Need help isolating rattle

[240vPlug]

I have a rattle that I’m trying to isolate and have been unsuccessful thus far.

My best guess is either the window or the door latch on the driver side as what it sounds like. It’s intermittent and only happens at speeds below 40 Mph

Passenger can’t hear it and it’s most evident on roads that have multiple small bumps. Seems like it’s coming from driver front door or fender but I’ve already ruled out anything with the wheel well and all wires in the frunk area are secure.

It’s driving me crazy and I need ideas to help me pinpoint the cause.

 

[thaita]

Could be seatbelt like mine

 

[240vPlug]

Could be seatbelt like mine

Great work there! Any audio of what the rattle sounds like?

 

[Q-ship]

I have a rattle that I’m trying to isolate and have been unsuccessful thus far.

My best guess is either the window or the door latch on the driver side as what it sounds like. It’s intermittent and only happens at speeds below 40 Mph

Passenger can’t hear it and it’s most evident on roads that have multiple small bumps. Seems like it’s coming from driver front door or fender but I’ve already ruled out anything with the wheel well and all wires in the frunk area are secure.

It’s driving me crazy and I need ideas to help me pinpoint the cause.

Is the side mirror loose? I had a rattle due to this. Fixed by mobile service.

 

[240vPlug]

Is the side mirror loose? I had a rattle due to this. Fixed by mobile service.

I don’t think so. I checked that by tapping different places. What I’m doing is using my GoPro and will move it around over the course of several days or weeks to try and isolate where it is coming from. I started today with the seatbelt adjuster. It has to be something in close proximity to my ear because passengers can’t hear it.

 

[240vPlug]

OK well I think it is coming from the small speaker on top of the door. What do you all think? It is much louder in the driver seat. It is intermittent so it doesn't do it on every bump. You can hear it really well at the 1:00 mark.

 

[labmixz]

I've got a weird rattle on the passenger side. I'm about to put in a service appointment for it, but haven't yet. From what I've noticed it's between the passenger door armrest and the pillar. Putting some foam between that gap stops the rattle. So, awkward, but today I'm fairly certain I notices the speaker on the passenger side door basically farting on the bass, which could cause some additional "rattle" depending how that speaker is going out. Without taking the door apart (which I'm fine doing) I can't be for certain, but I am going to do some tests and isolate which speaker on that side it is. Hopefully I can identify it before then make a service appointment and make things far easier on the tech.

 

[jcanoe]

Take a rubber mallet and start tapping.

 

[240vPlug]

I took the door panel off, used some foam weather stripping and fixed the missing foam around the plastic do well nearest the a pillar. I think the sound was wire hitting up against the plastic that separates the inner part from the outer part of the door. Will see tomorrow how good of a job I did. A lot of the clips were stuck in the door. I had to use a trim removal tool to get them out and put them on the panel where they belong.

 

[240vPlug]

Well I have good news and bad news. Good news is that the door is now completely silent. The bad news is I still have a noise. I can clearly hear the noise now sounds like its coming from either the wheel well or belly pan. Sounds like a hollow plastic sound so I don't think its suspension related at all. I will continue troubleshooting as time allows. I am going to look at the flimsy belly pan and the driver side wheel well also. I know its not the frunk because I already had the funk out and there is nothing loose in there.

 

[MickY]

Well I have good news and bad news. Good news is that the door is now completely silent. The bad news is I still have a noise. I can clearly hear the noise now sounds like its coming from either the wheel well or belly pan. Sounds like a hollow plastic sound so I don't think its suspension related at all. I will continue troubleshooting as time allows. I am going to look at the flimsy belly pan and the driver side wheel well also. I know its not the frunk because I already had the funk out and there is nothing loose in there.

Can you take a video of the rattle? Perhaps place your phone near to where the rattle comes from and record.

 

[240vPlug]

Can you take a video of the rattle? Perhaps place your phone near to where the rattle comes from and record.

I may try to attach GoPro to front suspension but first I am trying reduing the tire pressure. It has been intermittent and wife seems to think its road noise. Anyway now it sounds like something rattling near my feet under the car but only on uneven roads. What I did notice is my tire pressures were all 44-45 psi when this was happening.

