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Knock/thump under driver?

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Hey everyone - picked up MY in late December and loving it so far. Two quick questions that I haven't been able to find much information on:

1. I make a left-hand turn into my parking lot at work and there's a small lip to drive over to transition from the road and into the parking lot. Just about everyday when doing so there's a single 'thump' or a light 'knock' under my feet on the driver side. It seems to happen infrequently (i.e. does not when driving on a flat road), but does seem to happen frequently when the car weight shifts when going over a transition in the pavement. Do you guys think this is a cause for concern - i.e. suspension issue? I've read you can hear a knocking/popping from the battery "breathing" but this seems to be isolated to the car tackling pavement transitions into parking lots.

2. Are your driver side wipers unable to clean the lower quarter of the windshield? Lots of salt residue on the roads, and even when pumping through lots of washer fluid (+5-10 seconds), the bottom of the windshield just doesn't get wet to clean. Wasn't sure if this was an isolated incident and need a new blade, or could be a tension issue with the wiper arm.

Any input is appreciated, thanks everyone and happy driving.
 
I'd offer that any "clunk" from the suspension should get checked out, first by your SC, and then, since they'll possibly say, "It's normal.", I'd visit a reputable FE shop.
Battery sounds occur only while charging, for me, only at a SuperCharger, not my home charger.
Wipers? I can't help. I've not had my car out in the rain/snow.
 
Hi ajkess - I have the same issue as you, but my "click/pop/thud" (or whatever you want to call it) happens in the exact same situation as you. Only difference is my noise is coming from the rear right trunk area. It only happens when pulling into my steep and uneven driveway. I have an appointment with service to address the issue, but am concerned about being able to replicate it. I got a video of it for them... I also posted on the Tesla forum, and heard from a poster that he also had the issue. He said service fixed it by tightening up suspension. Fingers crossed for both of us!
 
2. Are your driver side wipers unable to clean the lower quarter of the windshield? Lots of salt residue on the roads, and even when pumping through lots of washer fluid (+5-10 seconds), the bottom of the windshield just doesn't get wet to clean. Wasn't sure if this was an isolated incident and need a new blade, or could be a tension issue with the wiper arm.

Any input is appreciated, thanks everyone and happy driving.

yes, same situation - our's was "blocked" at first because it didn't work. Now it works, but still leaves 1/4 of the window dirty. The mobile service guy saw it, and had just come from another with the same complaint. so it is not isolated!
 
The thump is likely oil-canning of the rear floor area just in front of the rear seats. At least that's the issue in the Model 3. Press down hard on the floor there, can you pop it and "bonk" it?

This also happens when supercharging at times...pack heats up and makes the metal expand and "pop".
 
Hey everyone - picked up MY in late December and loving it so far. Two quick questions that I haven't been able to find much information on:

1. I make a left-hand turn into my parking lot at work and there's a small lip to drive over to transition from the road and into the parking lot. Just about everyday when doing so there's a single 'thump' or a light 'knock' under my feet on the driver side. It seems to happen infrequently (i.e. does not when driving on a flat road), but does seem to happen frequently when the car weight shifts when going over a transition in the pavement. Do you guys think this is a cause for concern - i.e. suspension issue? I've read you can hear a knocking/popping from the battery "breathing" but this seems to be isolated to the car tackling pavement transitions into parking lots.

2. Are your driver side wipers unable to clean the lower quarter of the windshield? Lots of salt residue on the roads, and even when pumping through lots of washer fluid (+5-10 seconds), the bottom of the windshield just doesn't get wet to clean. Wasn't sure if this was an isolated incident and need a new blade, or could be a tension issue with the wiper arm.

Any input is appreciated, thanks everyone and happy driving.
If I'm interpreting your 'thunk' sound correctly, I get this sound in the same location...but only when I drive over certain bumps in the (city) roads. It doesn't happen all the time and really only occurs when the wheel drops vs when the suspension is being compressed.

