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

[Ohm’s Law]

My front end rattle persists.

The service center previously told me that the rattle was coming from my headlights. (seriously) They said they had the car on the lift and could not reproduce the sound by smacking the underside of the tires but that it was reproducible when they tapped the headlights. Now, the headlights do have a bit of a rattle (as shown in video) so I removed the bumper skin and both headlights. The sound persists with the headlights and bumper skin removed. (as seen in video).
Now that my car is at 68k miles, I am out of warranty and I am faced with having the service center re-diagnose the noise to the tune of $175.

I checked over everything in the front suspension for looseness (including sway bar links) and found nothing. I think the struts themselves will prove to be the culprit.

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[james kim]

My 2017 100D also has the dreaded suspension rattle. I noticed in the first week and has been confirmed 4 times by Tesla service staff. Having spent twice the amount for this car, compared to all my other car purchases, the last thing I expected was an unresolved rattle. This takes a lot of the shine off the experience for me, and instead of being proud I'm actually feeling depressed when I honestly answer the question: "How do you like your new Tesla?"

The noise is very evident on rough pavement or unpaved roads at any speed and I have had the car in twice and had it confirmed by test drives two other times. Known problem. We're working on it. Don't know when we'll have the solution. Trust us.

My dream car is a lemon, and I've told them that. I'll give them 5 months more, and then will be claiming my rights under the state's lemon law for a full refund.

I couldn’t agree more with you. It was very painful to hear that loud rattle on my brand new $1000G car. With numerous visits to SC and changing steering units the noise was still there, but after replacing “air suspension units” in both sides, the rattle has completely gone on mine.
It seems the rattle is caused by not a sigle problem, but from various issues.

 

[cruiserlarry]

Got mine back from the service center today...one issue was the low speed rattling in the front suspension...they did a cursory inspection / re torque of the suspension, but admitted this issue is in the engineering dept waiting for a solution. They notated the issue in my file so I'll be contacted when a solution is found, and so it is covered regardless of the state of my warranty...It was not sway bar end link or control arm related - as mentioned by others, it seems to be an issue with the strut assemblies / mounts. Just not sure why this issue would take so long to deconstruct to come up with a fix.

 

[Daniellane]

Yes, gone, but it’s only been four days, although I do expect it will be permanent.

It’s amazing to me how quiet the car is now — it must have been generating other noises beyond the rattle I was hearing.

Still gone?

 

[BPTNH]

Mine is not back yet - how many miles till your re-appeared.
Our other S with the same problem but worries going in next week.

We have a 2017 s75D 16K miles (no adjustable suspension) and a 2018 SP100D with 1k miles. 75D is rock solid and quiet. P100 is a rattle mobile - front passenger side. At Tesla now and it sounds like they are doing the usual air shock replacement. We'll see.

 

[Larry66216]

Tesla replaced my air struts and I got my car back a bit ago. Still SOME noise there vs the P85 coil spring loaner I had. I drove them, one immediately after the other when the porter was here and, while it seems to be much improved, the older P85 has no noise in comparison to my 75D air strut car. I'm wondering if it's a built in feature or bug on all Model S air strut vehicles or not. I took the car and will see if it gets worse or not.

 

[jelloslug]

Tesla replaced my air struts and I got my car back a bit ago. Still SOME noise there vs the P85 coil spring loaner I had. I drove them, one immediately after the other when the porter was here and, while it seems to be much improved, the older P85 has no noise in comparison to my 75D air strut car. I'm wondering if it's a built in feature or bug on all Model S air strut vehicles or not. I took the car and will see if it gets worse or not.

Remember, coil cars have the same noise.

 

[Doanster1]

I will be checking mine ASAP also however, I think the sound that mine is making sounds like sheet metal is involved. More like a jingle, but I also have a clunk coming from the front end when I am straightening the wheels after a turn. This is also a low speed issue as far as I can tell.
If the sway bar it loose, any idea what the torque spec should be?

This noise is a known issue and one I just had fixed (partially) yesterday. They didn’t have the parts in stock (strange since it’s just new bolts and shims), so I’ll be going back soon, but they must’ve just re-tightened things in the meantime because the clunking/popping is completely gone.
Have your SC refer to the SB mentioned and at least one of your noise issues should go away.
There is a more recent vid on YouTube from a ‘15 Car I believe with the exact same noises created on command.

Steering "Click" at stop and low speed--normal or not

 

[artsci]

Still gone?

Yes, the rattle has not reappeared.

 

[CaliSol]

Just dropped off my car (MS 90D July 2017 build with air suspension) at the SC with several issues, including this rattle, which I’ve had since taking delivery. I receieved a loaner MS 75 (mid-2017 build, coil suspension) and it is devoid of THE RATTLE. The cabin was so nice and quiet on my drive home, even through the pockmarked San Francisco streets! HALLELUJAH! Can’t wait until there’s a fix!

