I don't have those sleep settings active, so when I get in the car, the screens are up and running and everything's ready to go, no reboots needed. But yeah, brake pedal stiff from the outset.
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Two annoying sounds my S makes that are driving me crazy
- Thread starter tinm
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
I don't have those sleep settings active, so when I get in the car, the screens are up and running and everything's ready to go, no reboots needed. But yeah, brake pedal stiff from the outset.
Cyclone
Cyclonic Member ((.oO))
Neither do I, but the car still goes into a sleep overnight for me. Energy Saver = off, Always Connected = checked. Hmm.
Bighorn
Top Supercharger
the second sound, 'high-pitched-whine-Tesla-Model-S' , is the exact same sound I had my drivetrain replaced for. It does get louder over time, and you can hear it much better externally (aka from outside, or with windows down, and if you're in an enclosed parking garage its REALLY LOUD as it echos off the walls). My replaced unit also exhibited this behavior again after another 15-20k miles so I've already contacted Tesla about it who will probably replace my drive train again the next time I go in for service.
I recorded mine and ran it through an audio spectrum analyzer and posted it two years ago here. you can easily see it on the bottom half as i touch the accelerator and let go multiple times.
and my 2013 thread on this: faint high pitch background whine *any any speed* constant sound tied to accelerator
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Why would the AC compressor be "ramping up" basically all the time, or seemingly every few minutes or so, from the moment you start the car and drive away, to the moment you come home and park, and even then, for another 30 sec until you get out of the car?
Also, most others here say it's a brake pump not the AC. Is there a consensus?
By the way, I contacted the Denver Tesla Service Center at like 9am this morning. I was told no technicians were available to come to the phone. So I got an email address and jotted every possible detail down including links to the audio samples and sent it to them. 6 1/2 hours later, no reply.
gavine
Petrol Head turned EV Enthusiast
Easy to test. Turn the AC off. The AC shouldn't be that loud anyway. I'm quite confident its your brake booster vacuum pump.
My Model S does both sounds. The first only lasts for about 3 seconds when I approach the car and it opens doors and slides handles out.
The second one has become louder lately, a low speed and very gentle acceleration like you described. I was not worried and did not really find it annoying, but now that I read this has lead to several drive unit replacements, I will add it to the list of issues to be checked at the SC in September! Worrying stuff!
The second one has become louder lately, a low speed and very gentle acceleration like you described. I was not worried and did not really find it annoying, but now that I read this has lead to several drive unit replacements, I will add it to the list of issues to be checked at the SC in September! Worrying stuff!
As I mentioned, AC is off. Heat is off. No climate control is active. I'm quite familiar with the "embarrassing" sound that the A/C makes especially when you're at a red light and other drivers are looking at your weird car making the weird noise.
This is different.
By the way, it's been 22 hours since I emailed Denver Tesla Service Center (I called first, but they told me nobody could handle my call so please email). Clock still ticking on any form of reply. My guess: I won't get one. Knowing Tesla Service Centers, if they don't respond to your email pretty quickly, it just disappears into the pile of unread messages in the inbox, and they can't keep up. It points out the continuing COMPLETELY FIXABLE problem with the Tesla Customer Experience: the service center should not even be doing emails. They should have a ticketing system. And, just like fast food shops, where when you go in and order, your order starts turning red on the screens all over the kitchen if you have had to wait more than say ~3 minutes, the ticketing system would gradually escalate ignored tickets. Failure to communicate is such a huge problem with Tesla and it drives me crazy because it is SO easy to fix. It's just not a priority for Elon I guess, so it doesn't get fixed.
Milling/cicada noise from inverter seems endemic to the ModelS. Apparently replacements of power trains for this specific trait are made based on customer's sense of self-importance and/or imperious nature, not for any technical reasons. If you can peer at a service manger and instantly chill his very core, then likely you will get a new shiny replacement. I've avoided playing this game choosing instead to let this thing play out - to either stay at this acceptable noise level or else rise to self destruction. I kinda like the noise. It fills an EV void, no doubt.
