Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues

[Oyvind.H]

Anyone had problems with creaking from the steeringwheel? Not the steeringwheel itself, but when manouvering at slow speed (i.e. when parking) i get some creaking/clicking sounds fron the steeringwheel. You can hear it quite well outside the car. Might be something with the steering-rack.

I`m quite sure it`s not related to the undercarriage or suspention. I had a problem with a bolt on my old S85 that made a sound every time I turned the wheel all the way in parking scenarios. And I know how defective parts in the undercarriage sounds and feels. This is different. It`s sudden creaks from the steering-rack. Very noticeable both inside and outside the car. Like the sound when hard plastic snaps. But since it`s so loud outside the car, and constant, it`s probably not plastic.

Reason why I`m asking is:
1. Is it a known error/what`s the problem
2. Is it easy to fix
3. Is it dangerous

I`m going on holiday very soon. The chance of getting an appointment at a service center here in Oslo within a week are slim. But I might try if it`s important to get it looked at before a long vacation/road trip.

 

[JRP3]

Like the sound when hard plastic snaps.

I don't know the answer but a cracking sound related to the steering is certainly something I would have checked out immediately.

 

[RatRace]

Being out here in AZ can get pretty hot, however HVAC wise I have my A/C set to 68 - 70 degrees..near the end of my 30 minute commute my A/C turns off for about 5 minutes. and I get this warning. Every day since passing 100 degrees this seems to happen to me. I brought it up to our center and they said everything is operating as it should and they added more fluids to the battery, but that I should expect this. Considering AZ that the temp in the car rises quickly in the car, and after 5 minutes the car was at 80 degrees inside. This gets a little uncomfortable for me, and I have my child in there, betting shes getting uncomfortable as well. Has anybody ran into this issue.

Sometimes I get this warning...

 

[Duckjybe]

Anyone had problems with creaking from the steeringwheel? Not the steeringwheel itself, but when manouvering at slow speed (i.e. when parking) i get some creaking/clicking sounds fron the steeringwheel. You can hear it quite well outside the car. Might be something with the steering-rack.

I`m quite sure it`s not related to the undercarriage or suspention. I had a problem with a bolt on my old S85 that made a sound every time I turned the wheel all the way in parking scenarios. And I know how defective parts in the undercarriage sounds and feels. This is different. It`s sudden creaks from the steering-rack. Very noticeable both inside and outside the car. Like the sound when hard plastic snaps. But since it`s so loud outside the car, and constant, it`s probably not plastic.

Reason why I`m asking is:
1. Is it a known error/what`s the problem
2. Is it easy to fix
3. Is it dangerous

I`m going on holiday very soon. The chance of getting an appointment at a service center here in Oslo within a week are slim. But I might try if it`s important to get it looked at before a long vacation/road trip.

My early SP85 has had this since I got it. It is a slight flexing of the steering rack attachment points. It sounds like a pop can flexing. They put shims and retorqued the bolts a couple years ago which reduced the noises significantly but it still makes an ever so slight click click sound when turning the wheel in parking lots. I figured this is not a problem in the newer vehicles. There was a technical service bulletin out for it. My issue was not a safety concern at all.

 

[Ingineer]

There is a TSB that indicates to put some kind of special diamond coated friction shims in there to keep the rack from popping. My car was doing it, and since I couldn't locate the special diamond friction shims, I just loosened it and put some cyanoacrylate glue on the mating surfaces and tightened it down. Problem solved.

 

[blee321]

does anyone have a link to the service bulletin ? My car started doing this just this week... 2015 85D

 

[Oyvind.H]

Stopping by the service-center tomorrow morning to have a mechanic listne to it. Just to check if it`s a safety issue. I`ll post the results
Never had this with the old S85.

 

[ggr]

I have a weird one for you. Last Sunday, which was insanely hot in SoCal, around 100 degrees, I parked my car in the morning inside an un-conditioned garage. At least it was out of sunlight and a bit cooler than outside. I got back at about 7pm, and the car said it had dangerously low tire pressure, pull over safely. Car had not moved in that time. I pulled it out to where the road service guy could get to it, and they got a spare rim and tire from Tesla, swapped it out, and took the low (about 16psi) tire/wheel to the service center.

Here's where the story gets strange. No-one could see anything wrong with the tire, and the barrel-of-water test didn't show any leak. So they pumped it up and left it overnight. It lost 4psi overnight. So they put a new tire on (the original was almost new...). Pumped it up, and it lost another couple of pounds overnight. There's only minor curb rash on the rim, and that has been there for ages, there was definitely no new damage within the last few weeks.

It doesn't appear to be the valve (that would show in the barrel), and I've never heard of a leak through the rim itself. But that's all I can think of. Anyone seen anything like this before?

 

[James Anders]

Had a similar thing years ago. Porosity in the wheel casting. Air was slowly leaking through the pores of the aluminum. Bad casting.

 

[scaesare]

My early SP85 has had this since I got it. It is a slight flexing of the steering rack attachment points. It sounds like a pop can flexing. They put shims and retorqued the bolts a couple years ago which reduced the noises significantly but it still makes an ever so slight click click sound when turning the wheel in parking lots. I figured this is not a problem in the newer vehicles. There was a technical service bulletin out for it. My issue was not a safety concern at all.