The interesting thing for me was the sound went away for about a month or so after I had a 4 wheel alignment but it came back...not as loud or as frequent but it did come back.
 
Hi ajkess - I have the same issue as you, but my "click/pop/thud" (or whatever you want to call it) happens in the exact same situation as you. Only difference is my noise is coming from the rear right trunk area. It only happens when pulling into my steep and uneven driveway. I have an appointment with service to address the issue, but am concerned about being able to replicate it. I got a video of it for them... I also posted on the Tesla forum, and heard from a poster that he also had the issue. He said service fixed it by tightening up suspension. Fingers crossed for both of us!

Replicating it is also my concern - on a 30 minute drive, it will happen only ~50% of the time (although generally under the same conditions of the car hitting a lip/uneven surface). I've tried taking the transition slowly at ~1 mph and will still get that same sound/knock. Let me know if you get any feedback from the service tech. I may end up scheduling one myself.

If I'm interpreting your 'thunk' sound correctly, I get this sound in the same location...but only when I drive over certain bumps in the (city) roads. It doesn't happen all the time and really only occurs when the wheel drops vs when the suspension is being compressed.

The interesting thing for me was the sound went away for about a month or so after I had a 4 wheel alignment but it came back...not as loud or as frequent but it did come back.

That's good insight and given the feel of the "knock" and it being only a single knock when the car is put in a position where all four wheels aren't perfectly on even pavement may be the culprit. I'm guessing if it's oil-canning of the floor metal, there's not much to be done, but alternatively, not much of a concern since it's not the suspension.

yes, same situation - our's was "blocked" at first because it didn't work. Now it works, but still leaves 1/4 of the window dirty. The mobile service guy saw it, and had just come from another with the same complaint. so it is not isolated!

Thanks for the feedback, glad to know I'm not alone. So it sounds like a design flaw in the 'spray' pattern off of the wiper blades. I'm hoping once the salt trucks go away for the season the impact is minimal with rain. Thankfully it's not as bad as a faulty wiper arm I had on my X5 that wouldn't clean my entire passenger side of the windshield. BMW still couldn't address the issue after years of complaints.
 
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I thought I'd throw in here too, experiencing the exact same thing. I was hoping it was "oil canning," my assumption was this is due to the flatter construction of the floor pan and it was possibly flexing. This is disconcerting but I assume normal. I was really hoping it wasn't a suspension thing or a bad weld. I guess I feel better now?
 
Hey everyone - picked up MY in late December and loving it so far. Two quick questions that I haven't been able to find much information on:

1. I make a left-hand turn into my parking lot at work and there's a small lip to drive over to transition from the road and into the parking lot. Just about everyday when doing so there's a single 'thump' or a light 'knock' under my feet on the driver side. It seems to happen infrequently (i.e. does not when driving on a flat road), but does seem to happen frequently when the car weight shifts when going over a transition in the pavement. Do you guys think this is a cause for concern - i.e. suspension issue? I've read you can hear a knocking/popping from the battery "breathing" but this seems to be isolated to the car tackling pavement transitions into parking lots.

2. Are your driver side wipers unable to clean the lower quarter of the windshield? Lots of salt residue on the roads, and even when pumping through lots of washer fluid (+5-10 seconds), the bottom of the windshield just doesn't get wet to clean. Wasn't sure if this was an isolated incident and need a new blade, or could be a tension issue with the wiper arm.

Any input is appreciated, thanks everyone and happy driving.
Dude! I thought I was the only one. I get a “thud” right under my driver’s floorboard all the time. In my mind I imagine that each time a hear/feel the “thud” that it’s another 2170 cell popping. It truly scares the crap out of me now that I’m used to the loud “clunk” noise from the HV contacts (which is normal). The contacts make noise - I get that. But this floorboard thud has me worried.
 
I get this type of sound once in a while, typically turning into a driveway in a manner that would put interesting torsional load on the frame.

