Model Y Buffeting

[toneman82]

How do you adjust the bottom stops? Mine won't turn by hand at all. The upper turn easily and have a handy locking nut. Lower are just rubber with a hole that seems like it needs a wrench.

BTW, I have the buffeting and can actually see the back window moving a bit in the rearview mirror. My upper stops were not even touching, now adjusted. Lower need some work.

 

[JGSnCA]

I took delivery of MY end of July. There were only minor cosmetic issues at the time and I was happy with panel alignment and overall quality. HOWEVER, after one week I started hearing vibration noises from the rear cargo area. While closing the hatchback with the pushbutton my wife and I heard what sounded like a gun going off and we both flinched. The hatch would not close, the right hatchback hinge torqued and was skewed way out of alignment (enough to scratch the paint). To make a long story short after 18 days in the SC they finally replaced the right hatchback hinge assembly, as well as the rear fascia which was scratched trying to make the repair.

My advice, in addition to screwing around with the bottom stops, is you might want to make sure the hatchback hinge assembly is working properly if the problem persists. If the hinges aren't working correctly no amount of adjusting the stops will solve the problem. YMMV.

 

[toneman82]

After adjusting the top stops out (they weren't even touching before), the annoying pressure buffeting is worse. Happens at low speeds on less-than-perfectly-smooth roads. Highway speeds are fine. I still can't turn the bottom stops at all. So a service appt is setup to adjust the hatch. Maybe I need the latching mechanism adjusted also.

My LR Y test drive car did not do this at all, so hoping its fixed with an adjustment.

 

[gundarx]

Apart from the bump stops, I found conditioning the rubber seals throughout the hatch, and all the doors for that matter significantly lessened the amount of noise for this car. Much less traffic noise and eliminated noise from body movement, especially on driver’s door which otherwise sounds like it flexes from the body on bumps (probably consequence of stretching the Model 3 platform). And because the cabin is much more sealed the buffeting effect appears to be completely gone. 303 Aerospace protectant works but this particular one works the best: 303 Rubber Seal Protectant and Conditioner for Weather Seals - 3.4 fl. oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T44D1R2

 

[Kabillyhop]

So both my wife and I notice buffeting, like pulsating pressure in the ears. This comes and goes and on smooth pavement its less noticeable, but there is no doubt whatsoever that its there. In short its not pleasant and detracts from car enjoyment. I know if this was my wife's car it would have been returned just for this.

This happens with windows completely closed. Cracking open any one of the windows does not stop it.

I am wondering does anyone else experiences this? I know that for some people this is a non issue and they don't even notice it, while for others its deal breaking and very painful leading to headaches.

While researching this issue I have found numerous reports on buffeting on Model S and have found this video which advises on potential reduction of buffeting:

While trying this method I have noted that out of factory my bumpers on left hand side of hatch were not contacting lower contact points at all, while the ones on right hand side made full contact. It also looks like bumpers on left side are extended way more than the ones on right side which indicates that hatch is tilted and not closing straight.

I have talked to one user here that experiences buffeting on Model Y as well so I am wondering how prevalent this is and how to fix it.

A big thank you to the OP for this thread. My new model Y had a bad case of buffetting. I didn't even know that's what it was, just that it was uncomfortably noisy on all but the smoothest of roads.

I used the envelope method as in the video for the upper bumpers and turned them out until I couldn't pull the envelope out without tearing it.

For the lower bumpers, I made little balls out of playdough and turned the bumpers out until they flattened the paydough.

Before adjusting, all 4 bumpers were fully turned in, likely indicating that an adjustment step at the factory was skipped.

Adjusting the bumpers made a huge difference. The noise level is reduced by probably 90% and it made the car so much more enjoyable to drive.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

 

[Tomdeallycat]

After adjusting the top stops out (they weren't even touching before), the annoying pressure buffeting is worse. Happens at low speeds on less-than-perfectly-smooth roads. Highway speeds are fine. I still can't turn the bottom stops at all. So a service appt is setup to adjust the hatch. Maybe I need the latching mechanism adjusted also.

My LR Y test drive car did not do this at all, so hoping its fixed with an adjustment.

Hello toneman82, would love to know how your service appointment went and whether you feel it resolved the issue. I took delivery of my LR AWD in late Nov and noticed the issue pretty early on. I adjusted all the stops, upper and lower, and now they are tight enough that paper tears when I tug on it after letting the hatch close the paper under a stop, but the sound is still there. I test drove both a performance and a LR AWD. I don’t know if they didn’t have the issue or if I merely failed to notice it during the test drives.

I have a service appointment set up for 12/23 and am so hopeful they can resolve the issue. No when I drive the car I can hardly pay attention to anything else.

Thanks

 

[toneman82]

I had to cancel the service appointment. Via txt, they told me there was no loaner and my car would sit for about a week before they looked at it. They were 70 cars behind at the Tempe service center. I'm not willing to leave my car for a week and uber everywhere when this should take a few hours. I was really disappointed that Tesla service is working this way. Why not move all the non-critical appointments out to the day you predict you will actually look at the car?

