High pitched noise from drive unit

[Phlier]

I really like the way you worded that response to them.

From the little bit that I've been in contact with Tesla people, the folks Elon has working for him really do care about their work, it's just that they are sooooo short handed they are all way over worked. They just don't have enough time-per-customer. At some point, even the ones that care will stop responding to you, as they have invested as much time into your case as they can, and have to keep the line moving.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Tesla/Elon fan, but I think they need to be called out on the areas where they fall short to make a great company even better. Elon stated last year that he was going to devote "significant resources" toward improving the over all customer service experience, whether it's sales, service, or just in general. Given the overall tone of the customer service related posts on the forums since then, he's made some progress, but still has a long way to go.

Thanks for keeping us up to date on this.

 

[0ptions]

I really like the way you worded that response to them.

From the little bit that I've been in contact with Tesla people, the folks Elon has working for him really do care about their work, it's just that they are sooooo short handed they are all way over worked. They just don't have enough time-per-customer. At some point, even the ones that care will stop responding to you, as they have invested as much time into your case as they can, and have to keep the line moving.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Tesla/Elon fan, but I think they need to be called out on the areas where they fall short to make a great company even better. Elon stated last year that he was going to devote "significant resources" toward improving the over all customer service experience, whether it's sales, service, or just in general. Given the overall tone of the customer service related posts on the forums since then, he's made some progress, but still has a long way to go.

Thanks for keeping us up to date on this.

I agree with this. The tech that went for a ride with me was from out-of-state. I believe he said Pittsburgh, but I don't remember exactly. He said he was brought over to help get things moving since a lot of people are scheduling service now after waiting during the spring months due to the pandemic. So now they are basically slammed. I was lucky enough to get a Tesla loaner. Prior to the appointment they told me I'd likely be put into an Enterprise rental.

 

[phigment]

I just got back from service and had the ground strap replaced. I haven't driven more than 10 minutes back to work, but I don't think it improved things much.

 

[0ptions]

My results are in...
After service stated the ground strap issue doesn't apply to my vehicle, they swapped it out as a "goodwill gesture" under warranty. Here is what the invoice stated:
"Test drove vehicle and found that there was a noise coming from the rear. It is normal to hear some noise. Took recording wrote session (??). Installed a new ground cable as goodwill gesture and test drove vehicle again and it did improve the noise noticeably. Note that there will always be some noise from the electric motor."
Part replaced: 1070979-00-F

I'll tell you what- the noise is COMPLETELY gone now. I cannot get it to happen again. Thank you @Dante for the lead. I am confident the service center would still not have done anything if I had not suggested to them how to fix it. Crazy a customer has to tell the service center how to fix their product...

While working through this issue to identify why they thought 1070979-00-F ground strap didn't apply to my car but did to Dante's, I discovered there are two revisions to the ground cable.
1070979-00-F and 1070979-00-G are the two types and I will be referring to them as the F-type and G-type from here on.

The F-type cable I was told by the service center only applied to vehicles prior to 2018, however this is a blatant lie because my car is a 2018, VIN 23xxx, built May of 2018.
I am not sure when they switched to using the G-type, but it appears to be on newer vehicles.
Here are the differences between the two revisions-
F-type connects to the inverter housing and G-type connectors to the motor casting.
The motor casting was revised to include a provision for the ground cable to tie to. You can see this difference in the attached photos. This would have been a costly change to the casting die which makes me wonder why they made the change (noise perhaps?).

Thanks to two Youtubers, Ingineerix (video from 2018, shows F-type):

and All EV Canada (video from 2020, shows G-type):

I was able to clearly identify the differences.

I hope this information helps other owners.
You can actually see the stud that the ground cable (both F-type and G-type) tie to through the rear wheel spokes. It's just behind the rear wheel on the drivers-side, front side of the suspension. I've attached a photo of mine, you can see it is spanking clean, brand new and I checked- it is the F-type.

 

[phigment]

I just got back from service and had the ground strap replaced. I haven't driven more than 10 minutes back to work, but I don't think it improved things much.

The noise is still present, but now it's mostly noticable during deceleration. The sound I used to hear during constant speed is greatly reduced. But it's only been one day, I wouldn't be surprised if I heard it again when the temperature gets cooler outside. I think it's an improvement. If it doesn't get any worse, I'd say I can live with it.

 

[0ptions]

The noise is still present, but now it's mostly noticable during deceleration. The sound I used to hear during constant speed is greatly reduced. But it's only been one day, I wouldn't be surprised if I heard it again when the temperature gets cooler outside. I think it's an improvement. If it doesn't get any worse, I'd say I can live with it.

What's your VIN or manufacturing date? I wonder which revision of ground strap you have. It appears you are LR RWD?

