Kraken
Member
I'd noticed the same, but the balloon was heard today. The ambient buzz at low acceleration seems softer.
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The high-pitched whine during acceleration...
- Thread starter gg_got_a_tesla
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
tliving
Member
Mine is new (<300 miles, got it yesterday). Despite repeated (!) attempts I can't make it whine on my S85. The test drive one I used (a S60) whined quite noticeably. So either I got lucky or they improved something. Its dead quiet going from nothing to very fast. The radio is nice but its surreal to drive in such silence.
Mayhemm
Model S P85+ "Lola"
One thing this thread's taught me: "Just because you don't have it now doesn't mean you never will."
iKhalid
Member
Sorry to revive an old thread. I just got the noise on my S60. What did everyone do about it? Or let's say, what did Tesla Motors do about it?
Zapped
Model S - PURE EV
IMHO, Better than starting a new thread.
Some degree of whine is considered normal. ( during hard acceleration )
A bit off topic but I test drove a BMW i3 and could not believe the constant whine during acceleration and de-acceleration. Very disappointing.
Mine has become a "multi-balloon" whine, but after testing it yet again, service called it "normal" and made no changes. Honestly I only ever notice it when the radio is off and things are otherwise quiet.
Yup, my S60 developed the balloon squeal around the 18k mile, one-year mark back in January, right around the time we got firmware 5.8.x. It comes on under hard acceleration well past the 120 kW mark but not always though. The tone/pitch has changed a bit over the past few months but, I've had no issues otherwise.
perhaps I'm getting my threads mixed up. let me clarify.
my drive unit was *NOT* replaced for the high pitch balloon squeal under heavy acceleration. this balloon squeal is *normal*. people may or may not have it. it may develop later.
my drive unit was replaced for the constant 'whirring' sound whenever kW is > 0. sound does not occur at or below 0. this 'whirring' sound is more like electric power interference or something. it's really hard to describe. this was *NOT* the low drone hum that sounds like a jetliner taking off and landing. it was more electrical interference like. I used to describe it as a *faint* high pitch whine - different than the balloon squeal. this sound was VERY audible EXTERNALLY. what I mean by that is when your in the car with all the windows up, it's muffled. roll down the rear passenger window and/or open the rear passenger door and you could hear it about 2-3x louder. drive around a closed parking garage and WOW it was super super loud echoing off the walls about 5-6x louder. this makes sense I guess because if it was with the motor or inverter that is underneath the car and basically when your in the car you have a few sound barriers blocking /muffling direct sound waves.
I also have a click/clock sound whenever to cross from power to regen or regen to power. at 52k miles now I probably noticed it about 10k ago but I'm not sure if I've always had it.
now that they replaced the drive unit, I no longer have the whirring (thank god, as it was VERY annoying). I also no longer have the high pitch balloon squeal anymore. however, I do still have the faint click/clock sound whenever crossing from power to regen or regen to power. since I had that pre and post drive unit replacement, I'm assuming it has nothing to do with the drive unit itself and that it's something else and probably normal.
The same developed in my car around 20,000 mi. and escalated. It happened for me between 5-20 kW power consumption. Frequency did not vary with power consumption but amplitude did. It does not vary with speed. It sounds like you put 500,000 crickets in a small box and had them all going at once; or, like 50,000 pissed off honeybees in a small box under the car. It is most noticeable when cruising through a tunnel or parking garage at low speeds and does reflect easily off buildings. I suspect it is something in the inverter, as its relationship to speed doesn't point to anything mechanical.
It didn't affect the operation of the car but I did get a few looks at the strange noise. It wasn't all that big of a deal to me (I don't demand complete silence from something carrying up to 320 kW of power) but they sent the recording to engineering for analysis.
pilotSteve
Active Member
Same symptoms for me at about 19,000 miles. Sent recording to engineering. It was described as a "milling sound" (e.g. gear grinding). Exactly the same power band. Annoying because that power is used most of the time between 25 and 45 MPH so non-freeway driving heard it much of the time.
Tesla replaced the drive and now back to quiet normal option, just the beloved "warp drive" sound at very high power
Excellent service again from Tesla!...and that description of the sound is I think what's confusing a lot of the conversation out there. To some people it sounds mechanical ("milling" / "grinding"), but the fact it doesn't vary in frequency or amplitude based on speed (whether motor or wheels) knocks out mechanical means of generation and instead points to something electrical.
Gizmotoy
Active Member
Any chance you can post the recording? Mine makes a variety of noises, but I'm pretty sure this isn't one of them. I keep hearing the "milling sound" described, but I'd like to hear what you guys are hearing.Same symptoms for me at about 19,000 miles. Sent recording to engineering. It was described as a "milling sound" (e.g. gear grinding). Exactly the same power band. Annoying because that power is used most of the time between 25 and 45 MPH so non-freeway driving heard it much of the time.
Tesla replaced the drive and now back to quiet normal option, just the beloved "warp drive" sound at very high power
Me too. The Model S makes many different sounds, but it's hard to tell which sounds are called what by whom.
EarlyAdopter
Active Member
Have you tried torquing your lug nuts? While drivetrain slop can be attributed to many components - reduction gear, differential, half shafts - one quick, easy place to check are the wheel-hub mounts. Loose wheels will slip a tiny bit forward/backwards when transitioning between acceleration and deceleration and feel like drivetrain slop, and make a little clunk.
Interesting. Well they (tesla) did just rotate my tires last week. I'd be surprised if they didn't torque the nuts to spec.
Tire pressures and wheel nut torque are two things that definitely fall into the "trust but verify" category. You are actually supposed to re-torque the wheels after driving a few days. I realize no one does this, but it's what you are supposed to do.
I have the acceleration whine everyone is talking about, everytime I floor it, people ask me why my car makes that sound and that I should get it checked out... :frown: Attached if you want to hear my woes.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzqlLTVBCI52Tk5qMUVKZUh1eWM/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzqlLTVBCI52Tk5qMUVKZUh1eWM/view?usp=sharing
This is exactly what I am hearing. Like an alternator whine from a bad stereo install.
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