Rattle noise coming from front Air Suspension (2017-18)

[Magellan55]

Would you care to post VIN of the loaner? You can skip last 5 symbols as that is the serial number.
This decoder might come in handy when you want to know about specification: VIN Decoder | TeslaTap

It would be interesting if you can post part numbers for both the airmodule and the shock (of the loaner) in the front! Thanks!

Only had it overnight a few weeks ago now, so I don't have it anymore. Yeah I think it had a nosecone. I was just using it as a reference to confirm my car definitely made a noise that other Tesla's didn't.

 

[bmah]

I might be mistaken but isn’t P85D pre facelift? It won’t be affected by the defect. So regardless of what parts it has you can’t presume they could or should resolve the rattle in the facelift cars.

Any Tesla with an 85 in its badge (as of this writing anyway) is pre refresh.

Bruce.

 

[Dragetreneren]

I'm very thankful that I found this thread. I've had this problem for about 8 months. It started after a few weeks of ownership and I initially though it may have been due to some storm damage that the car suffered early on in its life. That was almost 4 months getting fixed by the time the car was assessed, parts were shipped in, and the work was done. So, I didn't really think much of it. But when we FINALLY got the car back, the noise persisted. Then winter hit (not a proper Winter, a Melbourne Winter. 30F - 60F) and the noise got worse. These are a few of MY observations which agree with others' observations on here (hence there will be some repeats in this list).

1. The noise sounds like a popping noise. Not a rattle. It sounds a little plasticky, but also a little rubbery. It's not a rattle. I just wanted to stress that it's not a rattle because the numerous references to rattles in this thread is the main reason I kept on skipping over it since the noise isn't a rattle.

2. The noise is temperature related. This is something that I have seen touched on in this thread (but I started at about page 15), but not emphasized. The noise definitely reduces after driving around for a while and things heat up.

3. The noise is related to high frequency suspension movements. What do I mean by this? Shock Absorbers (or dampers) have high frequency valving and low frequency valving. Think of a high frequency as driving over cobblestones, and low frequency as driving over a speed hump. This noise, in my case, does not manifest itself with low frequency suspension movements, only high frequency.

4. The noise is not related to tire pressure. lower tire pressures will increase the damping properties of road noise, indicating that the noise is generated by something upstream of the tire/road interface (also previously noted on here)

5. The noise is not related to steering input. The noise manifests itself at a variety of steering positions

6. The noise is not a resonance. There is absolutely no quality in the noise that presents as any form of 1st harmonic resonance.

I've given a lot of though to this. I do a fair bit of mechanical fault finding in my daily job. I was recently tasked with finding a resonance in a gearbox which had no correlation to any gear or bearing fault frequency. Turns out the problem was a solvent contaminant in the gearbox which had stripped the internal lacquer coating from the castings and been deposited on the bearing races by the lube system, which had then interfered with the lubricant film to cause a resonance that manifested at a different frequency every time the gearbox was run.

Based on my experiences and the fact that the issue is temperature related, I believe the problem may be related to the internal high frequency valving in the damper. Some of the fixes mentioned in this post may mitigate some of the noise being transmitted to the cabin, but I don't believe it's a fix of the core problem which is supported by the fact that some people have experienced reduced noise, but not elimination of the noise.

It also seems that the only permanent fix has been a strut replacement which has worked for some, but if the replacement strut has the same defect, the problem persists and therefore others have had no rectification to their problem.

Then again, I could be completely wrong! But the noise definitely seems like a damped mechanical knock, with the damping giving it a plastic/rubber sound quality.

Found this educational video, thanks to your post and to the guys at who made the video:

Then I found this doc http://www.nttyres.com/downloads/guide_to_dyno_graphs.pdf

Would it be possible to request Force vs Displacement plot of the non-defective front shocks? Then we would just run a test Shock Dynamometer test and compare the results.

Tesla SC claims the issue has no effect on the driving comfort. It is very hard to agree with that! What do you think might be causing exactly high-speed valving deviation from the normal? Have you experienced cases with such defects having effect on the high-speed valving?

 

[Magellan55]

Doesn't sound / feel like a shock valving issue. Sounds like something is just loose. i don't feel anything in the steering wheel, seat, floor, etc. It just comes across as a little knocking sound, like it's not even associated with the suspension. I thought maybe a loose body panel, or bad bushing. What's really weird is I first heard it after removing the front license plate holder (replaced the screws), but the tech said that's probably just coincidence.

 

[Dragetreneren]

Doesn't sound / feel like a shock valving issue. Sounds like something is just loose. i don't feel anything in the steering wheel, seat, floor, etc. It just comes across as a little knocking sound, like it's not even associated with the suspension. I thought maybe a loose body panel, or bad bushing. What's really weird is I first heard it after removing the front license plate holder (replaced the screws), but the tech said that's probably just coincidence.

This is how mine started as well. Just a noise. Over the course of few weeks it developed and then I could clearly feel effect on the driving comfort. While I hoped that was not true I have confirmed the difference when I drove a loaner. Plus there is a clear dependency on the temperature. It does get worse as temperature goes 15 Celsius and lower.

 

[daktari]

I thought the plastic panels in the frunk was rattling.

 

[Dragetreneren]

I thought the plastic panels in the frunk was rattling.

Good that you mentioned that. If you read up this thread you will see there have been attempts to install specially designed components to eliminate the rattling part of the problem, although they failed given the core of the problem is not the rattle noise but [something] of a mechanical nature.

Very sad that not only there is no manifested solution but also no technical description of the problem. I am sure there are plenty of engineers that could be helpful in assisting with this!