My wife took in her model S for constant reboots and the same thing happened. She got a loaner, but the car sat for 5 days before they looked at it.

I'll ping them again in January. I sure hope this wacky way to do service doesn't continue. If every other car company can figure it out, I'm sure Tesla can.

 

[glide]

I had to cancel the service appointment. Via txt, they told me there was no loaner and my car would sit for about a week before they looked at it. They were 70 cars behind at the Tempe service center. I'm not willing to leave my car for a week and uber everywhere when this should take a few hours. I was really disappointed that Tesla service is working this way. Why not move all the non-critical appointments out to the day you predict you will actually look at the car?

My wife took in her model S for constant reboots and the same thing happened. She got a loaner, but the car sat for 5 days before they looked at it.

I'll ping them again in January. I sure hope this wacky way to do service doesn't continue. If every other car company can figure it out, I'm sure Tesla can.

Don’t be so sure.

In Tesla’s view, they have figured it out. Sell cars = yes. Service cars = no.

 

[glide]

This underscores the importance of putting panels and seams together properly.

Tesla still cannot do it.

LOLZ @ the 8 fanbois who think panel gaps aren’t real. SMH.

 

[scott_mccool]

I'm having the same problem and have posted it on another thread. I had the buffeting. I adjusted the 4 contact points in the hatch. I don't hear the buffeting anymore, but I feel an ear pressure or ear pain like I am on an air plane. It's so bad that I have had to go to the Dr. I have had it into the service center twice. They made sure that the outflow vents are open. They can't feel the ear pressure so they can't do much else. I have a 3rd appointment on 1/17

 

[Tomdeallycat]

I had to cancel the service appointment. Via txt, they told me there was no loaner and my car would sit for about a week before they looked at it. They were 70 cars behind at the Tempe service center. I'm not willing to leave my car for a week and uber everywhere when this should take a few hours. I was really disappointed that Tesla service is working this way. Why not move all the non-critical appointments out to the day you predict you will actually look at the car?

My wife took in her model S for constant reboots and the same thing happened. She got a loaner, but the car sat for 5 days before they looked at it.

I'll ping them again in January. I sure hope this wacky way to do service doesn't continue. If every other car company can figure it out, I'm sure Tesla can.

Apologies in advance for a lengthy post, but a few things to report here.

I received the same message prior to my service appointment and thought it was generous that they offered a loaner (depending on availability) OR $100/day toward Uber/Lyft, so I kept the appointment. Happily, when I showed up, within about a half-hour they put their lead technician, who was very competent, diligent, and understanding, on it. We spent a good bit of time together in my car ensuring he was perceiving the same issue I was and talked a good bit about the nature of the suspension on the car and the general consensus in the forums that it is the rear door that causes the issue (I’m still not sure that is true—I think it may be the “frequency” of energy coming from the suspension on certain surfaces with a certain inherent resonance in the car frame, body, or interior, though rear door movement may exacerbate the issue).

After duplicating the issue by driving my car, we drove another MY of the same configuration (same wheels and suspension MY LR DM), and it had the same issue. Whether it was as severe as mine, hard to say. He showed me how they adjust the rear door and explained the function of the different adjustments. Contrary to what is popularly said in the forums, he said the four rear door “stops,” however tightly they are adjusted, provide minimal rigidity to the door compared to the actual latch, the body-attached rectangular “loop” of which can be moved to adjust the degree to which the door presses down on the seals when it is closed. He explained that to make it more fixed in place, the latch can be moved “down” so that the door closes more tightly against the door seal. Before we adjusted the “loop,” the door stops on mine were already adjusted out to the point that paper could not be pulled out from between any one of them and the door without tearing it. Adjusting the loop to “tighten” the door closure is a game of moving the loop “down” to the point where the door is pulled down further when the closing mechanism “cranks” the door down, but not to the point that the closing mechanism (motor) is not powerful enough to close the door completely. So, I was surprised that he was able to move the loop down significantly without readjusting the stops and the door was still able to close. Thus, the rear door on my MY now closes MUCH more tightly than it did before I took it for service, visibly more tightly, because there is now noticeable misalignment between the door and the body around it, though it is not unsightly because it is symmetrical left and right.

Key question, though: did it help with the irritating low frequency sound? No. Not significantly anyway. Certainly not on roads where it was a noticeable issue before. So I’m not convinced it is the rear door that is the issue.

Next step may be to adjust the door so that it closes less tightly than before to see if that helps. I am curious whether the issue is as noticeable in a performance MY which has a different suspension. I’m also curious whether a different suspension such as an air suspension would help. In any case, I’m surprised Tesla makes a car in which such an issue exists, though obviously the MY is not the only car with the issue — MS suffers from it, too. I’m pretty busy so I can’t dedicate a huge amount of time to going for service over and over to try to resolve it, though I wonder if it could be escalated so that Tesla engineers would have a look at it. I’ll keep you all posted.