 

[Moshne]

My 2017 100D also has the dreaded suspension rattle. I noticed in the first week and has been confirmed 4 times by Tesla service staff. Having spent twice the amount for this car, compared to all my other car purchases, the last thing I expected was an unresolved rattle. This takes a lot of the shine off the experience for me, and instead of being proud I'm actually feeling depressed when I honestly answer the question: "How do you like your new Tesla?"

The noise is very evident on rough pavement or unpaved roads at any speed and I have had the car in twice and had it confirmed by test drives two other times. Known problem. We're working on it. Don't know when we'll have the solution. Trust us.

My dream car is a lemon, and I've told them that. I'll give them 5 months more, and then will be claiming my rights under the state's lemon law for a full refund.

This is how I'm feeling as well. I've had it since September, they've been trying to fix it for several months. Today they told me it's the steering rack and they have to engineer a new part to fix it.

So I'm supposed to just wait it out?

 

[jelloslug]

This is how I'm feeling as well. I've had it since September, they've been trying to fix it for several months. Today they told me it's the steering rack and they have to engineer a new part to fix it.

So I'm supposed to just wait it out?

I have been since the beginning of 2017...

 

[dsp1207]

I have the same issue on my S75D that I got in March. Just showed it to the technician today and they said the same. They're trying to source a new part that will fix the noise, but he said he's not expecting a solution anytime soon. Also, they're not replacing the part since it's too expensive and would probably not solve the issue. The whole thing really is a bit of a letdown, because at low speed on an imperfect road, it sounds like I'm driving some clunker.

 

[daktari]

Mine is in at service now, technician said they know the noise very well from newer cars and engineering is on it. The interesting thing though, he said it sounds kind of similar to a sway bar issue, but has nothing to do with the sway bar.

 

[Daniel-RedS]

Heard a rattle noise a few weeks ago when parked and changing the air suspension (never heard it before bc I was always playing music) and after seeing topic, I figured my 2017 MS was having a similar issue to some of us here. Took it to a SC in Netherlands yesterday, the engineer who listened to it immediately knew the 'rattle sound' came from the brakes when braking / in HOLD mode and you change the air suspension - basically the brake pads are holding on to the disc, when changing the suspension the brake clips/pads are moving but the disc obviously isn't. The engineer explained that more people aren't used to this noise (also because the car is so silent) but according to him this sound is normal for any car with adjustable air suspension.

Felt kinda dumb going there for no issue but happy with the service and good to know there's nothing wrong. Perhaps this is the case for more of us around here, in that case there's nothing wrong with the air suspension! We took a little drive and everything sounded normal when driving.

 

[jelloslug]

Mine is in at service now, technician said they know the noise very well from newer cars and engineering is on it. The interesting thing though, he said it sounds kind of similar to a sway bar issue, but has nothing to do with the sway bar.

Yep, I had the noise very early on and they replaced the steering rack with no real change. I tested to see if the sway bar is causing the issue and found that it's not the problem either.

 

[Super Dude]

My late 14 P85D with air suspension has the same problem. Clicking/popping at low speeds. Especially noticeable when starting or stopping but also when going over speed bumps. I'm not the original owner but the service records show steering column or rack were already replaced as well as all shocks. Guess that didn't fix it. I'll have to go to SC soon anyway but I'll report back as to what Devon says. Happy I'm not alone on this one.

 

[daktari]

Well I guess all pre-facelift cars do not have the same
issue as many of us with low milage, new cars. Remember, this noise is there at brand new cars, from delivery.

Older, longer milage cars could probably have issues with links, sway bars and steering racks that kind of sound similar but are not.

 

[kcarr0054]

My S75D Dec. 2017 with Air Struts has had the RATTLE too since brand new. The day I picked it up I thought I heard something even as I was leaving the delivery center but soon was on the freeway going home at speed and of course did not notice till I slowed down for the pavers into my subdivision.

Even the 2018 MS loaner I got had the same rattle. I thought I was back in my car.

Irritating, annoying and very frustrating.

 

[jelloslug]

My S75D Dec. 2017 with Air Struts has had the RATTLE too since brand new. The day I picked it up I thought I heard something even as I was leaving the delivery center but soon was on the freeway going home at speed and of course did not notice till I slowed down for the pavers into my subdivision.

Even the 2018 MS loaner I got had the same rattle. I thought I was back in my car.

Irritating, annoying and very frustrating.

You will soon learn to love the rattle, with it soothing hollow echo and seemingly random cadence.