 

[phigment]

Mfg in april of 2018 I think.... vin 29188. LR-RWD

 

[camalaio]

My results are in...
After service stated the ground strap issue doesn't apply to my vehicle, they swapped it out as a "goodwill gesture" under warranty. Here is what the invoice stated:
"Test drove vehicle and found that there was a noise coming from the rear. It is normal to hear some noise. Took recording wrote session (??). Installed a new ground cable as goodwill gesture and test drove vehicle again and it did improve the noise noticeably. Note that there will always be some noise from the electric motor."
Part replaced: 1070979-00-F

I'll tell you what- the noise is COMPLETELY gone now. I cannot get it to happen again. Thank you @Dante for the lead. I am confident the service center would still not have done anything if I had not suggested to them how to fix it. Crazy a customer has to tell the service center how to fix their product...

While working through this issue to identify why they thought 1070979-00-F ground strap didn't apply to my car but did to Dante's, I discovered there are two revisions to the ground cable.
1070979-00-F and 1070979-00-G are the two types and I will be referring to them as the F-type and G-type from here on.

The F-type cable I was told by the service center only applied to vehicles prior to 2018, however this is a blatant lie because my car is a 2018, VIN 23xxx, built May of 2018.
I am not sure when they switched to using the G-type, but it appears to be on newer vehicles.
Here are the differences between the two revisions-
F-type connects to the inverter housing and G-type connectors to the motor casting.
The motor casting was revised to include a provision for the ground cable to tie to. You can see this difference in the attached photos. This would have been a costly change to the casting die which makes me wonder why they made the change (noise perhaps?).

Thanks to two Youtubers, Ingineerix (video from 2018, shows F-type):

and All EV Canada (video from 2020, shows G-type):

I was able to clearly identify the differences.

I hope this information helps other owners.
You can actually see the stud that the ground cable (both F-type and G-type) tie to through the rear wheel spokes. It's just behind the rear wheel on the drivers-side, front side of the suspension. I've attached a photo of mine, you can see it is spanking clean, brand new and I checked- it is the F-type.

Congrats! So your situation didn't need the updated design, just a new strap eh? I do still wonder if this was basically a matter of tightening the end that was hard to reach, or if there was somehow a fault with the cable. We'll probably never know.

Did they happen to put labour hours on the invoice? I'm also wondering how much time it took them to get at it.

 

[Siciliano]

I'm definitely hearing a noticeable whining noise, but oddly enough it's most prevalent right when I leave in the morning, and slowly becomes less noticeable the further I drive. Or maybe it's the change in road type and the road noise/tires are just draining the noise out?

It's definitely only upon acceleration, not during regen braking. I wonder if I could have the same issue? I have a LR AWD and my mfg date is 11/18...

 

[0ptions]

Congrats! So your situation didn't need the updated design, just a new strap eh? I do still wonder if this was basically a matter of tightening the end that was hard to reach, or if there was somehow a fault with the cable. We'll probably never know.

Did they happen to put labour hours on the invoice? I'm also wondering how much time it took them to get at it.

No labor hours on the invoice, however I was frequently checking my app to see if it was being worked on. It went into service mode some time around 9am yesterday morning and service was completed around 2:30pm the same day.

 

[0ptions]

I'm definitely hearing a noticeable whining noise, but oddly enough it's most prevalent right when I leave in the morning, and slowly becomes less noticeable the further I drive. Or maybe it's the change in road type and the road noise/tires are just draining the noise out?

It's definitely only upon acceleration, not during regen braking. I wonder if I could have the same issue? I have a LR AWD and my mfg date is 11/18...

Interesting. My issue only occurred while coasting, which requires feathering the accelerator pedal in our cars. Could hear it while the car was barely regenning or slightly under load. Sometimes it almost sounded like Morse Code, hard stops to the sound and immediately hear it again like beeping but long beeps.

 

[camalaio]

I'm definitely hearing a noticeable whining noise, but oddly enough it's most prevalent right when I leave in the morning, and slowly becomes less noticeable the further I drive. Or maybe it's the change in road type and the road noise/tires are just draining the noise out?

It's definitely only upon acceleration, not during regen braking. I wonder if I could have the same issue? I have a LR AWD and my mfg date is 11/18...

Oh oh oh I think I have a theory for this one.

The AWD is a RWD vehicle unless you're accelerating hard, with a couple notable exceptions.

• In reverse, if and only if you stopped fully before going into reverse, it will use the front motor instead
• At low speeds (roughly 20mph or less), and only if you were not previously at a higher speed under acceleration, it will use the front motor for forward acceleration. So usually in parking lots or when first getting going from a stop.

The second point is what I think is relevant here. You may be hearing more noise (I do) simply because the front motor is actually being used, not coasting freely as it generally does. When I tightened ground straps, I don't think these noises changed at all though. Most of this would support the theory that what you're heating is noise from the front motor though.

