad news is, that they have a difficult time locating the noise. Unfortunately, the model 3 is new in Denmark, so the service team are not that experienced.


I’ll keep you guys posted. Next move could be to try, to make Tesla to buy the car back?


/Toke
 

M109Rider

Active Member
Apr 8, 2018
1,489
1,518
Kitchener, Ontario
Hey


Just a quick update.


My Tesla mode 3 is at the service center and have been there for a week. Good news is, that they have confirmed that the car has some kind of gear/whine/whistle noise by comparing it to another model 3.


Bad news is, that they have a difficult time locating the noise. Unfortunately, the model 3 is new in Denmark, so the service team are not that experienced.


I’ll keep you guys posted. Next move could be to try, to make Tesla to buy the car back?


/Toke

Look forward to hearing back.
Sounds like good progress.
 

svonorth

Member
May 5, 2019
5
5
Alberta
I just switched from long time lurker to member just to follow this thread. I had this happen in the past hour, although it was overlapping with me driving to a Supercharger (there now) so I am still considering that it could be due preconditioning. I swear it was already being louder before punching in the Supercharger destination but I did it pretty early into the drive.

My Wh/km was in the 380 range at 12C driving 10km in the city, which again must be preconditioning as that was outrageously high. I’ll keep an eye and ear on this once I hit the road.

(Just over 6 months into ownership on my Dual Motor 3.)
 
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svonorth

Member
May 5, 2019
5
5
Alberta
My Wh/km was in the 380 range at 12C driving 10km in the city, which again must be preconditioning as that was outrageously high. I’ll keep an eye and ear on this once I hit the road.

Well, the sound of the motors were back to normal after that supercharger stop. This correlated to a reasonable Wh/km for the round trip as well. I’ll be interested to see if this happens again to myself or others who are preconditioning. The dramatic increase in motor “buzz” (when accelerating at lower speeds and during regen) compared
to what I was used to was very concerning.
 

M109Rider

Active Member
Apr 8, 2018
1,489
1,518
Kitchener, Ontario
Hey


Just a quick update.


My Tesla mode 3 is at the service center and have been there for a week. Good news is, that they have confirmed that the car has some kind of gear/whine/whistle noise by comparing it to another model 3.


Bad news is, that they have a difficult time locating the noise. Unfortunately, the model 3 is new in Denmark, so the service team are not that experienced.


I’ll keep you guys posted. Next move could be to try, to make Tesla to buy the car back?


/Toke

Hello Toke,
Any new news on what they found with yours ?
Thanks.
 

Bushcaddy

Member
Mar 22, 2018
46
27
Wasaga Beach, Ontario
I too have started getting a very high pitched noise from the rear end.
As others have said it is worse around 50kph and varies with throttle application, but also changes as you lighten the load on the rear end. (ie, going over bumps).
It started off quiet enough, but it is getting louder and more irritating.
Anyone get a resolution from Tesla yet?
If it gets much worse, I really don't think I'll enjoy driving the car.
 
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Toke_Holledig

Member
Apr 4, 2019
38
10
Denmark
I too have started getting a very high pitched noise from the rear end.
As others have said it is worse around 50kph and varies with throttle application, but also changes as you lighten the load on the rear end. (ie, going over bumps).
It started off quiet enough, but it is getting louder and more irritating.
Anyone get a resolution from Tesla yet?
If it gets much worse, I really don't think I'll enjoy driving the car.

Hi there.

Yea it is killing me aswell. Do you drive the AWD model?

I may have a answer soon. My car have been at the SC for 5 weeks now, and they are telling me they changed the front Drive Unit.

I'll have my car next week. Fingers crossed (no noise)
 
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Tzoid

Member
Aug 29, 2016
10
9
Montreal Canada
Thank everyone for this thread.

Mine has been making the noise for 2 months now and sometimes I hear it over the radio(not in the speakers) I went to SC in Montreal last week and drove around for 15 minutes with service manager and the car didn't make a peep. Kinda like going to the dentist and tooth doesn't hurt anymore. He said he would send Ranger with recorder. Sometimes the noise drives me crazy. hopefully they"ll fix.
 

Togg

Member
Mar 24, 2019
62
39
CA
In our 2018 dual motor M3 I first noticed this whine only after I removed the back seat; (that was so we could fold the back seats flat to sleep in the back.) Seems the back seat acts as a pretty good noise buffer.

Now most of the time I don't hear it anymore. I think I've mostly tuned it out.

I'm guessing this is the switching electronics for the rear motor.
 

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