Show of hands… Adaptive Suspension

[SteveSchweer]

How many new Model S owners out there can actually FEEL the difference between “Sport” and “Comfort “? I know I can’t.… even though Tesla Service says it is functioning normally. No matter what I do with the suspension controls, my ride is the same… punishingly harsh. Yet, from these forums and YouTube, I see that many of you think the suspension is great. As this is probably one of the most sophisticated suspensions ever put in a car, I have trouble believing that mine is “functioning normally “. I think the key objective question here is “can you actually FEEL a difference in ride quality when you change suspension modes?” (By ”feel” I mean you KNOW it changed, if you just THINK it changed then it didn’t). It would really help me and, I know, a number of others out there to find out if our suspensions are screwed up or if that’s just the way they are. Thanks for any input you can provide.

 

[SteveSchweer]

I took my car in for service yesterday and listed the adaptive suspension as one of the issues. I told the person who checked me in all the information that has been gathered in this thread and he went back to talk to the techs. Their first rebuttal was that if ride height is working, then the adaptive suspension is working. After letting him confirm the ride height settings work I pushed back saying I just want them to check the voltage to the solenoid when in Comfort and Sport to confirm they are different. He went back to the techs and then they tried to feed me the line about needing an error message in order to say something is wrong. At this point I brought up that if they remove the solenoid they will see NO error message even though they SHOULD see the message that @pengy saw and @SteveSchweer didn't. The associate then said that this was something they could look into.

They've now had my car for 2 days, the associate today told me they are taking a "real hard look" at the adaptive suspension issue so they need to keep the car a little longer. Fingers crossed that they are actually trying to find something.

HAH! I thought they would have trouble thinking up a platitude to get around the lack of an error message resulting from an obvious fault! Lack of an error message means one of two things: 1- there is no error, or 2- the system is inactive. I’m betting that the problem lies in the ”suspension control module “. (I don’t know what they call it, or what form it takes but there HAS to be such a component. SOMETHING has to actually generate and apply the voltages and currents necessary to operate the shock solenoids). My guess is that they had a run of one or more unreliable components going into these things. It’s probably not software or firmware because then everyone would have the problem. Swapping out this module would be a good place to start.

 

[RC93]

I have a 2021 (August delivery) MS Plaid that I always felt had a very harsh sports-car-like suspension. Today I picked up a 2022 MS LR and the suspension feels noticeable more comfortable when driving on rough Chicago city roads. Is the Plaid suspension intentionally harsher than the LR for performance reasons? Also interestingly, my parking garage has a very long 5 story spiral-like ramp to enter/exit and every time I go over 10MPH on the Plaid on this ramp I get a message to check adaptive suspension.

 

[ShawnA]

Hi @RC93 ,

Your "check adaptive suspension" message may be your chance to start
a conversation with your service center to resolve the problem for many here...

Good luck,

Shawn

 

[SteveSchweer]

I have a 2021 (August delivery) MS Plaid that I always felt had a very harsh sports-car-like suspension. Today I picked up a 2022 MS LR and the suspension feels noticeable more comfortable when driving on rough Chicago city roads. Is the Plaid suspension intentionally harsher than the LR for performance reasons? Also interestingly, my parking garage has a very long 5 story spiral-like ramp to enter/exit and every time I go over 10MPH on the Plaid on this ramp I get a message to check adaptive suspension.

I believe that the Plaid and the LR have exactly the same suspension. I was getting the impression that the suspensions that “worked “ were all in the Plaids…. Not true, I guess. One thing is certain… the ONLY way they will ever look at this problem is due to the presence (or absence) of an error message…. Lucky you got one.

 

[DealMasterMike]

I took my car in for service yesterday and listed the adaptive suspension as one of the issues. I told the person who checked me in all the information that has been gathered in this thread and he went back to talk to the techs. Their first rebuttal was that if ride height is working, then the adaptive suspension is working. After letting him confirm the ride height settings work I pushed back saying I just want them to check the voltage to the solenoid when in Comfort and Sport to confirm they are different. He went back to the techs and then they tried to feed me the line about needing an error message in order to say something is wrong. At this point I brought up that if they remove the solenoid they will see NO error message even though they SHOULD see the message that @pengy saw and @SteveSchweer didn't. The associate then said that this was something they could look into.