My very first observation after getting the car is the front motor seemed to generate the bulk of the noise. This was true until the constant pitch issue got really loud (this I fixed by tightening ground straps), and is now true once again.

No labor hours on the invoice, however I was frequently checking my app to see if it was being worked on. It went into service mode some time around 9am yesterday morning and service was completed around 2:30pm the same day.

Ah cool. All sorts of reasons it could've taken longer, but maybe that supports my theory that it's a bit of a chore and requires some disassembly.

 

[0ptions]

If I'm feeling adventurous tonight, I'll check and see if I can find any obvious signs that the entire rear end was dropped.

 

[john5520]

My results are in...
After service stated the ground strap issue doesn't apply to my vehicle, they swapped it out as a "goodwill gesture" under warranty. Here is what the invoice stated:
"Test drove vehicle and found that there was a noise coming from the rear. It is normal to hear some noise. Took recording wrote session (??). Installed a new ground cable as goodwill gesture and test drove vehicle again and it did improve the noise noticeably. Note that there will always be some noise from the electric motor."
Part replaced: 1070979-00-F

I'll tell you what- the noise is COMPLETELY gone now. I cannot get it to happen again. Thank you @Dante for the lead. I am confident the service center would still not have done anything if I had not suggested to them how to fix it. Crazy a customer has to tell the service center how to fix their product...

While working through this issue to identify why they thought 1070979-00-F ground strap didn't apply to my car but did to Dante's, I discovered there are two revisions to the ground cable.
1070979-00-F and 1070979-00-G are the two types and I will be referring to them as the F-type and G-type from here on.

The F-type cable I was told by the service center only applied to vehicles prior to 2018, however this is a blatant lie because my car is a 2018, VIN 23xxx, built May of 2018.
I am not sure when they switched to using the G-type, but it appears to be on newer vehicles.
Here are the differences between the two revisions-
F-type connects to the inverter housing and G-type connectors to the motor casting.
The motor casting was revised to include a provision for the ground cable to tie to. You can see this difference in the attached photos. This would have been a costly change to the casting die which makes me wonder why they made the change (noise perhaps?).

Thanks to two Youtubers, Ingineerix (video from 2018, shows F-type):

and All EV Canada (video from 2020, shows G-type):

I was able to clearly identify the differences.

I hope this information helps other owners.
You can actually see the stud that the ground cable (both F-type and G-type) tie to through the rear wheel spokes. It's just behind the rear wheel on the drivers-side, front side of the suspension. I've attached a photo of mine, you can see it is spanking clean, brand new and I checked- it is the F-type.

Excellent info! I'd guess the G-type strap is present on the 990 motors. Not sure about later versions of the 980. Glad that they took care of your issue. I think by now it's safe to say better grounding definitely cures the issue for some and improves it for others. Hopefully we'll eventually amass enough info to get a better overall idea the hardware versions involved.

 

[Thp3]

How the whine returned yet?

 

[0ptions]

How the whine returned yet?

Who are you asking? My car no longer whines.

 

[Dante]

Glad to hear this is helping some people! Huge props to the awesome people at the Kitchener Service Center in Canada for this solution!! No argument, not even a person to talk to. All done through text messages/Tesla app, and it was just fixed. So happy, and my car remains as silent as I'd like it to be again!

 

[Siciliano]

Ok I was wrong...the whine is pretty noticable at any speed, and it's loudest at slow speeds and during regen braking. I usually have the music loud and don't really pay attention, but now with the music off completely it's very noticeable.

I'm definitely going to get it checked out because I'm not mechanically inclined enough to try to fix it. I wonder how much is considered "normal" motor noise?? I've heard ppl saying their motors are silent. Maybe that's an overexaggeration??

 

[john5520]

Ok I was wrong...the whine is pretty noticable at any speed, and it's loudest at slow speeds and during regen braking. I usually have the music loud and don't really pay attention, but now with the music off completely it's very noticeable.

I'm definitely going to get it checked out because I'm not mechanically inclined enough to try to fix it. I wonder how much is considered "normal" motor noise?? I've heard ppl saying their motors are silent. Maybe that's an overexaggeration??

Can you make short sound clip of it? My motor is silent as in I can't hear it when cruising, even with the music off. Test drive one if you can.

 

[Siciliano]

Can you make short sound clip of it? My motor is silent as in I can't hear it when cruising, even with the music off. Test drive one if you can.

Yeah it's far from silent, so it's definitely not normal. I'll take a video or sound recording today, but I'm not sure if it will pick up the sound.

I have a 2018 LR AWD, mfg date 11/18 w/17k miles. Will they send out a mobile tech for this? I'd hate to drive over an hour to the nearest SC for them to tell me it's "normal"...