Rear Drive Unit Failed

[ummagawd]

*UPDATE*

I got a text message on a saturday saying my car was ready and could be picked up "today or tomorrow". I replied back saying I'd come "tomorrow". Tomorrow would have been Sunday and my app said my car was still "in service mode" so I tried calling to confirm before I made the hour long drive to the SC. NO answer, and after looking up the business hours on google... concluded that they were closed.

On Tuesday morning, I got a text saying that my rep had been out of town and her coworkers texted me on accident. Whatever. The important thing was that my car was ready. I show up, ask questions... all anyone knows (and all that the paperwork says) is that the rear drive unit had a "fault" and that it was replaced. They did a courtesy inspection, topped off washer fluid, did some FW updates and did a factory reset/calibration, and was told that the car was driven/monitored for a day after the replacement.

So far, everything feels/drives great. I *think* my car is actually faster than before. However, that's either 1 of 2 things.... either I just got used to driving a 75D for the past week, or perhaps my original rear drive unit wasn't performing 100% leading up to the failure. But my guess is that I just got used to driving the S.

Total time from when the car came in to when I picked up was 11 days. There appears to be damage to the soft/rubber padding at the very bottom/edge of the front bumpers (assuming from the tow). Tow hook cover def show signs of a tool used to pop off. No mention about the aftermarket sub/amp I had in there.

Now that I got the "bad luck" outta the way.... I think my tesla will be smooth sailin' from here!

 

[ryanexpress19]

Just had my experience with the RDU failure. Got in the car this morning to a warning that the rear unit was disabled and acceleration may be affected. I rolled back 5 feet in my driveway, heard a loud thud and shudder, and then the car stopped on a dime and gave a message that the car has been disabled. Couldn't shift into any gear other than park - called roadside and they towed me to the service center. Haven't gotten a diagnosis, but by this thread, that's the issue. It was undriveable, and could only move in tow mode. Have had the car 7 months - model 3. About a month ago, I had the issue of a high pitch squeal when driving at low speeds - went away but they looked at it at the service center and replaced part of the brake system. So quite a bit of work for a short period of time...

 

[ryanexpress19]

*UPDATE*

Confirmed that the rear drive unit and a few other components that connect to the functionality of the HV battery pack will need to be replaced. Will be about a week for the unit to come in and a couple days to install.

 

[ummagawd]

good luck man.... mine has been flawless since the new RDU

 

[Chris350]

I sit in the same boat...

Started getting "car needs service, car may not restart".... The error would clear everytime I would place the car in park, as the car would do a power cycle.

Took it in to have it checked.... was told it was a software issue and would clear when I got an update.... Got an update.... same errors..

Took it back in, left it (got a loaner) and 24 hours later, I'm told the drive unit needed to be replaced...

That was back on 7/10... Tesla tells me that I might get it back by 7/25...

Car spent it's 1 year birthday back where I got it... At Tesla SC....

 

[Beavertail S]

My wife's rear drive unit failed at just under 20,000 miles. They are having a really hard time finding a replacement. We proposed trading in, and not only did they give us a very fair trade price, they also gave us a nice discount on the Performance loaner they gave us that only had 25 miles on it! The Performance is noticeably quieter and faster than her car, so we're very happy with Tesla - from tow, Uber credits and loaner, to entire trade and purchase experience. I'm glad these failures don't seem to be too prevalent..

 

[Beavertail S]

Sorry not to have been clear. It was our Model 3, rear wheel drive, long range model that had the failure.

 

[ChrisH]

Sorry not to have been clear. It was our Model 3, rear wheel drive, long range model that had the failure.

Sorry to hear but sounds like they took care of you. Did they even “penalize” you on trade value or did they give a trade value equivalent to a vehicle without a drive unit replacement needed?

Not great to hear that drive unit replacements are not readily available though.

 

[Beavertail S]

Thanks ChrisH. They gave us a super fair trade-in price. No penalty, perhaps a premium. Then upped the trade-in price by $500 on their own. The total package is a crazy bargain and sales staff have been accessible and responsive. We are 100% pleased with how we've been treated.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

They are having a really hard time finding a replacement.

That is...odd... I can just imagine those guys at the service center: “Yeah, I’ve checked everywhere; eBay does not seem to have any...not sure where I could get a new drive unit from”

Wonder if the reason is that your VIN was in the 4400s...maybe they need to get exactly the right subversion of the drive unit as well (A/B/C/D etc.)? Just trying to understand how a matching drive unit could be hard to find...maybe those early units are different enough that it matters? Makes very little sense, but it’s all I can think of...

We proposed trading in,

So you guys definitely brought up the topic?


Anyway, glad everything worked out - the Performance is definitely fun.

 

[Beavertail S]

That is...odd... I can just imagine those guys at the service center: “Yeah, I’ve checked everywhere; eBay does not seem to have any...not sure where I could get a new drive unit from”

Wonder if the reason is that your VIN was in the 4400s...maybe they need to get exactly the right subversion of the drive unit as well (A/B/C/D etc.)? Just trying to understand how a matching drive unit could be hard to find...maybe those early units are different enough that it matters? Makes very little sense, but it’s all I can think of...



So you guys definitely brought up the topic?


Anyway, glad everything worked out - the Performance is definitely fun.

We too have thought that the early, rear-wheel-drive-only aspect might be complicating the replacement. We didn't push too hard to explain the difficulty because we quickly realized that we'd be happier if we replaced the RWD with AWD Performance, so we focused on that, and as I've said, Tesla was immediately open to this approach and was very fair on all aspects of pricing.

 

[tekdemon]

Has anyone seen a case where the Rear motor fails and the Front allows you to still limp along? I've not. I've seen cases of the front failing and the rear able to limp, but not the other way around.

