Model Y suspension popping sounds when turning into driveways.

[Rameen]

Has anyone experienced a knocking/ thumping sound coming from the front suspension when going up a driveway? I’ve noticed the steeper the driveway the louder the sound. As one wheel climb up the driveway it’s followed by one thump, then when the second wheel climbs up the driveway it’s followed by a second thump.

I took the vehicle to Tesla and they told me that the noise is being caused by the battery flexing, and that this type of noise is “normal”, although I’ve never experienced this in anyone else’s model Ys going up the same driveways new or old.

service told me that they could retrofit foam pads under the floorboard to mitigate the noise, but they claim its not a defect.

Here’s the iCloud link to the video of it and the sound.

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any thoughts?

 

[ElectricAnt54]

Doesn't sound normal to me. Mine makes a much more subdued type of noise occasionally when making a sharp turn up a sudden incline...and not always.

 

[Skavatar]

is everything stock? any aftermarket parts? how old is your Y?

 

[Rameen]

is everything stock? any aftermarket parts? how old is your Y?

It’s brand new. One month old

 

[Rameen]

They confirmed it’s normal and it’s just the sheet metal above the battery flexing when taking tight inclined turns

 

[ElectricAnt54]

They confirmed it’s normal and it’s just the sheet metal above the battery flexing when taking tight inclined turns

It is true, the metal above battery does flex & make noise. I’m in Los Angeles but maybe the weather in your area causes the metal to be stiffer or softer and more prone to noises . I’d take them up on the noise reduction offer. Maybe they forgot to add it in factory & we all have it .

 

[Rameen]

It is true, the metal above battery does flex & make noise. I’m in Los Angeles but maybe the weather in your area causes the metal to be stiffer or softer and more prone to noises . I’d take them up on the noise reduction offer. Maybe they forgot to add it in factory & we all have it .

I’m in OC, so same weather idk I’m over it. I guess it is what it is. They want to charge me to have the battery dropped and to retrofit foam pads to “mitigate” the noise— no guarantees that it’ll be completely gone.

 

[artsucksiquit]

I'm in Los Angeles and have a 2022 MYP, mine makes 2 clunking noise, one on each front wheel, when I turn onto my driveway, and it's been bothering me because it sounds more like a suspension issue. This has happened all the time despite weather/temp changes.
One data point for you is I took it into service for another issue, when turning the wheel all the way to the left and right, it makes a clicking sound.
They replaced lower control arm (lateral link) and my sound went away for a while. Turning onto driveway has been silent. Then several weeks later, the clunking sound came back.

From my googling, it could be the control arm bushing (lateral or compliant), swaybar endlinks, or upper control arm.
We also have a 2021 MYLR and it makes none of these sounds at all, that's why I'm not sure if battery flex is the actual cause, and also because all the sound went away when they fixed my initial issue.

I don't have a lift at home to easily diagnose this problem, and am weary of them charging me diagnostic fee...so I kinda just ignored it for now, but I really want them to honestly check all the suspension parts but not sure how to make them do it under warranty, without me paying.

 

[Rameen]

Yeah, it’s been really frustrating for me too— I took used several other model Ys to replicate the issue, and none of them did it, but then I go onto these forums and I hear the same exact thing that’s going on with mine is happening with others, so I don’t know.
Service told me that it’s a small percentage of them that do this, and that it’s “normal”, but it makes me feel like I’m breaking it when I go up driveways.
The car just hit 1500 miles, and it really sucks.

 

[artsucksiquit]

yea i'm at 20,000 miles now, wish i knew some honest mechanics and could take a look real quick to make sure suspensions are fine

 

[Rameen]

You can get someone to do a feel test as you’re slowing climbing the driveway or backing out, someone can feel the top of the control arm to see if that’s the source of the noise

 

[dollar-general]

Hey @Rameen & @artsucksiquit, I think we have the same issue! Did either of you ever get this serviced or fixed?

