Two annoying sounds my S makes that are driving me crazy

[tinm]

In this case it was one brief press of brake pedal, then release, to stop the car in the garage, while left arm out of driver's window holding iPhone that's recording the audio. BUZZZZZZ starts. Eventually stops. I time it. ~17 sec.

- - - Updated - - -

On another note, an observation about the buggy data in the Nav system. At Holbrook I reset the Nav to go to "tesla service center scottsdale". It found it, I selected it, done.

When I get into Scottsdale, I'm driving around and I had this bad feeling. This doesn't seem right. Uh-oh. This building along this road is very very big and long, as in... oh no... a MALL. The nav had sent me to the Tesla Store at some mall in Scottsdale.

So I typed in "tesla service center" and it listed out all kinds of crazy service centers from Salt Lake City to god knows where, but nothing for Scottsdale. (WTF?)

So I went back into my emails, found the Scottsdale service center rep's email to me, noticed the signature in the footer showed an address on N Hayden Rd, which was not where I was. I keyed in this exact address, and it took me 20 mins to get there.

Basically the Tesla Nav system does not have any info about the Scottsdale service center and you can't actually Nav to it unless you type in its explicit address. Even if you explicitly say "TESLA SERVICE CENTER SCOTTSDALE" like I did, it will send you to the Tesla Store at the mall.

Man, that is a serious bug. I mentioned it to the service center people and they chuckled and seemed to know all about it, that other customers get sent to the wrong place a lot. Guys, send a ticket in to engineering and FIX the thing, like, maybe, huh?

 

[wk057]

Yeah 17 seconds from one press suggests a vacuum leak or other issue with the booster.

If you press the pedal twice in succession while the booster is off (full down, then up, then full down) does the second press take significantly more effort than the first? That would seem to confirm a pressure loss.

If it helps, here is the service invoice from when they replaced my wife's brake booster:

In her case it was operating normally (few seconds of pumping after braking), but was super loud and sounded like something was loose.

 

[gavine]

My brake booster, while not extra noisy, has been running much longer when I first start-up than ever before. Not 17 seconds but maybe 8 to 10 instead of 2 to 3. Also, when I touch the brake in the morning, after the car has sat for a while, it is very hard to push to get it to wake-up the car. It used to be easy to push in the morning as if the vacuum in the booster was still present.

I brought it in a couple of weeks ago to have it looked at and they said everything is normal. I'm convinced that I have a slow vacuum leak. Either it's too slow for them to detect or they just decided it wasn't necessary to fix.

Here's another clue. If I'm sitting in the car, waiting for someone and I engage the parking brake from the touchscreen, after a while (without ever touching the brakes), the booster pump will run. It didn't do that before.

I'm not going to make a big issue out of it because the brakes work fine. I guess my booster pump may die prematurely due to being over-used. I can't really bring it back again for the same issue when they already told me it was within spec, unless it gets much worse. If mine starts running for 17 seconds at a time, that'll be enough for me to bring it in again. That's too long.

 

[tinm]

Update.

Denver called yesterday. Two separate folks actually. They're going to send a flat-bed down in August on one of their New Mexico service runs (they apparently batch together lots of customer requests on a single run, makes sense, but if someone else needs the flat-bed, you have to wait until it's free). Apparently Denver considers the Power Switch pre-emptive replacement not as urgent an issue as Scottsdale, so the wait 'til August doesn't seem to be a big deal. Let's hope so.

I was intrigued to learn that the Rangers have to be careful not to wear any Tesla-branded clothing when they're out servicing customers in states like New Mexico, because, get this, they can be arrested. Thank you fascist protectionist New Mexico Automotive Dealers Association.

 

[CHG-ON]

Do you have the air suspension? I had a problem with mine that sounded similar to to the first sound. overactive compressor due to bad solenoid. No idea on the second.

 

[tinm]

Nope the regular suspension

 

[GSP]

Update.....