They've now had my car for 2 days, the associate today told me they are taking a "real hard look" at the adaptive suspension issue so they need to keep the car a little longer. Fingers crossed that they are actually trying to find something.

@Veregon - any new updates from your service appointment or are the SC techs still diagnosing the suspension?

 

[Veregon]

@Veregon - any new updates from your service appointment or are the SC techs still diagnosing the suspension?

Good news/bad news. The good news is, the tech actually took the time and tested every single solenoid/sensor for the adaptive suspension. The bad news is that every single one caused the error message that @pengy saw when removed. He didn't do the voltage test as he claimed you may not pick up the resistance changes as volt changes and since he did all the other extra testing (and fixed my center console lights!) I didn't push him on it. He even showed me video of him doing a solenoid test as proof that he tried.

So since my car does show the error message when a solenoid is removed I guess it it working as intended. I honestly don't feel a difference but the roads in my area are all in great shape and flat so it may be that there just isn't much difference on a flat surface.

Hopefully @SteveSchweer gets a good tech as well and since we know his doesn't show the error they'll have to look into it more.

 

[SteveSchweer]

Good news/bad news. The good news is, the tech actually took the time and tested every single solenoid/sensor for the adaptive suspension. The bad news is that every single one caused the error message that @pengy saw when removed. He didn't do the voltage test as he claimed you may not pick up the resistance changes as volt changes and since he did all the other extra testing (and fixed my center console lights!) I didn't push him on it. He even showed me video of him doing a solenoid test as proof that he tried.

So since my car does show the error message when a solenoid is removed I guess it it working as intended. I honestly don't feel a difference but the roads in my area are all in great shape and flat so it may be that there just isn't much difference on a flat surface.

Hopefully @SteveSchweer gets a good tech as well and since we know his doesn't show the error they'll have to look into it more.

This IS disappointing. I have been counting on the ability to feel an obvious difference in ride quality when switching modes as the indicator of whether your system was working or not. Anyway, my service appointment is on the 29th, and my car definitely does not complain when you yank one of the solenoid wires off. I just hope that when (if?) it gets fixed that I can tell the difference! You made a valiant effort…. Thank you!

 

[serendipitous]

Good news/bad news. The good news is, the tech actually took the time and tested every single solenoid/sensor for the adaptive suspension. The bad news is that every single one caused the error message that @pengy saw when removed. He didn't do the voltage test as he claimed you may not pick up the resistance changes as volt changes and since he did all the other extra testing (and fixed my center console lights!) I didn't push him on it. He even showed me video of him doing a solenoid test as proof that he tried.

So since my car does show the error message when a solenoid is removed I guess it it working as intended. I honestly don't feel a difference but the roads in my area are all in great shape and flat so it may be that there just isn't much difference on a flat surface.

Hopefully @SteveSchweer gets a good tech as well and since we know his doesn't show the error they'll have to look into it more.

What difference would you expect on a flat surface? The whole reason suspensions exist is for not-flat surfaces.

 

[Veregon]

What difference would you expect on a flat surface? The whole reason suspensions exist is for not-flat surfaces.

Hah, I worded that badly. I meant on a mostly flat surface with only man-hole covers and occasional dips. I do go over 2 speed bumps taking my daughter to school and I haven't been able to feel the difference.

 

[Ed Hart]

I have also decided that I cannot tell the difference between any of the settings on the Adaptive Suspension System. The problem I am having with a "ring" in the front suspension may be because Tesla has not yet activated the software(?). I posted this elsewhere in an attempt to explain what I was feeling. I first thought is was just the left front, wheel....but the ringing is happening in the right front wheel, too.