In my 2021 LR when temps got hotter and tire pressure went up ride quality suffered significantly even with only a couple psi change and would ride super harsh and skip all over the road on bumps. I have adjusted the cold pressure down to 39 psi so that when it heats up is still at or below 42 psi. Will see if this improves things. I am now noticing the sound up to about 50 mph but again it isn't loud enough to hear it over the audio system and its still intermittent so I am concerned service will not be able to reproduce.

 

[240vPlug]

New Video. You can really hear it well in this one. I have an appointment on the 31st for service. It sounds like the strut. What do you all think?

 

[EVer Hopeful]

My rattle was the pax side seat belt connector impinging on the B pillar. If I reach out and fool with it it seems to go away. It (obviously) happens after I've had a pax in there

Not necessarily helpful here to be sure, but perhaps worth mentioning

 

[240vPlug]

My rattle was the pax side seat belt connector impinging on the B pillar. If I reach out and fool with it it seems to go away. It (obviously) happens after I've had a pax in there

Not necessarily helpful here to be sure, but perhaps worth mentioning

Mine is not the seatbelt holder. It does it when I have a passenger in there. The passenger cannot hear the sound. If I turn up the audio I can't hear it either but something feels off with the steering. Through the steering wheel it feels like something is loose if that makes sense. I have noticed the car seems to have a very slight delay in steering response as well. So if I start to turn the wheel car doesn't respond instantly like my 2021 LR did. There is a slight delay and then when it does respond to responds too much which causes me to have to correct in the other direction. Its not severe but the car only has 6,000 miles on it. Taking it in on the 31st.

 

[dagug]

Mine is not the seatbelt holder. It does it when I have a passenger in there. The passenger cannot hear the sound. If I turn up the audio I can't hear it either but something feels off with the steering. Through the steering wheel it feels like something is loose if that makes sense. I have noticed the car seems to have a very slight delay in steering response as well. So if I start to turn the wheel car doesn't respond instantly like my 2021 LR did. There is a slight delay and then when it does respond to responds too much which causes me to have to correct in the other direction. Its not severe but the car only has 6,000 miles on it. Taking it in on the 31st.

Have you tried checking if you're missing your control arm nuts? If your steering feels like something is loose and you're getting a knocking sound while driving, it seems to me this could be a potential culprit... Maybe a shot in the dark but worth checking either way now that it is a known issue in the community.

Be aware! Missing Control Arm Nut: Potential Safety Issue

[MODERATOR NOTE: Please stick to the facts do not clutter the thread with chatter or hyperbole. Thanks.] Please check the tie rods under your Model Y so that they are securely in place! We noticed the other day that our Model Y's (VIN 0307xx, barely a month old) front right tire was pointing...

teslamotorsclub.com

If you don't know where to look, here is my quick "dummy's" guide. If you can't see under there well, try turning your wheels and peek under the car behind the front wheels. It's probably easiest if you turn your wheel all the way to the left to check the left side and look from under the front bumper. Vice versa for the right (turn wheel to the right). Look behind the wheel, there should be a couple horizontal metal bars attached to each other and that whole assembly eventually leads up into the car. Where the horizontal pieces are bolted together, they should all have nuts attached at the bottom. If any of them don't, that's no bueno and I'd have Tesla tow the vehicle and fix immediately.

Here is a good image from that thread of what you should be looking for (not my image). This image is correct - notice the nuts at the end of the bolts

 

[240vPlug]

wow! yeah my nuts are there. in my limited inspection with car on ground I can't find anything off. I am leaning toward a problem with the strut because the problem started at about 2500 miles and was intermittent at speeds below 40mph. Now at 6,500 the noise is present all the time on uneven roads at speeds below 55 mph. I thought about rocking the car up and down in my garage from within the frunk area but I don't want to break anything. I checked all the lugs as well a retorqued them to 129 lb ft. At very low speed sharp turns there is occasionally a noise in the same area but its more like a pop sound than the loose part sound while driving.

