Squeaky front suspension

[Jonslatt]

My 69 M3P went in to Stratford last week. They replace both sides as a matter of course under warranty. Interestingly I had a loaner 17 MX a few months back which has exactly the same issue and was due to have both arms replaced.

Do get some noise if turning steering wheel when hold is on due to the brakes apparently.

 

[UrbanSplash]

I’ve had this issue recently. Front suspension arms need to be replaced. No parts available for the next few weeks. In case someone else has this issue.

 

[Morhydro]

My car is going in on Wednesday for creaking suspension. 18 months old and 29,000 miles. Seems a common problem.

 

[UrbanSplash]

My car is going in on Wednesday for creaking suspension. 18 months old and 29,000 miles. Seems a common problem.

Might be a wasted journey if they don’t have parts. Might be worth checking

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Creaking caused by the front upper control arms is often a repair rather than a replacement now. They lubricate the ball joints and reseal them.

 

[CaptFish2003]

Can they be resealed? Pushing some grease into the joints can only be a temporary solution. Hope they don’t try to defer it until it’s no longer a warranty claim.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Can they be resealed? Pushing some grease into the joints can only be a temporary solution. Hope they don’t try to defer it until it’s no longer a warranty claim.

Yes, they use a urethane sealant. As long as the lubricant stays in there they shouldn't squeak, so if they're sealed properly after re-lubricating they should be good for a while but all ball joints can eventually wear and become noisy in some way.
They did revise the component at some stage so later cars may not develop the squeak early. Without seeing the actual part number on the arm you probably won't know if you have the earlier or later part.

 

[CaptFish2003]

Cheers, will listen out for it

 

[UrbanSplash]

I just described the issue and they said they wanted to change the parts without even looking. Some engineering people from Tesla have been assigned also. Must be an ongoing issue. Maybe specific to certain builds. Mine is 69 plate. Sounds awful, like it’s going to collapse

 

[Morhydro]

Might be a wasted journey if they don’t have parts. Might be worth checking

Well they delayed my selected date by a day so hopefully that was to get the required parts and they have a loaner car for me so must be doing something that takes time.

In the old days (1980 to 1983), when I had a trusty Volvo Amazon 121 estate car, it had grease nipples on all the ball joints. A quick squirt once per year kept this 1963 car on the road with no problem. For the cost of a grease nipple you could have a more environmentally friendly car instead of the 'sealed for death' bearings that we have nowadays.

 

[mick4545]

I've just had mine done at Cardiff. Lubed - resealed, not replaced.

 

[Morhydro]

I've just had mine done at Cardiff. Lubed - resealed, not replaced.

Mine were also re-sealed. I am a bit concerned with that. What happens in another 18 months when the car is 3 years old and the 'repair' is out of warranty? However I have to give the SC in Edinburgh credit for the efficiency with which they did this work and fixed the door seals that were hanging off.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Well, mine's started squeaking today so looks like I'll be booking it in at some point.
If they repair it and it squeaks again when out of warranty TBH I'll just take the hit, order the part and change it myself. Things wear out on cars and need repairing from time to time.
On the other hand, by then we may have replaced it with a Model Y...

 

[UrbanSplash]

It’s a 4 year warranty ? Can’t remember. I will have a Y mid next year hopefully!

 

[davidmc]

I read this just before lunch, Then I pop out to get some Lunch and BOOM!


My cars now sounds like its possessed by the suspension of a Citroen 2CV

Its been in twice about this!

1st time (Early 2021) noise disappeared just before the week it went in – Tesla’s answer - Could not find problem so no fix.
2nd time (Sept 2021) – They said I had no recall on my car about the problem. (It wasn’t creaking this time but asked them to lubricate the joints to which they didn’t)

Time to book in to the SC .......... again!

 

[Rooster6655]

I just described the issue and they said they wanted to change the parts without even looking. Some engineering people from Tesla have been assigned also. Must be an ongoing issue. Maybe specific to certain builds. Mine is 69 plate. Sounds awful, like it’s going to collapse

Yep all cars in 2019 and before I believe, then the parts got upgraded

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Yep all cars in 2019 and before I believe, then the parts got upgraded

Not just 2019 cars. Mine's a 2020 and has started sqeaking.

 

[Morhydro]

Not just 2019 cars. Mine's a 2020 and has started sqeaking.

Mine is March 2020...

 

[UrbanSplash]

Still no parts available. Demand is high apparently. Pretty big issue then

 

[M3North2019]

Same issue here, 19 reg. Booked in for Jan service, waiting on parts apparently so they must plan to replace. Assume it's a standard problem.