Stories of someone's cracked casting. Should we worry about this?

[alexgr]

https://imgur.com/a/FmB17Wh

https://twitter.com/Nizzysaurus

Tesla Model Y Owner Finds Scary Cracks in Gigacast Front End

A Tesla Model Y owner found a scary crack in the front casting of his car but Tesla's service center said it was safe.

www.thedrive.com

It looks a little strange/fishy though as I am not sure if it could be a result of an undisclosed front impact. That said, could a strong impact on a wheel crack the casting?

 

[Tam]

https://imgur.com/a/FmB17Wh

https://twitter.com/Nizzysaurus

Tesla Model Y Owner Finds Scary Cracks in Gigacast Front End

A Tesla Model Y owner found a scary crack in the front casting of his car but Tesla's service center said it was safe.

www.thedrive.com

It looks a little strange/fishy though as I am not sure if it could be a result of an undisclosed front impact. That said, could a strong impact on a wheel crack the casting?

Tesla Service said "cracks are within specs." But the owner said "That's what I've been told so far,

 

[kpanda17]

Get a second opinion from. Trusted body shop
Have them document a report
Then if an issue, escalate up through Tesla mgt

 

[ThomasD]

The casting should not be cracking. Tesla's within spec is B S. If no satisfaction with Tesla you have the NTSB and/or the News Media.

 

[hollow23]

why is windshield reservoir on the left.

 

[alexgr]

FYI, it is NOT MY MY!!!
I just found this news propagating on the internet originated from that person who shoot the videos. As I said there are several strange things in the story. But if we assume it is true, has anyone here heard of cracked castings and if so, are there stories Tesla refusing to replace them?

 

[alexgr]

Moderator, if possible, please could you help modify the title to "Stories of someone's cracked casting. Should we worry about this?" I didn't expect people assume it is my story.

 

[ThomasD]

MSN

 

[Pianewman]

A crack. A "huge crack"??? Hardly.

Owner picked up his car in March. Noticed the crack in May, Owner didn't report it until July? Wow, he must have been really terrified by the "crack."

Yes, it looks like a crack. However, only a structural engineer would know if it's a critical structural crack or a superficial crack, which occur in aluminum casting all the time. I'm not surprised that Tesla doesn't feel it's serious. Unknown how many miles it was driven with the crack, in the 4 months since the build, and the 2 months it went unreported.

This is hardly MSN worthy, except...damn, I forgot. It's a TESLA issue, so of course it gets reported.

Tesla should be taking this seriously. I hope they are.

Elon should address this immediately on "X" about this, to snuff out the media frenzy that is likely to follow.

 

[Dantley]

A crack. A "huge crack"??? Hardly.

Owner picked up his car in March. Noticed the crack in May, Owner didn't report it until July? Wow, he must have been really terrified by the "crack."

Yes, it looks like a crack. However, only a structural engineer would know if it's a critical structural crack or a superficial crack, which occur in aluminum casting all the time. I'm not surprised that Tesla doesn't feel it's serious. Unknown how many miles it was driven with the crack, in the 4 months since the build, and the 2 months it went unreported.

This is hardly MSN worthy, except...damn, I forgot. It's a TESLA issue, so of course it gets reported.

Tesla should be taking this seriously. I hope they are.

Elon should address this immediately on "X" about this, to snuff out the media frenzy that is likely to follow.

Only MSN knows what is newsworthy to them. They are the "news" outlet that reported on Joe Biden's favorite ice cream. So, I don't put a great deal of faith in their reporting.

Regardless, as you said, I also hope Tesla investigates and provides appropriate corrective action as needed. Of course, no matter what Elon says, the media frenzy will continue.

 

[mspohr]

Get a second opinion from. Trusted body shop
Have them document a report
Then if an issue, escalate up through Tesla mgt

I doubt that any body shop would have any knowledge or experience with gigacastings and would know what is normal or not.
To my totally untrained eye, these cracks seem to be in the flat "filler" areas of the casting and not in the structural members so they may not have any effect on structural integrity.
You might take it to another SC and see if you get the same answer. Gigacastings are new so everybody is in uncharted territory here.

 

[ThomasD]

Regardless of whether the crack is structural or not the casting should not be cracking.

 

[mspohr]

Regardless of whether the crack is structural or not the casting should not be cracking.

There's a difference between non structural cracks from the factory and cracks from flexing or crash damage.
If the cracks were there from the start and passed inspection, probably not a problem. Cosmetic cracks.
If they developed over time, could be a problem.
This is new technology so we don't have much reference.

 

[richyrich]

why is windshield reservoir on the left.

I wondered that! Did it switch sides, or is the photo reversed?

 

[Resist]

While the cracks might not be an issue right not, they can only get worse over time because vehicles flex.

 

[mspohr]

While the cracks might not be an issue right not, they can only get worse over time because vehicles flex.

We don't know that.

 

[Gixx1300R]

Harmonics and flexing can make the cracks worse; this is not normal and needs to be addressed by Tesla. The casting are supposed inspected by sonic testing the thickness of the castings

 

[Resist]

We don't know that.

True we don't know if it is a bigger issue but it's true that cracks will expand as the material continuously flexes. Granted only one person has reported this issue as far as I know. Hopefully more people will look at their vehicles so we can get a bigger scope of things. And for all we know this one issue was faked, just to attack Tesla. It's so easy to fake pictures, video and now thanks to AI our voices and video images.

 

[mspohr]

True we don't know if it is a bigger issue but it's true that cracks will expand as the material continuously flexes. Granted only one person has reported this issue as far as I know. Hopefully more people will look at their vehicles so we can get a bigger scope of things. And for all we know this one issue was faked, just to attack Tesla. It's so easy to fake pictures, video and now thanks to AI our voices and video images.

Cracks will expand and shrink.
Unfortunately the only experts for this large casting are Tesla and IDRA and Tesla has only said "within spec".

 

[Resist]

Cracks will expand and shrink.
Unfortunately the only experts for this large casting are Tesla and IDRA and Tesla has only said "within spec".

Have you looked at the pictures? Doesn't look to be something that should be within specs. And yes cracks can shrink as well as expand but they can also crack further along, like a window crack does. The castings are structural members and should not crack. If this issue is real, it's a huge safety concern.