Tesla to this day claims on the website "Your car can drive on either motor, so you never need to worry about getting stuck on the road.", but based on above, having the extra front motor gives you no redundant benefit.

Maybe in theory certain failures may allow this but my rear just went out and the car basically refuses to drive even though one of the messages says ok to drive.

 

[Higolfer]

Me. I had my rear drive unit replaced at 6500 miles. Actually, I was never able to confirm that the unit was bad as it could have been the sensor, but regardless it was replaced.

Parked the car in the garage one night and the screen came up with a "Car needs service. Car may not restart." notification. Sure enough, it was not going to start. Called Tesla service and they speculated it was the battery pack and said I would need a tow. It turned out that the sensor monitors the drive train, including the battery and drive units. Since the car was in the garage, it was not an emergency situation.

Tesla service didn't schedule the tow as they indicated they would, so I had to call again in the morning. The rest of the service was Tesla-worthy. Loaner Model S, two days for the new unit and things are fine so far!

Ceekz,
I just experienced what you and Chris350 had happened.
So with around 6000 miles on my P3D+, the rear-drive unit has failed.

Worth noting that I took delivery during 3rd quarter in 2018 as he did as well.
I never had any driving issues but got the same error message "Car needs service. Car may not restart.". After parking, it would go away.
I took it in and they said they would call asap, the next day they texted me that the RDU needs replacing.
Now she texted late this afternoon after work and said it could be several weeks till they can locate one. I'm calling tomorrow and see if I can get a loader. Did they fix yours and it is fine now?

 

[Higolfer]

I sit in the same boat...

Started getting "car needs service, car may not restart".... The error would clear everytime I would place the car in park, as the car would do a power cycle.

Took it in to have it checked.... was told it was a software issue and would clear when I got an update.... Got an update.... same errors..

Took it back in, left it (got a loaner) and 24 hours later, I'm told the drive unit needed to be replaced...

That was back on 7/10... Tesla tells me that I might get it back by 7/25...

Car spent it's 1 year birthday back where I got it... At Tesla SC....

Chris350,
I just experienced what you and Ceekz had happened.
So with around 6000 miles on my P3D+, the rear-drive unit has failed.

Worth noting that I took delivery during 3rd quarter in 2018 like you.
I never had any driving issues but got the same error message "Car needs service. Car may not restart.". After parking, it would go away.
I took it in and they said they would call asap, the next day they texted me that the RDU needs replacing.
Now she texted late this afternoon after work and said it could be several weeks till they can locate one. I'm calling tomorrow and see if I can get a loader. Did they fix yours and it is fine now?

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Seems like whatever this problem was it is less common now. Haven’t seen many reports lately. Some of the early reports referenced wiring harness failures. I think most reports were from 2018 vehicles but not as sure about that.

 

[Chris350]

Chris350,
I just experienced what you and Ceekz had happened.
So with around 6000 miles on my P3D+, the rear-drive unit has failed.

Worth noting that I took delivery during 3rd quarter in 2018 like you.
I never had any driving issues but got the same error message "Car needs service. Car may not restart.". After parking, it would go away.
I took it in and they said they would call asap, the next day they texted me that the RDU needs replacing.
Now she texted late this afternoon after work and said it could be several weeks till they can locate one. I'm calling tomorrow and see if I can get a loader. Did they fix yours and it is fine now?

Yes.... Mine was fixed..... It took the 7 days to get a replacement.... It took 1 day to install and test....

The only issue that I have now is that originally the car had an average of 240Wh over 28k of miles.... I reset the trip meter for keeping info on the replacement and over the last 9k of miles I am getting about 267Wh. I've had Tesla look into to it as this has killed my range, eyt they don't see anything that indicates a problem.

I have a LR RWD.... So, this only gives me around 200 - 215 miles on a full charge which isn't something I am happy with...

So, be sure to see if the car Wh increases with the new drive.

 

[ChrisH]

Yes.... Mine was fixed..... It took the 7 days to get a replacement.... It took 1 day to install and test....

The only issue that I have now is that originally the car had an average of 240Wh over 28k of miles.... I reset the trip meter for keeping info on the replacement and over the last 9k of miles I am getting about 267Wh. I've had Tesla look into to it as this has killed my range, eyt they don't see anything that indicates a problem.

I have a LR RWD.... So, this only gives me around 200 - 215 miles on a full charge which isn't something I am happy with...

So, be sure to see if the car Wh increases with the new drive.

215/310 = less than 70% original range. I’d be pushing hard for a new battery per the warranty.

 

[ceekz]

Ceekz,
I just experienced what you and Chris350 had happened.
So with around 6000 miles on my P3D+, the rear-drive unit has failed.

Worth noting that I took delivery during 3rd quarter in 2018 as he did as well.
I never had any driving issues but got the same error message "Car needs service. Car may not restart.". After parking, it would go away.
I took it in and they said they would call asap, the next day they texted me that the RDU needs replacing.
Now she texted late this afternoon after work and said it could be several weeks till they can locate one. I'm calling tomorrow and see if I can get a loader. Did they fix yours and it is fine now?

Sorry for the late response, I've been off the board for a bit. Yes, the SC replaced the drive unit (in the shop for 2 days), and I've not had another issue since.

 

[JayNJ]

Hmmmm, that's not consistent with what Elon said.

This statement has been proven false many time over. Having a dual motor actually increases your failure rate and since not fully redundant increase chance of being stranded.

 

[ceekz]

This statement has been proven false many time over. Having a dual motor actually increases your failure rate and since not fully redundant increase chance of being stranded.

Note that I have a dual motor, and when the rear drive unit failed, the car was not driveable.