I was intrigued to learn that the Rangers have to be careful not to wear any Tesla-branded clothing when they're out servicing customers in states like New Mexico, because, get this, they can be arrested. Thank you fascist protectionist New Mexico Automotive Dealers Association.

I would complain to my state legislators, and the governor as well for good measure.

Good luck with your repairs.

GSP

 

[tinm]

I would complain to my state legislators, and the governor as well for good measure.

Good luck with your repairs.

GSP

Already underway. They move, as is their wont, verrry slowly. I don't think they're taking the issue seriously.

I think a better course of action, one I'm thinking about trying, would be to sit down with the New Mexico Automotive Dealers Association and get them to back off a bit and nod their head to the legislature and governor. If they did that, the law would change in seconds, I bet.

 

[wycolo]

Dodge diesel trucks went to electric hydraulic brake boosters in 1998. Smaller footprint and more logical as vacuum not needed elsewhere in the vehicle. Time for gen II braking in the MS.
--

 

[ecarfan]

Basically the Tesla Nav system does not have any info about the Scottsdale service center and you can't actually Nav to it unless you type in its explicit address. Even if you explicitly say "TESLA SERVICE CENTER SCOTTSDALE" like I did, it will send you to the Tesla Store at the mall.
Man, that is a serious bug. I mentioned it to the service center people and they chuckled and seemed to know all about it, that other customers get sent to the wrong place a lot. Guys, send a ticket in to engineering and FIX the thing, like, maybe, huh?

When you enter an address into the nav in the center display you are using Google Maps. Tesla is very open about that. When I use Google Maps on my iPad to search for "tesla service center scottsdale" the result is this:
7014 East Camelback Road Suite 1210, Scottsdale Fashion Square, Scottsdale, AZ 85251, United States
As you know, that is a mall where a Tesla Showrom is located. So Google Maps is in error. Don't blame Tesla for that! Google Maps is not perfect, though it's pretty darn close. I think it is far better than any other vehicle nav system I am familiar with because you don't have to enter a specific address, you can search using broader terms. But that doesn't work correctly 100% of the time.

 

[tinm]

Sure I blame Tesla for that. They licensed Google Maps, Google Maps has known problems, Tesla should communicate those known problems to its customers. If they know the nav misdirects customers seeking one of its service centers but sends them to a store, they should get on Google's case and fix it. Maybe Elon could give Larry Page grief next time he crashes on Larry's couch.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

When you enter an address into the nav in the center display you are using Google Maps. Tesla is very open about that. When I use Google Maps on my iPad to search for "tesla service center scottsdale" the result is this:
7014 East Camelback Road Suite 1210, Scottsdale Fashion Square, Scottsdale, AZ 85251, United States
As you know, that is a mall where a Tesla Showrom is located. So Google Maps is in error. Don't blame Tesla for that! Google Maps is not perfect, though it's pretty darn close. I think it is far better than any other vehicle nav system I am familiar with because you don't have to enter a specific address, you can search using broader terms. But that doesn't work correctly 100% of the time.

Why shouldn't we blame Tesla for this? Tesla seems to be able to add all of its Superchargers and destination chargers to the map, will point them out to you, and without Google's involvement. They can very easily do the same for service centers and galleries.

 

[Ingineer]

The "inverter whine" is us hearing the inverter switching frequency and/or harmonics of it. The inverter doesn't make the noise directly, but because it's switching the power to the motor windings tens of thousands of times per second, that's where the sound comes from. Tesla encapsulates the stator windings in epoxy which help quiet this down. Some inverters temporarily raise the switching frequency when at certain especially noisy power levels to prevent audible artifacts, but this can be tricky and an efficiency hit. The only way it should get louder with time is if something is physically loose inside that is allowing something to vibrate.

I also agree that the first noise is your vacuum pump. The valves inside might be wearing and this causes the pump to not only lose efficiency (more run time), but the valves can also leak causing the vacuum accumulator to gain air and trigger another cycle even w/o any brake boost activity. The new system is superior.