 

[badboy1980]

I took my P100D in to the Service Centre (SC) recently and got it back the same day. You can see what they wrote!

This whole situation is a joke. You pay so much for a car and it sounds like a baby's rattle toy.

I asked the SC when there would be a 'fix' and they simple said we do not know, all that they know is that it is a 'known issue'! Like I said what a joke!

 

[Dragetreneren]

I took my P100D in to the Service Centre (SC) recently and got it back the same day. You can see what they wrote!

This whole situation is a joke. You pay so much for a car and it sounds like a baby's rattle toy.

I asked the SC when there would be a 'fix' and they simple said we do not know, all that they know is that it is a 'known issue'! Like I said what a joke! View attachment 332449

You are very welcome to report here Rattle noise coming from front suspension and if you share this questionary with those you know affected it will probably help to increase awareness of the problem. You will also be able to see the summary when you are done. We started this in the beginning of this summer since the situation has not been resolved for almost a year now. People are presented the same message all over the globe. No solution still.

 

[Dragetreneren]

ATTENTION! Today, 09.09 2018, 14:16 New York time, one of us from USA registered report in the questionary with registration year 2016. If this is a mistake then you can open your report again and set the correct year. You do not need to create a post (to keep your report anonymous), but it is important to keep the report correct. Thank you!

 

[Gentilly7]

I have this same problem. I will be reporting it toTesla soon. I will let everyone know what they say.

 

[aprm1024]

Wow, so many posts here, my car is 3K miles and 2 months old, and I think I have the same rattle noise, so upset that there seems to be no resolution, will take it to Tesla anyway

 

[kebel21]

2017 P90D with air suspension - rattle/flutter from front suspension on rough roads at low speeds (~10-20mph).

Tech from Highland Park, IL service center rode along with me on Monday and confirmed the noise. Also said he has seen a lot of cars come in with the same issue (he said only refresh Model S) and initially they tried replacing various parts. Nothing worked so they are waiting on Tesla to provide direction. He said he checks in from time to time on an engineering log of some sort.

He noted on my service order that noise is reproducible but no solution exists yet.

 

[smithy]

2 week old S 100D, same issue. I'll visit service centre so at least another case is logged

 

[hoschilo]

S75D, 7000km, same issue here from the very beginning. At the beginning is was dependent by ambient temperature but now it is easy to detect all the times. So all investigations and statements are pointing towards damping module whereas for me most resonable theory is the one with the "micro valve" . Frankly speaking I personally still got the feeling that it must be somehing else getting "actuated" by low amplitue with "high" frequency. Can't belive that there is no solution since more than one year now. I guess they are foccused on other topics with higher priorities....

 

[Mr.D]

27 pages and a lot of frustration!
The thing that bothers me the most is that despite my many mails and requests Tesla has yet to tell me what is wrong with my car!
They keep reassuring me that the car is safe to drive, however they can’t tell me what is wrong except “it’s a known issue, and engineering is working on it”. If it is a known issue for more than a year, and the error is not significant, why can’t they tell me what’s wrong?!

Is my car safe to drive?! Tesla says yes, but they also confirm SOMETHING is wrong with my car, but fails to tell me what!

In Norway there is a consumer law saying that a manufacturer has 3 chances to fix an error (must be done within a reasonable time frame, Tesla is already past this) if not the consumer can void the contract and demand a re-delivery or get a full refund (this if the error is significant). But since they fail to tell me what’s wrong, how can one determine if the error is significant!?! Also, how can I know for sure the car is still safe to drive?

Has anyone EVER gotten an explanation from Tesla saying what is wrong?

 

[Dragetreneren]

27 pages and a lot of frustration!
The thing that bothers me the most is that despite my many mails and requests Tesla has yet to tell me what is wrong with my car!
They keep reassuring me that the car is safe to drive, however they can’t tell me what is wrong except “it’s a known issue, and engineering is working on it”. If it is a known issue for more than a year, and the error is not significant, why can’t they tell me what’s wrong?!

Is my car safe to drive?! Tesla says yes, but they also confirm SOMETHING is wrong with my car, but fails to tell me what!

In Norway there is a consumer law saying that a manufacturer has 3 chances to fix an error (must be done within a reasonable time frame, Tesla is already past this) if not the consumer can void the contract and demand a re-delivery or get a full refund (this if the error is significant). But since they fail to tell me what’s wrong, how can one determine if the error is significant!?! Also, how can I know for sure the car is still safe to drive?

Has anyone EVER gotten an explanation from Tesla saying what is wrong?

I am in the same situation. I could ignore the problem at first but back then it was a minimal rattle. Now the problem is more prominent and I cannot take for granted what seems to be a centrally coordinated feedback from service centers around the globe. No explanation and no solution.

It does seem to me that Tesla is lucking focus on this problem and continues delivering TMS with it unresolved. I cannot tell for sure if his problem is in cars that are being delivered today, but I did start to wonder.

This whole situation is just so sad. How can Elon Musk allow this to happen at all? I cannot believe he is aware of this problem.

 

[Dragetreneren]

2 week old S 100D, same issue. I'll visit service centre so at least another case is logged

I will repost questionary for you and anyone you know. Let us use our networks to nail this. We need in a peaceful manner to attract more attention.
Rattle noise coming from front suspension

 

[Axael]

I've got the same issue, but also some kind of "click" sound at low speed, when turning the steering wheel. Also comes from the front.

The SC told me they identified the noise but that the part was "in production" in the US at this time.

 

[CaliSol]

I just received notice from Tesla that they have a guaranteed solution now and will be rolling it out to service centers, pending parts. Fingers crossed.