Sudden panic stop, and tore the Caliper bolts off on 2018 Model X

[mbp11]

Something happened to me yesterday. I was driving at a low rate of speed in crowded traffic, perhaps 10-15 mph in the rain, and the car in front of me unexpectedly slowed and stopped. I slammed on the brakes and easily stopped but heard a popping noise from the front. When I started again, there was a light grinding scraping noise from the left front driver's wheel that was really loud at low speeds but decreased while going a little faster. Scraping was worse with right turns, went away with left turns, and seemed to come and go. I drove it a little yesterday and today but because I had heard about problems with suspension bolts failing in the early MXs, I just dropped in to the Dublin Service Center and presented myself as an "unsafe to drive" issue. They immediately took the car in (while I went with my girlfriend to pick up my hybrid SUV at Ford after a starting problem) and by the time I got back, I got a call that they verified the caliper brake bolts had broken and were replaced:

Concern: Customer States: Yesterday an emergency stop occurred by slamming on the brakes to avoid an accident and now when turning the wheel left a grinding type noise can be heard.
Technician verified grinding brake noise. Secured Left front Caliper with 2 new bolts and torqued to 120 nm. Road tested and noise is gone. Reviewed History and no brake work that I see done here. The Caliper and edge of rotor have signs of cosmetic scaping only . See pics.

Correction: General Diagnosis
Correction: No Labor Performed - Part Replaced
Parts Replaced or Added
Part Quantity BOLT,TE,M12x45,STL[109],ZNFL[BLCK](1088968-00-B) 2.0

The car is good to drive now, they fixed it within a few hours, I thanked them for the good service. I also filed a report with the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration.

Have you ever seen this? Wonder if I should have the other brake calipers checked?

 

[ngng]

where did the bolt break? did somebody overtorque, or did the bolt fall out from not being torqued?

 

[mbp11]

Did not get that information. Was told that the bolt was under torqued, whatever that means

 

[ngng]

Did not get that information. Was told that the bolt was under torqued, whatever that means

means it was not tightened down properly, and, if only tesla serviced their car, 100% on them

sounds like the bolt fell out, and didn't break

 

[mbp11]

Yeah, still, scary!
They fixed it quickly!

 

[ngng]

Yeah, still, scary!
They fixed it quickly!

yeah, i've had a caliper bolt come out at 140mph and drop the caliper. not a good feeling. usually it's catastrophic when the caliper hits the inside wheel you can take out the entire corner of the suspension

 

[LadyDi]

Something happened to me yesterday. I was driving at a low rate of speed in crowded traffic, perhaps 10-15 mph in the rain, and the car in front of me unexpectedly slowed and stopped. I slammed on the brakes and easily stopped but heard a popping noise from the front. When I started again, there was a light grinding scraping noise from the left front driver's wheel that was really loud at low speeds but decreased while going a little faster. Scraping was worse with right turns, went away with left turns, and seemed to come and go. I drove it a little yesterday and today but because I had heard about problems with suspension bolts failing in the early MXs, I just dropped in to the Dublin Service Center and presented myself as an "unsafe to drive" issue. They immediately took the car in (while I went with my girlfriend to pick up my hybrid SUV at Ford after a starting problem) and by the time I got back, I got a call that they verified the caliper brake bolts had broken and were replaced:

Concern: Customer States: Yesterday an emergency stop occurred by slamming on the brakes to avoid an accident and now when turning the wheel left a grinding type noise can be heard.
Technician verified grinding brake noise. Secured Left front Caliper with 2 new bolts and torqued to 120 nm. Road tested and noise is gone. Reviewed History and no brake work that I see done here. The Caliper and edge of rotor have signs of cosmetic scaping only . See pics.

Correction: General Diagnosis
Correction: No Labor Performed - Part Replaced
Parts Replaced or Added
Part Quantity BOLT,TE,M12x45,STL[109],ZNFL[BLCK](1088968-00-B) 2.0

The car is good to drive now, they fixed it within a few hours, I thanked them for the good service. I also filed a report with the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration.

Have you ever seen this? Wonder if I should have the other brake calipers checked?

Be grateful you live close to a service center! My 2018 Model X was making a load noise in the rear passenger wheel As a single person, I didn't hear it for who knows how long? once I heard it, it's really damaged the inside of my rim. I went to a tire shop and they told me a bolt was gone and that the caliper was hanging. The nearest SC is 1.5 hours away and won't return me call. If I have the car towed there, it will sit forever.

I took it back to the local tire shop and they are going to try to order the bolts for the car. Tesla service is a disaster...unless you like close to an SC.

 

[mbp11]

I am so sorry that this happened to you and you are so far away from the service center. Any wheel shop should be able to get the correct bolts and fix the problem. I guess this is the price we pay for having new-tech cars. Mine has been pretty good, but I bought the extended service warranty. Other than this, how has your car been? I have had little things and I took it in abut 4 times because the Holiday show would not always work, the driver's side FWD would hang up. Now I pull it up manually at the start of the second stanza and it works fine.