 

[tinm]

Well, the car's packed up and on its way to Denver for Round II of service.

They're going to replace the "power switch" / contactors, supposedly fix the milling/cicada sound (supposedly meaning: drive unit replacement), and fix the brake vacuum pump buzzing noise. The latter two were things Scottsdale was supposed to fix, had the car for 24 hours to do the fixes, but didn't fix either. (And interestingly have stayed SILENT since I picked up my car there and later reported the problems persisted. Basically, they want this to be Denver's problem.)

Meanwhile, I have a Ford Mustang from Enterprise Rental Car during the hiatus. OMG driving an ICE is the weirdest thing. I feel like I'm riding a stubborn mule that farts and snorts and is reluctant to do anything I want it to do, and when it finally does it, does it on its own sweet time.

It was eye-opening to hear that it's technically illegal for this truck and its driver to be in this state doing what he is doing. These stupid laws have to change. It's unfair, unreasonable, undemocratic, and anti-customer. You know, just like car dealers!

 

[neroden]

Basically the Tesla Nav system does not have any info about the Scottsdale service center and you can't actually Nav to it unless you type in its explicit address. Even if you explicitly say "TESLA SERVICE CENTER SCOTTSDALE" like I did, it will send you to the Tesla Store at the mall.

Man, that is a serious bug. I mentioned it to the service center people and they chuckled and seemed to know all about it, that other customers get sent to the wrong place a lot. Guys, send a ticket in to engineering and FIX the thing, like, maybe, huh?

See, what happens is you send a ticket in to engineering, and nothing comes out. This is what has happened with all the software bugs I've reported to Tesla since 2013. The Service Center has opened a ticket, the central office has never done anything with it.

 

[tinm]

Been an interesting morning. I sensed a disturbance in the force and decided to fire up the Tesla app on my iPhone and see if there was any activity on my car. There was.

I'd charged the car to 234 miles on the battery before the guy came to pick it up yesterday. Last night while he was driving north to Denver I watched the car now and then, noticing he stopped a few times and the car battery did its small vampire drain. I snapped a screenshot when it was at 232.

But this morning, when I checked in at 7:59am, the car was moving. They seemed to be driving it around some building. Around and around and around. Went on for a while and then the car took to the streets. Drove all over Denver. Neighborhoods, big streets, little streets, freeways. North. South. East. West. Circles. Doubling back the way it came. All the while, the battery was draining. Then I noticed they had the sunroof open, and the AC on full. Car said 92ºF was internal temp. I was kinda alarmed how fast the battery drained over . . . the . next . hour . . . they drove all over Denver area. Eventually they drove back to a building, went in the building, and car stopped. I suppose this was the service center. But the roof stayed open, the frunk hood was opened, and the AC was left on, blaring. At some point it was changed to HEAT, set to HI. All the while the battery kept draining.

When the battery got to 60 later this morning, they must've cut the remote control. Maybe they sensed I was watching.

Anyway, I know they have to drain the battery to do the contactor / power switch replacement, but geez, I thought Tesla had a more sophisticated way of draining a battery than driving around for over an hour and leaving the AC or Heat on full....

 

[Ingineer]

Wow, that's crazy. You'd think they could hook up a load bank. Or better yet, an inverter that offsets the SC's electric bill by powering the building until the battery is empty.

I guess they discharge the battery for safety, just to make it slightly less dangerous to handle live. Seems like if that was important enough, they'd have a better way.

 

[wk057]

Wow, that's crazy. You'd think they could hook up a load bank. Or better yet, an inverter that offsets the SC's electric bill by powering the building until the battery is empty.

I guess they discharge the battery for safety, just to make it slightly less dangerous to handle live. Seems like if that was important enough, they'd have a better way.

They do, actually. Some service centers have the equipment to drain the pack using a large resistive load (I think it's 15kW). But I read in the tech note that when this is in use or otherwise unavailable that driving the vehicle and/or running the climate control on full is an alternative method.