What Denver does is make a recording and send it to Menlo Park/Palo Alto where it probably gets tossed into a closet. Good luck on restructuring Dever Service - Dan is long gone and who knows what's going on there!?
If I ever get my inverter out I'll drizzle silicone goop back and forth over the components and boards to try to mute any vibrations. See if it makes any difference.
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What Denver does is make a recording and send it to Menlo Park/Palo Alto where it probably gets tossed into a closet. Good luck on restructuring Dever Service - Dan is long gone and who knows what's going on there!?
If I ever get my inverter out I'll drizzle silicone goop back and forth over the components and boards to try to mute any vibrations. See if it makes any difference.
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cgiGuy
Active Member
There's a scene in the movie 2010, the sequel to 2001, where Roy Scheider, playing the father, is driving an electric car and his kid is riding along in a bike. It's a very brief scene, and the car is making . . . the MILLING/CICADA sound!
Now, that movie came out in what, 1984? I remember it vividly, loved it, though many didn't. But that one scene, of the electric car, really stuck with me. Especially the SOUND. I kept thinking, one day I'm going to have an electric car. One day everybody will. And everywhere will sound like cicadas.
And so it begins...
Now, that movie came out in what, 1984? I remember it vividly, loved it, though many didn't. But that one scene, of the electric car, really stuck with me. Especially the SOUND. I kept thinking, one day I'm going to have an electric car. One day everybody will. And everywhere will sound like cicadas.
And so it begins...
While I understand that Tesla can't go around replacing these things without a good technical reason, the fact the noise isn't there for the first xx,xxx miles and then starts, and then gets worse means that either A. There is something wrong and this is your early warning or B. This is normal degradation of something somewhere and should therefore be listed as a serviceable item at xx,xxx miles.
No one should be living with this sound, especially if it's the former and could cause damage or danger down the road. And if they have to classify it under the latter, it could hurt the image of a car that needs less service than an ICE car.
Listened to the full clip this time... that's not the AC compressor. It sounds like the AC compressor in the beginning because the pitch increases with time, similarly to the AC compressor ramping up. But then the pitch lowers and other noises are heard. You should definitely have service take a look.
Well as all my annotated conments say, on the SoundCloud site, while you're playing the audio, I was changing the force with which I was pressing the brake pedal, causing the pitch of the audio to go up or down, and also, I engaged the parking brake near the end of the audio, which adds a lot of noise to the recording.
It's been 27 hours and counting since I contacted the service center. No response yet. Clock ticks away.
Bighorn
Top Supercharger
I sent a service request to Denver in April--after no response in 6 days, I resent it asking for confirmation. I heard back the next day with an apology re: trying to coordinate a long distance ranger visit.
Todd Burch
14-Year Member
Everything I've heard regarding the milling sound is that it's cosmetic and not symptomatic of a "real" problem. Having said that, it annoys me too. Tesla needs to stop replacing drivetrains for this issue and solve the root cause, even if it does involve pouring a bunch of insulating goo into the inverter 
.
.Cosmetic or not, I don't want it. I literally get a headache the louder and longer it goes. If this was out of warranty and it really was only cosmetic, I'd strongly consider paying out of pocket for the repair; it's that bad.
Thankfully, with the drivetrain warranty, none of us should have to be in that position for a very long time.
Thankfully, with the drivetrain warranty, none of us should have to be in that position for a very long time.
cgiGuy
Active Member
Not after they gave you an estimate of repair costs for swapping out your drivetrain.
Clock's passed 48 hours and ticking, awaiting reply from Denver Tesla Service Center. There really is no excuse for this kind of thing from Tesla. If they don't fix this problem now, imagine what it's going to be like in 5 years when they're trying to sell 500,000 cars a year. Oh wait. Guess what. They won't be selling 500,000 cars a year then. Word will have gotten out that while Tesla's cars are superb, their responsiveness and communications between customer and service centers sucks. Is that what we want out of Tesla as owners and investors? No.
At the 72 hour point this time tomorrow, I escalate.
At the 72 hour point this time tomorrow, I escalate.
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