Turnaround time for "Drive Unit" (aka motor) replacement

[blecchus_rex]

Anyone here have service need to replace their drive unit (in this case the rear one)? If so, what kind of turnaround time did you experience? The local service center has had my wife's Model Y for a week now and despite having suspected it'd need a new motor at the outset have only just now concluded that it does in fact need that. I'm being told it'll be a week + just for the part and given the nature of the replacement I'm guessing there will quite a bit of time tacked on after arrival.

 

[Impaler]

May I ask what caused the motor to fail, or why you're getting it replaced? I'm interested in case I see the same type of behavior.

 

[Brown1428]

Anyone here have service need to replace their drive unit (in this case the rear one)? If so, what kind of turnaround time did you experience? The local service center has had my wife's Model Y for a week now and despite having suspected it'd need a new motor at the outset have only just now concluded that it does in fact need that. I'm being told it'll be a week + just for the part and given the nature of the replacement I'm guessing there will quite a bit of time tacked on after arrival.

I don't have an answer for you but I'm very interested in your outcome! Hopefully you received a loaner.

 

[blecchus_rex]

May I ask what caused the motor to fail, or why you're getting it replaced? I'm interested in case I see the same type of behavior.

Sure, some of what I've encountered is posted here:

What's Normal Front Motor Sound for Model Y?

As for actual root cause of why it's failed, TBD.

 

[blecchus_rex]

I don't have an answer for you but I'm very interested in your outcome! Hopefully you received a loaner.

I do have a loaner (a signature edition Model X). The Model X's idiosyncracies are entertaining for a day... but beyond that only reinforce our preference for the Model Y. The biggest problem w/ it is that we can't take it out of state. We've an impending need to pile everyone in the vehicle w/ short notice to do so. As for outcome, the latest is they're attempting to locate the necessary parts nearby. If that doesn't pan out then "it could be over a week until we receive the part."

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Unplugged Performance was able to swap both drive motors and a bunch of other parts in less than 48 hours. All it takes is time and money...and parts, of course.
UP MODEL 3 PIKES PEAK RACE CAR

 

[blecchus_rex]

Unplugged Performance was able to swap both drive motors and a bunch of other parts in less than 48 hours. All it takes is time and money...and parts, of course.
UP MODEL 3 PIKES PEAK RACE CAR

Hah - I'll just have to convince the service center my wife's going to another run at the record in her Model Y.

 

[Brown1428]

Sure, some of what I've encountered is posted here:

What's Normal Front Motor Sound for Model Y?

As for actual root cause of why it's failed, TBD.

Yes, my car suffers from the same issue.

 

[TDI Gromby]

Don't know if this applies, but attached is a Service Bulletin to replace the rear inverter unit.

 

[blecchus_rex]

Don't know if this applies, but attached is a Service Bulletin to replace the rear inverter unit.

Thanks - I'm not certain (and the service advisor didn't seem to know) whether the issues referenced in that service bulletin resemble what we experienced or not. They indicated: "A diode test confirmed there are internal issues within the drive unit that appear at high speeds" Regardless I did confirm that the rear drive unit assembly does include the inverter... so in theory ought be covered by whatever motivated the service bulletin.

 

[RichardKJ]

Some years ago I had the rear drive unit in my 2014 Model S replaced. There was a known problem with bad bearings making noise. The actual replacement took about two hours. It's a lot simpler than an ICE replacement.

 

[Parac]

I'm not sure if this will be much use because I returned the car immediately with this issue instead of hoping it got fixed, but I had what sounds like the same issue. Rear drive unit was making a loud whine immediately when I drove it out of the lot. Essentially sounded like the motor was sitting in the back seat. I drove it a few miles and immediately returned to the service center.

I waited about an hour for someone to look at it because they were "extremely busy". They did (unofficially) agree the rear drive unit probably needed to be replaced. Next scheduled appointment was almost 2 weeks out, or I could leave it there and maybe they could look at it sooner. Once they officially diagnosed a drive unite replacement was necessary they would have to get special approval from Fremont and then have the unit shipped to the service center.

It sounds like you have the actual diagnosis now, so 1-2 weeks for the approval and shipping sounds likely. Then you are waiting on the service center to fit you in or now add you to the schedule at the back of the line which could be another couple weeks. The actual replacement doesn't take long, but the bs it takes to get to that point can be annoying.

 

[blecchus_rex]

I'm not sure if this will be much use because I returned the car immediately with this issue instead of hoping it got fixed, but I had what sounds like the same issue. Rear drive unit was making a loud whine immediately when I drove it out of the lot. Essentially sounded like the motor was sitting in the back seat. I drove it a few miles and immediately returned to the service center.

I waited about an hour for someone to look at it because they were "extremely busy". They did (unofficially) agree the rear drive unit probably needed to be replaced. Next scheduled appointment was almost 2 weeks out, or I could leave it there and maybe they could look at it sooner. Once they officially diagnosed a drive unite replacement was necessary they would have to get special approval from Fremont and then have the unit shipped to the service center.

It sounds like you have the actual diagnosis now, so 1-2 weeks for the approval and shipping sounds likely. Then you are waiting on the service center to fit you in or now add you to the schedule at the back of the line which could be another couple weeks. The actual replacement doesn't take long, but the bs it takes to get to that point can be annoying.

Thanks, yes that's consistent w/ my experience thus far. It was expected that the drive unit would need to be replaced at the outset, then a week transpired before that was confirmed (and I gather most of that was awaiting an answer from "engineering"). To my chagrin, the part wasn't available on hand nor had it been ordered speculatively. Current ETA for arrival is the 16th as indicated by the app, but supposedly there was some possibility of it having come in earlier from a local service center. Yesterday came and went though w/o any indication that happened. The PDF linked above indicates 3.75 hours for replacement of the rear drive inverter. Since that's an integrated part of the rear drive unit, presumably the actual replacement could be under 4 hours. FWIW, I knew better (or at least suspected) having read others experiences and having owned a Model 3 for ~2 years that the service center experience was going to be painful. At ~6 weeks of ownership and only half of that w/ the use of the vehicle, I definitely regret not having returned it within the 7 days and tried to maneuver around their policy into a new VIN.

 

[ThomasD]

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[john5520]

Don't know if this applies, but attached is a Service Bulletin to replace the rear inverter unit.

Thanks for posting this. Someone over on the M3 forums had their inverter swapped out. Same part number.