 

[mycroftxxx]

I don’t have this issue, but...

Has anybody tried turning the climate control to “recirculate” to see if it makes a difference? This sounds like low-frequency acoustic disturbances, which may be sensitive to the size of the resonant air mass inside the cabin, and closing the cabin off from the outside may affect the resonance.

ETA: the top of the rear cargo under-floor storage space could also possibly be resonating at a relatively low frequency; try putting something heavy on top of it? Or try putting some big blankets in the under-floor storage area as a primitive bass trap?

 

[Pianewman]

I've tried ALL of the above (except conditioning all of the seals, which have zero substance on them. Ditto the door latches: ZERO grease of any kind!), w/o appreciable change. I don't notice the buffeting as much as my wife and son do. They find it very disturbing.

We've got a couple of threads going on this topic. It would be nice if we could get them consolidated, to clarify all of the information we're trying to share.

 

[Pianewman]

Went out for a morning drive (checking heater...YAY, it works!), and now, after 35 miles of driving, I've got a bad case of tinnitus. I can't distinguish if the ear pain/ringing is caused by the low frequency grumble, or the constant high-pitched squeal?

 

[Ltjdangle911]

Ugh. I just took delivery on Sunday and the buffeting is nauseating. Literally don’t want to drive my new car.

Please tell me the service folks can actually fix this, because they already took a stab once (without any success) and I’m pretty sure they think I’m making the problem up.

Really not high on Tesla at the moment.

 

[elfunk]

My car has the same buffeting issue, it’s a 2022 MYP. Service center said they couldn’t reproduce the issue. Adjusted the knobs doesn’t seem to help. I also have a Model 3 that’s just fine.

 

[andaconda]

Join the club. I'm approaching 10k miles now, and have noticed that it has calmed down a little. Another thing that I noticed is that when we take a longer trip and fill the lower trunk, and tuck things in the side compartments the buffeting seems to diminish substantially. YMMV

 

[Pianewman]

Went out for a morning drive (checking heater...YAY, it works!), and now, after 35 miles of driving, I've got a bad case of tinnitus. I can't distinguish if the ear pain/ringing is caused by the low frequency grumble, or the constant high-pitched squeal?

Now at 23k miles, adjusted the hatch pads way back in Feb. 2021 (IIRC), which eliminated the buffeting.
No re-occurrence of the issue.

 

[ilovecoffee]

Ugh. I just took delivery on Sunday and the buffeting is nauseating. Literally don’t want to drive my new car.

Please tell me the service folks can actually fix this, because they already took a stab once (without any success) and I’m pretty sure they think I’m making the problem up.

Really not high on Tesla at the moment.

My car has the same buffeting issue, it’s a 2022 MYP. Service center said they couldn’t reproduce the issue. Adjusted the knobs doesn’t seem to help. I also have a Model 3 that’s just fine.

Join the club. I'm approaching 10k miles now, and have noticed that it has calmed down a little. Another thing that I noticed is that when we take a longer trip and fill the lower trunk, and tuck things in the side compartments the buffeting seems to diminish substantially. YMMV

Have you seen the ear pain/pressure thread? Lots of comments and discussions there.

There are several things you can do if adjusting the hatch stops didn't work for you (they didn't for me, and I was determined to solve the issue)

1) Rigid-ize your hatch stops. (with PVC caps, or with my 3D printed version if you have a 3D printer)
2) Rigid-ize your hatch gasket (for me personally, the best success)
3) Install sound deadening material in the rear wheel well BELOW the foam insulation, right onto the metal
4) Put tape on the hatch latch (not tested by anyone, but recently discussed, coming out of a Chinese YouTube video)
5) Coilovers ($$$$)

I've done 1-3 (and 5) and my car sounds like a normal car now.

 

[MyEarHurts]

Have you seen the ear pain/pressure thread? Lots of comments and discussions there.

There are several things you can do if adjusting the hatch stops didn't work for you (they didn't for me, and I was determined to solve the issue)

1) Rigid-ize your hatch stops. (with PVC caps, or with my 3D printed version if you have a 3D printer)
2) Rigid-ize your hatch gasket (for me personally, the best success)
3) Install sound deadening material in the rear wheel well BELOW the foam insulation, right onto the metal
4) Put tape on the hatch latch (not tested by anyone, but recently discussed, coming out of a Chinese YouTube video)
5) Coilovers ($$$$)

I've done 1-3 (and 5) and my car sounds like a normal car now.

Do you have any more info on the tap on the hatch latch?

I did the rigid hatch stops with pvc, noticed an improvement and #2, #3, #5. Believe or or not the coilovers wasn't worth doing for the sound alone, ride quality better but boominess was still there.