As best I understand, this is often a known-harmless pop involving the metal plate covering the battery pack - supposedly it can be cured by dropping the pack and putting some spray foam in the area, but I think (hope) it's really not a big deal.

But yeah, also possible for it to be a suspension thing - which happily has warranty on it.
 
Who knows nowadays.. my car makes all sorts of random thumps and twaps all the time.. my seat feels like it’s loose, yet it’s not. My AC makes weird noises randomly, sometimes I can literally hear the hood/frunk “flexing” under a turn..

Bottom line, these cars are strange.. it’ll drive you nuts if you keep trying to diagnose its woes. I’ve learned to just deal with the crappy build quality and enjoy the great things about the car.

My brother just got a $140,000 Plaid and he is PISSED about the build quality, yet he’s laughing like a child when he smokes a Hellcat Charger on a green light. Tesla’s are not built for quality - not even the flagship models.

My advice: just ignore the weird stuff, the conventional stuff that we’ve come to know from years of driving non-Tesla’s (these cars are not an MBZ, BMW, or Audi) and enjoy the lack of having to go to a gas station etc..
 
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Who knows nowadays.. my car makes all sorts of random thumps and twaps all the time.. my seat feels like it’s loose, yet it’s not. My AC makes weird noises randomly, sometimes I can literally hear the hood/frunk “flexing” under a turn..

Bottom line, these cars are strange.. it’ll drive you nuts if you keep trying to diagnose its woes. I’ve learned to just deal with the crappy build quality and enjoy the great things about the car.

My brother just got a $140,000 Plaid and he is PISSED about the build quality, yet he’s laughing like a child when he smokes a Hellcat Charger on a green light. Tesla’s are not built for quality - not even the flagship models.

My advice: just ignore the weird stuff, the unconventional stuff that we’ve come to know from years of driving non-Tesla’s and enjoy the lack of having to go to a gas station etc..

It's long been repeated, and still mostly true: Teslas are like having a $30k car with a $100k drivetrain under it.

Go in with that expectation and you'll be happy.
 
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Hey everyone - picked up MY in late December and loving it so far. Two quick questions that I haven't been able to find much information on:

1. I make a left-hand turn into my parking lot at work and there's a small lip to drive over to transition from the road and into the parking lot. Just about everyday when doing so there's a single 'thump' or a light 'knock' under my feet on the driver side. It seems to happen infrequently (i.e. does not when driving on a flat road), but does seem to happen frequently when the car weight shifts when going over a transition in the pavement. Do you guys think this is a cause for concern - i.e. suspension issue? I've read you can hear a knocking/popping from the battery "breathing" but this seems to be isolated to the car tackling pavement transitions into parking lots.

2. Are your driver side wipers unable to clean the lower quarter of the windshield? Lots of salt residue on the roads, and even when pumping through lots of washer fluid (+5-10 seconds), the bottom of the windshield just doesn't get wet to clean. Wasn't sure if this was an isolated incident and need a new blade, or could be a tension issue with the wiper arm.

Any input is appreciated, thanks everyone and happy driving.
I hope this isn’t to late, but I just had Tesla replace the drivers windshield arm with the new and better part. It was covered under warranty and apparently has been an issue for some time. Took me almost two years to make them change this out. Comes on all the new y’s
 
I hope this isn’t to late, but I just had Tesla replace the drivers windshield arm with the new and better part. It was covered under warranty and apparently has been an issue for some time. Took me almost two years to make them change this out. Comes on all the new y’s
Once again, I hope I’m not to late on the thumping noise. Let me know if your still having these issue with the venting of your battery. Tesla has known about this issue since Dec. 2021 and has a fix, but the Tesla shops will make you jump thru hoops to get fixed…
 
Once again, I hope I’m not to late on the thumping noise. Let me know if your still having these issue with the venting of your battery. Tesla has known about this issue since Dec. 2021 and has a fix, but the Tesla shops will make you jump thru hoops to get fixed…
Thanks for sharing. I hear this on My Y and I’m gonna get it checked out. I’ll share fix if applicable.