I’ve been experiencing major pressure buffeting from the lift gate of the Model S. This issue has been well documented amongst many owners and the resolution is to adjust the rubber discs that come into contact with the plastic adjustable shims of the car body. I’ve performed this adjustment and so has the service center. But now, there’s no way of resolving this issue. Additionally, Tesla service refuses to even acknowledge this obvious defect. My 15 year old son and I performed extensive research on this matter, and we discovered a direct correlation between the inconsistent panel gaps of the rear portion of the model S and the pressure buffeting. The threading attached to the frame, under the plastic adjustable shim is straight on the drivers side, and askew on the passenger side. The surrounding aluminum is also showing signs of ductile fracturing. The movement of this threaded component, prevents the shim from sitting equal to the drivers side shim, therefore causing the lift gate not being able to fully sit level, causing inconsistent gaps at the adjoining panel transitions. Even more disturbing, the aluminum body panel that surrounds the lift gate opening is exhibiting a significant tension stress. I haven’t removed any interior body trim panels to examine the adjacent panels. I measured the body gaps resulting from this structural failure with a digital caliper. The difference in spacing is 3mm. This is significant. I’ve attached photos of the threaded rod area showing signs of ductile fracture, the right side of the lift gate opening exhibiting signs of failure from the tension stresses. This vehicle has NEVER been in an accident. This potentially dangerous defect should be investigated and publicized to other unsuspecting Model S owners.
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Model S Structural Failure
- Thread starter FUSKED
- Start date
Electric700
Active Member
Hello Fusked and welcome to the forum. Sorry to see you're experiencing this issue. Can you post a video of the pressure buffeting? Does this also only occur at higher speeds (e.g. above 70 MPH)?
This is the first time I've seen this issue for the Model S. I know that many owners have reported minimal to no issues with theirs, so hopefully there is a solution out there that will work for you.
This is the first time I've seen this issue for the Model S. I know that many owners have reported minimal to no issues with theirs, so hopefully there is a solution out there that will work for you.
07/16 build here.
I've also been tweaking the rear hatch to minimize this buffeting. It used to be particularly bad at around 50-55mph. The biggest improvement for me was unscrewing a few turns those plastic pads from the body and screwing in the rubber adjusters on the hatch. This probably made a more solid contact.
I did read around here that someone removed the plastic adjusters from the body side and replaced them with hard rubber rods. May be worth investigating this approach too.
On the other hand, I had a newer loaner S a couple weeks ago and it had zero buffeting noise on the same roads where my S was particularly bad. What's mind blowing is that the loaner S (I think it was a 2017 or 2018 100D) had these hatch adjusters completely screwed in. When the hatch was closed they were barely touching.
I've also been tweaking the rear hatch to minimize this buffeting. It used to be particularly bad at around 50-55mph. The biggest improvement for me was unscrewing a few turns those plastic pads from the body and screwing in the rubber adjusters on the hatch. This probably made a more solid contact.
I did read around here that someone removed the plastic adjusters from the body side and replaced them with hard rubber rods. May be worth investigating this approach too.
On the other hand, I had a newer loaner S a couple weeks ago and it had zero buffeting noise on the same roads where my S was particularly bad. What's mind blowing is that the loaner S (I think it was a 2017 or 2018 100D) had these hatch adjusters completely screwed in. When the hatch was closed they were barely touching.
The issue arises from the round plastic shims on the bottom. The left side sits perfectly and the right side is totally askew. When unscrewing the plastic shim, the threading it’s attached to is compromised and in a state of failure. The threading will never sit straight. This is also effective the body around the liftgate on the right side. The movement from the lower area (just like the foundation of a house) is causing the upper areas to bend. The buffeting occurs anytime I’m over a bump, or pried with the fan in the mid range speed. There’s barely an audible noise. I’ve attached photos of the left shim versus the right shim.
