Periodic vibration/shaking of car above 65 mph

[tjhmax]

I have a 2018 Model S 100D. For about 1-2 weeks I am getting this strange periodic vibration/shaking of the car above 65-70 mph. At constant speed, 75 mph for example, every 100 seconds I get this vibration/shaking of the whole car (NOT the steering wheel). It feels like in a massage chair. That vibration is about 6-10 Hz.
It comes and goes regularly. I feel it get strong and then lessens with a period of 100 seconds. For 50 seconds I feel nothing, then it comes on, gets stronger, and then weaker. I feel it for 50 seconds then. Every 100 seconds, like clockwork at constant speed.

At 75-80 mph the vibration is stronger and faster, about same 100 second period...hard to tell

I balanced all 4 wheels, but no effect.

As anyone ever had this issue? If yes, what was the problem and fix?

 

[Broken]

This is a common issue, get your half-shafts (driveshaft) replaced.

 

[N..8]

As Broken said you may have a bad Half-shaft. It's crazy to think that a new car could have one but not completely uncommon even with other cars. I have a Volvo C30 Polestar edition, I had a CV joint go bad a few years ago. When they replaced the half-shaft I noticed on hard acceleration that the car would have a vibration. After the car was looked over way too many times they just replaced the half-shaft and the problem went away. Come to figure out that the inner CV joints slide in and out to make up for the geometry changes and under hard acceleration would bind up and cause a vibration type event. Your 100 is putting out good amount of torque on those shafts so it could be the cause of the issue.

 

[tjhmax]

This is a common issue, get your half-shafts (driveshaft) replaced.

Thanks for your reply. I looked at all comments about the half shafts. All are related to vibration during acceleration. Mine does not have that issue. My vibration comes and goes every 100 seconds, no acceleration, just constant speed. It is so regular, I can set my watch by it. Really strange.

 

[SpudLime]

Timing makes think maybe something to do with your air shocks.

What speed do you have it set to go low?

Maybe one of the air shocks is malfunctioning at the low setting and every 100 seconds it’s trying to compensate.

 

[EVSteve]

If the feeling is not in the wheel then it’s something in the rear.

Put the car in Jack mode and see if the vibration pace changes or goes away. Jack mode disables the air suspension. If anything changes then air suspension is likely the cause per Spud.

 

[tjhmax]

I have set air suspension to lower at 80 mph. I tried running car at low and standard...vibration still the same.
Last night on a long trip the vibration comes and goes every 40 seconds. Very regular.
Did not check Jack mode, but I thought as soon as car moves it disables Jack mode.

 

[Silent Ludicrosy]

Have you checked your lug nut torque?

 

[Destiny1701]

I had this issue on my former 2016 90D and drove me nuts. After half shafts, full shaft, they also changed all the motor mounts. Nothing worked.

I then had the wheels individually road force balanced and found out one rim was slightly out of round. It would balance aok as the tire with weights would compensate for it but at higher speeds I would get the same in and out vibration which never went away. Rim was changed and it solved 70% of it. Have you run the car with a completelydifferent set of rims and tires?

In the end I ended up trading the 90D back in as I couldn’t keep dealing with the constant SC visits and no resolution.

Have you looked into the front bumper vibration issue? There is a posted fix for it. The off and on vibration could also be linked to that issue.

 

[EVSteve]

I have set air suspension to lower at 80 mph. I tried running car at low and standard...vibration still the same.
Last night on a long trip the vibration comes and goes every 40 seconds. Very regular.
Did not check Jack mode, but I thought as soon as car moves it disables Jack mode.

Even on low or standard the system is still attempting to level the car by adding or removing air from the suspension.

 

[tjhmax]

Lug nuts were fine. I don’t have access to different wheels, but I moved the rear left tire from back to the front. The vibration seemed to come from there. The vibration seems to follow the tire but need to do more drive tests.
This tire picked up a screw 15000 miles ago and was patched at that time. My theory is that the tread might be separating. I think my air suspension is more active than I imagined and tries to compensate for the bouncing, but not quite designed to do that but is trying...hence the periodic vibration and calm times.
The periodic vibration is still there with the tire in front, but rather the back of my seat vibrating every minute or so, my thigh area vibrates now... not as annoying.. feels more like running over a rough road every minute or so.
I am hesitant to shell out $ 400 for a new tire until I am more convinced. (The tire looks perfectly normal and hand spins with no visible bumps looking from the side)
If my theory is right and I had coil springs, this would be a slam dunk. It would vibrate all the time at high speed. It feels like the bad tire my wife’s Lexus had. Took a year to diagnose by chance!...had to replace the worn out tires and the vibration went away. Tech commented that the Lexus tire had a bubble.