We picked up our MYLR at the end of December 2023 and almost immediately noticed the same. It also seemed to happen when pulling fast out of our driveway turning left (right front wheel loaded), and last week I finally noticed that when going over a speed bump with just the right side of the vehicle I would hear an initial "bump" from the front right while going over the bump, then again a re-setting "bump" 15-30 feet after the speed bump. This would only happen on the right side, and I could reliably replicate it every time I took a speed bump with the right side only (leaving left wheels on the flat part). Left side only would produce no thump, and neither would both sides of the car over the bump at the same time. I drove it onto some ramps at home to check all suspension & control arm linkages, and there were no loose bolts or connections that I could see. It went to the service center over the weekend and they diagnosed it as HV pack compression strips, which took a couple days for them to fix as they have to drop the pack off the vehicle. I got it back this morning and it seems to have fixed it, but I'll report back if not. They did break one of the plastic 2nd row seat rail protectors while doing the work, which they will be replacing during a mobile appointment next week. (I think the entire 2nd row seats had to come out, because the kids car seats and seat covers were all removed and in the trunk).

 

[tm1v2]

Our 2021 M3P had this issue of a clunk/thunk/pop from the battery pack sheet metal. For us it happened going up or down a long steep road, just once each time up or down. It could sometimes be felt through the floor by someone sitting in the rear passenger seat.

Tesla Service fixed it under warranty by dropping the pack and adding more insulation on top on the affected area.

A service advisor recognized the problem immediately when I described the symptoms and how I was certain it wasn't suspension. He explained the factory sometimes doesn't put enough insulation on top of the battery, they've seen it many times. To fix it they drop the pack and add more insulation, no big deal to them.

For actual warranty repair authorization to drop the pack they did have to repeat the issue themselves, they weren't allowed to just take my word for it, nor drop the pack for inspection if they hadn't repeated any symptom. I struggled to find a road near the service center that would trigger it, but later after I dropped off the car they managed to duplicate it and went ahead with the warranty repair.

I had video+audio of the thunk happening but that day of the service drop-off I didn't think to ask if video evidence would be sufficient for the warranty authorization. I had arrived under the impression that the detailed description of a known issue was sufficient, so the strict need for them to repeat it locally caught me off guard. I get why though and they clearly gave a real attempt at repeating it - successfully!

Since the repair we haven't driven the car on the road that most reliability triggered the thunk/pop (it's basically a road trip away), but the car immediately seemed quieter with less creaks just angling across deep driveway entrance dips, so I'm sure they did the repair as described and I'm pretty hopeful it's as fixed as can reasonably be.

 

[artsucksiquit]

@dollar-general , @tm1v2
Nope I haven't lol. Great to hear that fixes the problem! I'm really leaning towards to submit a ticket and have them fix it now.
Would you mind sharing how you submit the ticket, like which category and do you straight up say that the problem is from the battery pack flexing?
I'm always a little paranoid that they would deny the problem so wanted to make sure I increase the chance and have this fixed under warranty

 

[tm1v2]

In the service request I used Battery - Other category. I described the problem exactly as I observed it and didn't mention suspension.

 

[tm1v2]

I drove our Model 3 up that long steep road today, the road where it used to always pop/clunk once each time up or down.

This time there was no pop/clunk from the battery pack. It seems the fix was successful.

 

[Just Another Y]

@Rameen @tm1v2

If you look at my post history, I had this same issue back in '22 on my MYP. Took to service, had a tech in car to show them, then they took it in for insulation. They dropped the battery and added more insulation just like everyone else.
This fixed the issue for maybe 6 months. Then the sound/clunking came back.
I've had suspension checked and there are no issues with suspension. So it is likely adding more insulation does not fully fix the issue.
The reason I can say this is because there are several angled driveways in my area that will cause the sound. On my MYP, it always happens on turning into a steep inclined driveway.

 

[Pianewman]

Just Another Y: Are you certain it isn't the traction control crunching/grinding when turning sharply into a steeply inclined driveway? Mine has done this since day one, now at 52k miles.