 

[dagug]

When you hit the brakes hard do you feel the car trying to lurch forward? Alternatively when you hit the gas hard, does it feel almost squishy like the car is trying to squat down? Those are usually typical signs that you've got a damaged strut - though... 2500 miles is significantly early for those types of problems.

Do you find there's any weird sounds or knocking when making tight turns? Maybe some issue with your steering rack? This would likely be an issue if your turning feels too tight and/or you have grinding sounds when turning. You didn't mention grinding sounds so this might not be it.

Another possible area of damage are your control arm/bushings? If the bushings are loose, you might feel like turning response is off and have clunky noises on bumps cause it's knocking against other metal parts. Bushings are a "wear and tear" part so with the low number of miles you have, this is more likely than a busted strut or something. Control arm issues will reveal themselves if you hear knocking sounds over small bumps. Though, your video doesn't sound quite as severe. Do you find your alignment feels off and you're pulling one way or the other? Check your tire wear as well - not sure how many miles you have now but if you've put a decent number of miles on since the issue started, you might end up with uneven wear if this is an issue...

I also find it odd that you're only having these issues at lower speeds. Usually suspension issues get magnified at high speeds. What you're describing sounds like something is loose (esp what you're saying about delayed response in turning) but I would have expected you to have crazy rattling or difficulty controlling your steering at high speeds in that case.

From the very limited info, if I had to make a wild guess, I'd say maybe something wrong with your bushings. Seems most likely but it's still a shot in the dark really.

 

[240vPlug]

When you hit the brakes hard do you feel the car trying to lurch forward? Alternatively when you hit the gas hard, does it feel almost squishy like the car is trying to squat down? Those are usually typical signs that you've got a damaged strut - though... 2500 miles is significantly early for those types of problems.

Do you find there's any weird sounds or knocking when making tight turns? Maybe some issue with your steering rack? This would likely be an issue if your turning feels too tight and/or you have grinding sounds when turning.

Another possible area of damage are your control arm/bushings? Those issues will show themselves if you hear knocking sounds over small bumps. Though, your video doesn't sound quite as severe. Do you find your alignment feels off and you're pulling one way or the other? Check your tire wear as well - not sure how many miles you have now but if you've put a decent number of miles on since the issue started, you might end up with uneven wear if this is an issue...

I also find it odd that you're only having these issues at lower speeds. Usually suspension issues get magnified at high speeds. What you're describing sounds like something is loose (esp what you're saying about delayed response in turning) but I would have expected you to have crazy rattling or difficulty controlling your steering at high speeds in that case.

Does seem like a little jolt when starting out and I don’t notice any additional squatting when braking/regen va how my LR behaved. The steering is possible as it does feel vague on the highway. The rattling is much more obvious then what it shown in the video. I will say that one day I was turning the wheel back and forth quickly to try and determine if something was loose in the suspension. After I did that the sound went away for a while only to return and this time louder and more obvious.

It also sounds like it could be a bump stop. I feel like I’m going crazy but I owned a 21 LR for 18 months and something just doesn’t feel right. Seems to hit harder now then when it was new.

I noticed the noise on a road trip back from Disney at the end of July. Car had about 2,500 miles on it then. I have about 6,500 on it now.

Could be wheel bearing too because it’s especially bad after I have driven it on the highway and I return to surface roads.

 

[240vPlug]

Well update. Tesla service says they test drove car and didn’t hear any abnormal noises. They checked ithe steering and suspension on the lift and didn’t find any problem.

I switched the steering into standard mode out of sport. Wife and daughter seem to think it’s road noise. It very well could be that I’m just hearing the frequency of this sound more. The performance model does seem to have more road noise then my LR did.

While I think it’s abnormal the fact is it isn’t really evident on video and Tesla says nothing is wrong so I will need to evaluate if it gets worse. May have to stick a GoPro up in the frunk area to see if I can capture more of the sound.

Thank you folks for sharing all your ideas and thoughts on what this might be. I’m one of those people that certain noises will drive me absolutely crazy.