Stereo Speaker Issues

[Chris1972]

2021 Model 3 Performance stereo is all of a sudden a mess. Sounded like water dripping in the back seat. Come to find out it’s the rear and pillar speakers clicking on and off. Also the bass is 95% non existent. Every now and then it will kick in for a few seconds. This all started happening with 2023.12 upgrade. I have seen similar threads on stereo issues from 2021 upgrades. Tried to reboot and no change.

 

[Soul Surfer]

It should still be under warranty, depending on your mileage. My amp was recently changed for an issue I had. Turned out it was the MCU which was what I had been telling the SC all along.

Good luck with that.

 

[Bithead]

Can't completely prove this without more users coming forward, but suspect this is due to water penetration during car washes shorting the A2B cable. Seems to be a lot of folks seeing condensation on the passenger/RH corner tail light along with popping, clicking, intermittent microphone issues.
Attempted resolution is to:
soft reset. This tends to work if it is a software glitch.
hard reset. Seems to work for some.
firmware/software upgrade by Tesla. Seems to work for some.
Unplug connectors and replug after a few minutes. Reportedly works but also reported to risk shorting MCU for very costly repair.
Disconnect 12v and Battery power then unplug. Reports higher sucess rate.
Amplifier replacement.
Front microphone/panel replace. Reportedly works for some.
A2b connector unplug... reportedly leaves microphone functional but not speakers.

The likely larger issue is water penetration or lack of shielding around the components.
Alternate issues include part failure. Less reported.
Bad MCU or shorted pins. This would likely be caused by water bridging connections. Seems like fusing this link would be an easy solution to protect the MCU. Shame on Tesla.
Hopefully the Cyber truck will truly be built for rugged and wet conditions because the Model 3 can't even survive a car wash.

 

[Big_River]

Can't completely prove this without more users coming forward, but suspect this is due to water penetration during car washes shorting the A2B cable. Seems to be a lot of folks seeing condensation on the passenger/RH corner tail light along with popping, clicking, intermittent microphone issues.
Attempted resolution is to:
soft reset. This tends to work if it is a software glitch.
hard reset. Seems to work for some.
firmware/software upgrade by Tesla. Seems to work for some.
Unplug connectors and replug after a few minutes. Reportedly works but also reported to risk shorting MCU for very costly repair.
Disconnect 12v and Battery power then unplug. Reports higher sucess rate.
Amplifier replacement.
Front microphone/panel replace. Reportedly works for some.
A2b connector unplug... reportedly leaves microphone functional but not speakers.

The likely larger issue is water penetration or lack of shielding around the components.
Alternate issues include part failure. Less reported.
Bad MCU or shorted pins. This would likely be caused by water bridging connections. Seems like fusing this link would be an easy solution to protect the MCU. Shame on Tesla.
Hopefully the Cyber truck will truly be built for rugged and wet conditions because the Model 3 can't even survive a car wash.

I am having the same issue. I googled the problem and the recommendation was to go to the amp and unplug and plug it back in.

When I accessed the rear compartment (1st time ever), it was clear to me that a lot of water is getting in there and that is the root cause of this issue. I can fix this myself by buying a new amp and installing it but I will run into the issue once that amp gets moisture in it. You can see from my pics that there is a lot of water and road dust getting in there. Horrible placement for those that live in places like Ottawa where we see lots of snow, rain, salt, etc.

Out of warranty ownership has been pretty horrible. I don't recommend it at all.

 

[Big_River]

I fixed the issue.

as you can see from the pics above, there is a lot of moisture and dirt getting in this compartment. Pics of the sub are included, and you can see how dirty it got in there in the 55 months of owning the car. It is no wonder these amps are failing, its a horrible place to place such sensitive electronics.

I followed this guys youtube vid to remove the subwoofer and amp:

Tesla mobile mechanic quoted me close to $700 to do this job, which included a new amp.

I bought a used amp off a EV junk yard: Ingenext - EV Conversion, Used EV Parts, Tesla modifications

I got the amp for $180 vs the $360 Tesla wanted.

This is the old amplifier that is attached to the subwoofer enclosure.

If your model 3 is having speaker problems, or you lost your subwoofer bass, or you cannot do voice commands because the car recognizes half your words, then it is probably time for a amplifier replacement. I had all the symptoms above and made speech to text useless, only had front speakers as the rear would cut in and out and the sub was not functioning at all.

Super happy I got this fixed, and saved about $500 DIY.

 

[Big_River]

Looks like i spoke to soon.

1st car wash at a touchless car wash and the rear speakers, subwoofer and microphone stopped working.

Took everything apart again, the amplifier was SOAKED. Used compressed air to dry the female and male plugs, and the inside of the amp. That got it working again.

So....as we've suspected, water is getting in there somehow and causing the amplifier to short out.

Pouring rain for the next 2 days here. Cant even drive the car.

Sad. Back to the ICE i go.