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amiral_sub
Member
Perhaps you could replace with your own shim by drilling hole through rubber disk and cutting to appropriate depth? In other words, avoid using the threads and find solid rubber disk with some give, that can be trimmed to appropriate depth to sit exactly where you need it. Might work if the threads are truly causing the Tesla shim to not sit properly.
The entire area is deformed and in a state of failure. The dB level as a result of the pressure buffeting at 40mph is 98.6dB, with the audio off. I’m going to be performing tests to determine the kPa. The rubber retrofit sounds like a great idea and I greatly appreciate your feedback, but it’s the equivalent of a band aid on a gun shot wound. I attached the photo of the threaded area.
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It's difficult to see what you mean by ductile fracture in that picture. The threads? Anyway, with a solid, hard rubber disk you could shave with razor blade to adjust and level. Also, it would have a bit more give than plastic shim to hopefully seal properly.
The rubber stopper that’s attached to the lift gate comes into contact with the left side, and only touches the plastic shim on the left side. I moistened the rubber with armor all to show the point of contact. Notice on the left side, there’s no contact whatsoever. I have a better chance of finding Hunter Biden than getting a reply or finding a service advisor who knows about Tesla’s. I was just a Tesla lover, my opinion is changing rapidly.
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I don't know about others, but it's very hard to see exactly what's going on in your pictures. In the passenger side gutter around the tailgate opening, what you call 'deformation' is not clear. It looks like the bottom of the gutter is kind of buckled. And the cracks in the seat of the screw in plug on the passenger side look like there must have been a significant force or long term tugging and twisting to have caused those cracks.
What is the age of the car? Has it ever had any accident damage? Has the tailgate buffetting always been the same? It's hard to imagine how the tailgate moving in any way could selectively cause significant damage to one side and nothing to the other.
I any of the info you have found whie researching, have others had the same distortion in the gully / gutter and cracking around the base of that stud? If that were my car I would want to see what's goung on from the underneath / inside the trunk.
What is the age of the car? Has it ever had any accident damage? Has the tailgate buffetting always been the same? It's hard to imagine how the tailgate moving in any way could selectively cause significant damage to one side and nothing to the other.
I any of the info you have found whie researching, have others had the same distortion in the gully / gutter and cracking around the base of that stud? If that were my car I would want to see what's goung on from the underneath / inside the trunk.
2016 Model S, 29k. Never been in an accident and in pristine condition. I’ll be posting better pictures and a video shortly. Tesla has been completely non responsive. They don’t know how to repair. The surrounding structure of the threaded pin that holds the fastener into the black round disk, aka shim, is askew. The left side sits perfectly flush. The upper section is the aluminum body structure that surrounds the lift gate. It’s severely deformed. The adjacent panels have inconsistencies of 3mm. The pressure buffeting makes driving the vehicle torturous. I currently have 2 Tesla’s, and 2 others on order. The way this company handles warranty matters is unconscionable. I’d like to have all of the adjacent inside structure inspected. But I’ll need to retain a forensic automotive engineer and give Tesla written notification to witness this non invasive inspection. It’s such BS that a customer needs to go to these extremes for warranty work.
Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure I would call that structural failure. Looks like there is an issue with the one threaded pin, but when I saw the title of this thread, I thought it was a failure of the frame at some point. It does look like you have a small area which has deformed or even a small crack, but that's a long site from the typical definition of structural failure or some of the major dangerous defects you refer to in your post. By your definition, any airplane that has ever had a crack stop-drilled anywhere has structural failure and a dangerous defect...yet there are planes flying everywhere that have these without compromising the structure of the aircraft.
I was thinking the same about at tack weld. Trouble it the pictures don't seem to be showing the issue that OP describes.
With something that's severely deformed, who knows what crazy things will happen or what the cause of the deformation is.
I might change my mind with more pictures, but clearly something is wrong and I just don't get why Tesla don't appear to take it seriously.
Have you tried different service centers?
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