 

[ILikeBigWatts]

@SteveSchweer any news from your service appointment yesterday? ( thanks for your investigation so far!)

 

[SteveSchweer]

@SteveSchweer any news from your service appointment yesterday? ( thanks for your investigation so far!)

They still have it…. No word yet on what the problem might be. FWIW, I believe that the service team has truly accepted the idea that there IS something wrong… the CRITICAL first step in finding a solution. BTW the “module “ that I imagined must control the variable dampers is apparently not a discrete unit, but is incorporated into the main computer board. It’s difficult to get to, but they appear to be prepared to replace even that if they have to! I’ll keep you posted.

 

[DealMasterMike]

They still have it…. No word yet on what the problem might be. FWIW, I believe that the service team has truly accepted the idea that there IS something wrong… the CRITICAL first step in finding a solution. BTW the “module “ that I imagined must control the variable dampers is apparently not a discrete unit, but is incorporated into the main computer board. It’s difficult to get to, but they appear to be prepared to replace even that if they have to! I’ll keep you posted.

Great news and I hope they determine the root cause and fix your ride.

No more giving you the canned company lines being in spec, what the screen says is gospel, that the suspension changes can’t be felt, or that no errors means everything is working as it can also mean components aren’t even communicating.

Looking forward to the outcome and what happens next.

 

[ILikeBigWatts]

They still have it…. No word yet on what the problem might be. FWIW, I believe that the service team has truly accepted the idea that there IS something wrong… the CRITICAL first step in finding a solution. BTW the “module “ that I imagined must control the variable dampers is apparently not a discrete unit, but is incorporated into the main computer board. It’s difficult to get to, but they appear to be prepared to replace even that if they have to! I’ll keep you posted.

@SteveSchweer Sweet! What convinced them something was wrong? The missing warning on disconnecting the solenoid? Also would you be willing to provide the Tesla reference number for your service (or whatever other SCs can look it up by)

 

[SteveSchweer]

@SteveSchweer Sweet! What convinced them something was wrong? The missing warning on disconnecting the solenoid? Also would you be willing to provide the Tesla reference number for your service (or whatever other SCs can look it up by)

The lack of an error message in the case of an obvious fault in the system is difficult for them to ignore. If they fix this I am planning to provide as complete a “road map” to recovery as possible. It isn’t fixed yet though. I’m HOPING they will, but the optimism has been beaten out of me.

 

[emailforbrett]

Plaid on 21” wheels. No difference at all in any of the suspension settings. A Tesla tech test drove it with me and said it is, “very subtle”. I categorize it more as “harsh as hell on my ass in all modes”

 

[SteveSchweer]

The lack of an error message in the case of an obvious fault in the system is difficult for them to ignore. If they fix this I am planning to provide as complete a “road map” to recovery as possible. It isn’t fixed yet though. I’m HOPING they will, but the optimism has been beaten out of me.

OK…. They SAY that they have fixed it. They removed and replaced the “Air suspension-ECU”. They CLAIM that it is now working at factory specs. They are currently waiting for a part to complete another minor repair, so I won’t get it back till the 5th. This all sounds very promising but I will withhold my cheers until I drive it myself.

 

[ILikeBigWatts]

OK…. They SAY that they have fixed it. They removed and replaced the “Air suspension-ECU”. They CLAIM that it is now working at factory specs. They are currently waiting for a part to complete another minor repair, so I won’t get it back till the 5th. This all sounds very promising but I will withhold my cheers until I drive it myself.

I’d be curious what those specs are and why they couldn’t be measured previously

 

[Ed Hart]

OK…. They SAY that they have fixed it. They removed and replaced the “Air suspension-ECU”. They CLAIM that it is now working at factory specs. They are currently waiting for a part to complete another minor repair, so I won’t get it back till the 5th. This all sounds very promising but I will withhold my cheers until I drive it myself.

We will be anxiously awaiting your feedback. Thanks!

 

[glide]

I’d be curious what those specs are and why they couldn’t be measured previously

This