Any thought from anyone? I let you know what I find out.

 

[SpudLime]

If it changed with moving the wheel, then it’s the wheel. Fix however you see fit.

 

[Destiny1701]

I had this issue on my former 2016 90D and drove me nuts. After haft shafts, full shaft, they also changed all the motor mounts. Nothing worked.
I then had the wheels individually road force balanced and found out one rim was slightly out of round. It would balance aok as the tire with weights would compensate for it but at higher speeds I would get the same in and out vibration which never went away. Rim was changed and it solved 50% of it.

Lug nuts were fine. I don’t have access to different wheels, but I moved the rear left tire from back to the front. The vibration seemed to come from there. The vibration seems to follow the tire but need to do more drive tests.
This tire picked up a screw 15000 miles ago and was patched at that time. My theory is that the tread might be separating. I think my air suspension is more active than I imagined and tries to compensate for the bouncing, but not quite designed to do that but is trying...hence the periodic vibration and calm times.
The periodic vibration is still there with the tire in front, but rather the back of my seat vibrating every minute or so, my thigh area vibrates now... not as annoying.. feels more like running over a rough road every minute or so.
I am hesitant to shell out $ 400 for a new tire until I am more convinced. (The tire looks perfectly normal and hand spins with no visible bumps looking from the side)
If my theory is right and I had coil springs, this would be a slam dunk. It would vibrate all the time at high speed. It feels like the bad tire my wife’s Lexus had. Took a year to diagnose by chance!...had to replace the worn out tires and the vibration went away. Tech commented that the Lexus tire had a bubble.

Any thought from anyone? I let you know what I find out.

Goto your SC and have them put on a matching rim/tire. They usually have some kicking around for any issues with loaners, inventory cars etc. Then go for a test drive. That’s how they initially diagnosed one of my rims was out of round.

It may be a tire or a rim. I’d get them to road force balance with tire on and also spin the rim to check for any shimmying, weight imbalance.

If it’s a tire, perhaps find a used one to match your existing tire tread, or else better to buy 2 matching.

Not a good idea to drive with 3 tires used and 1 new.

 

[T3SLA90D]

I had a similar problem with my then new 2016 MS90D and here’s what fixed it according to the service invoice description.
“Technician found contact between lower duct and radiator support causing vibration.
Corrections: Fascia Assembly - Front
R/R front fascia to reinforce lower duct.”

What has been also reported was a bad front bumper design causing the bumper to vibrate with the wind at high speed and the vibration gets transmitted to the car. This can be solved by applying foam behind the bumper by service center. In my case however they initially attempted this but didn’t work.

I hope this helps.

 

[tjhmax]

PROBLEM SOLVED:
It was one of the tires. 6 months ago I had this tire patched (nail went thru thread).
Inside the tire is a 2 inch thick foam ring for extra sound damping. They had to cut a piece of foam out to put the patch down.
Over the last 6 month the foam ring came loose and bunched up on one "side". Tire went out of balance. After rebalancing, foam moved and bunched up somewhere else causing an imbalance again, etc. Tire shop thought it was the rim (it was not)
My air suspension tried to compensate for this imbalance. This caused the vibration (not steering wheel, but the whole car) to increase and decrease sinusoidally with a period of 60-100 seconds depending on time of day.
THE FIX:
Tire shop removed the foam. No more vibration problem.

 

[TeslrDP123]

I have this same problem, first I had a contain shake in the back. Tesla SC balanced all my wheels. They said one wheel has a nail and I paid them to patch it. That was two weeks ago. Two days ago driving on a nice smooth highway is started shaking and then I noticed it would smooth out a very short time and start shaking again. Front drivers side. It must be the same type of issue you had. I have an appointment in two weeks with the SC but really just want it fixed, thinking a tire place can resolve it now.

 

[jjanov79]

Exact same thing happened to the foam in one of my tires. I had a nail hole patched and over time the foam delaminated. New tire fixed the problem.