I had this same issues on my early 2013 S85.

 

[Oyvind.H]

Stopping by the service-center tomorrow morning to have a mechanic listne to it. Just to check if it`s a safety issue. I`ll post the results
Never had this with the old S85.

Had a mechanic listen to the sounds, and as you guys said: it`s shims that need to be added. A bit surprised that a "know" error like this is still present, and that I have this on the -16 but not on the -13. But I got an appointment in september. 3 month wait is an improvement.

 

[greentea]

My BF has a first generation model S and brought this issue of a weird buzzing noise that our car makes about a year ago. Could be linked to suspension issue upon reading up on google. Tesla denies we ever inquired about it even though we brought the issue up the last time they fixed some broken thing in our car due to their poorly manufactured inside.

Fast forward a year later, our car had a recall so they brought it in to their shop. They told us our suspension was broken. We inquired about our automatic headlight sensor not functioning properly as well. Was charged a total of a little over 1K (almost 1.5k) due to their inexperienced in manufacturing cars.

Our family has two lexus that we've own for over a decade each and their automatic headlight sensor STILL WORKS to THIS DAY. Yet tesla denies it's their responsibility because we are out of warranty. I asked the rep to SHOW US HOW TO MAINTAIN THESE MALFUNCTIONS so we do NOT have to pay thousands more for their faulty cars. Seriously, how do you maintain something like automatic headlight sensor to prevent this from happening again, only after 2 or so years. They told me no idea but steven from tesla will call us. WHO IS STEVEN and WHEN WILL HE CALL?

I have a deposit on a model 3 for myself but will have to reconsider all these extra added hidden fee due to their inexperienced in car manufacturing. My life & our hard earned money is more important than to have a model 3.

 

[ggr]

I have a weird one for you. Last Sunday, which was insanely hot in SoCal, around 100 degrees, I parked my car in the morning inside an un-conditioned garage. At least it was out of sunlight and a bit cooler than outside. I got back at about 7pm, and the car said it had dangerously low tire pressure, pull over safely. Car had not moved in that time. I pulled it out to where the road service guy could get to it, and they got a spare rim and tire from Tesla, swapped it out, and took the low (about 16psi) tire/wheel to the service center.

Here's where the story gets strange. No-one could see anything wrong with the tire, and the barrel-of-water test didn't show any leak. So they pumped it up and left it overnight. It lost 4psi overnight. So they put a new tire on (the original was almost new...). Pumped it up, and it lost another couple of pounds overnight. There's only minor curb rash on the rim, and that has been there for ages, there was definitely no new damage within the last few weeks.

It doesn't appear to be the valve (that would show in the barrel), and I've never heard of a leak through the rim itself. But that's all I can think of. Anyone seen anything like this before?

By way of update, the wheel was indeed the problem. Why it would suddenly go sour after nearly 4 years is an open question. There was nothing visibly wrong with it, but by process of elimination, that was what stopped the tire going down.

 

[JRP3]

Why it would suddenly go sour after nearly 4 years is an open question.

Micro corrosion developing over time in a porous casting, finally letting air escape, maybe.

 

[Gregsbeach]

No, this happens randomly for me sine I got the car. I have very carefully closed the reflector and watched as it popped back open. The HPWC cable was already put away.

The truncated directions has been noticible by me since 7.0.

It happens here too.....but only at superchargers. Close the darn thing and it pops back out. See lots of other cars driving away with the reflector open, so we are not alone!

 

[Gregsbeach]

I have another "gripe" for you. I was three miles from my house, and had between 30-40 miles of range on my car. IT was over 100 degrees out, and tried to use my tesla app to turn on the A/C. The darn thing says "due to low battery level this is not available". WTF....what brilliant programmer locks you out of a feature like that?

 

[travwill]

I have another "gripe" for you. I was three miles from my house, and had between 30-40 miles of range on my car. IT was over 100 degrees out, and tried to use my tesla app to turn on the A/C. The darn thing says "due to low battery level this is not available". WTF....what brilliant programmer locks you out of a feature like that?

Yeah, mine did that too the other day with about 50 miles left. Seems to kick in when about 20-25% of battery is left and below.

 

[scottm]

That's a robot for ya, self preservation kicks in when power source is being threatened, by inconvenient meatware trying to use creature comforts like, you know, HVAC.

At least you know where you sit in the AI algorithm running these things.

 

[GridSpace]

Has anyone else had A/C issues since last night's software update? I was able to reset/reboot the car and it "fixed" itself. The dealer told me they had another call on the exact same issue within 5 minutes of my call.

 

[MartinW]

My 90D arrived in Cleveland last Tuesday. Pickup scheduled for last Thursday. On Wednesday noon my DS called to delay pickup due to "issue with the parking break". No further details as of Friday pm. Had anyone else had this? Should I be worried it's significantly more than this that's wrong? Did I get a lemon?

Would appreciate comments and advice.