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What's Normal Front Motor Sound for Model Y?
- Thread starter rorrim
- Start date
I did not, however, the rear seat can be removed by simply lifting up on the forward portion of the cushion (will take some force). Once removed, you’ll see foam sticking out on the edges of the pilothouse, all the way around the perimeter. If you don’t see the foam, your seal might be missing.
Even though my seal is in place I’m going to continue to pursue the idea that there is missing insulation or deadening material somewhere else in the car.
How did you make out? Did you get the issue resolved or did you end up returning the vehicle?
decrypt
Member
Interesting, I heard considerable motor whine even at low RPM when test driving an AWD long range Y. Sounded as though it was coming from the rear. Quite different than my Model S experience...
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I asked a friend to send me a recording of his model Y cabin under moderate acceleration, followed by sustained 50mph speeds. Generally speaking his rear motor is a lot quieter overall, and he has no detectable high pitch whine at all. Nothing. Even the lower pitched motor sounds that aren’t annoying to me are louder in my car when compared to his.
The high pitch whine in my car is about 5.56kHz at 50mph. I suspect there’s also a resonance at the frequency because 50mph is when the sound is loudest. Sound at that frequency should be easy to knock down; I remain convinced there’s a grommet, seal, or other deadening material missing from my car that’s allowing motor noise into the cabin.
My final day to return the car is today. I sincerely hope that I’m not making a huge mistake by keeping it. My next service appt is next week and I’ll provide an update then.
decrypt
Member
As I mentioned in my Test Drive Observations thread... I drove in a different Model Y AWD today... and it did not exhibit the same motor whine I described in my first test drive; the difference was very signifigant. So clearly there are some units out there that are exhibiting different behavior.
blecchus_rex
Member
I walked into the service center as soon as it opened last Monday to see if I could get a service technician to drive the vehicle and offer an assessment of whether or not they considered what I was hearing was "within specification." He agreed it definitely wasn't... so I felt reassured about trying to get it addressed via normal service and elected to not return the vehicle within the 7 day window. I also pointed out a part number reported by someone on Reddit as having resolved a like (if not identical) issue:
Issue was first described by service as a missing “battery to body seal” that was allowing the noise into cabin. After a few days for parts and other work, they called to say they had to wait for special jack stands from Fremont to drop the HV battery, and get to the penthouse seal location. Evidently this was the first for the Y. After repairs, tech said it was a seal around/in the penthouse allowing the noise. Issue was completely resolved. Very happy with the car and the service experience, despite how extreme this repair seems to have been.
SEAL,PERIMETER,PENTHOUSE,MDL3(1467057-00-C)
SEAL,PERIMETER,PENTHOUSE,MDL3(1467057-00-C)
In my case the tech was understandably non-committal about what the problem might actually be, but didn't rule out the penthouse seal. Unfortunately, my service appointment was bumped out due to parts having not yet arrived (for an unrelated item: tow hitch installation) so I won't really get answers until the 12th or after.
Just wanted to update. After having the missing seal replaced, I opened up the rear seat to reattach the seat heater wire guides. I took some pictures of the repaired penthouse cover and don’t see any foam or seal visible. It seems that the cover itself would overhang the seal area enough that it wouldn’t be visible from above. Just FYI.
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My car is at the SC again for this and a handful of other non-trivial fit & finish issues. They took a recording of my cabin and sent it off to "Tesla Engineering" for analysis. They also noted that my penthouse perimeter seal appears to be in place and properly installed. It's not clear what, if any, other seals or material were inspected prior to the recording. They haven't indicated when the car will be returned.
General observation:
My service advisor has put considerable time and effort into managing my expectations downward, so I fully expect that Tesla Engineering will conclude the noise is "within limits". If you're patient and persistent, you can cut through their concerted and well rehearsed efforts to gaslight you (ex. "What gaps?"), but does that mean your concerns will be addressed to your satisfaction? I'd love to be wrong, but all available evidence suggests that I'm going to be thoroughly disappointed. Will update when the car is returned.
General observation:
My service advisor has put considerable time and effort into managing my expectations downward, so I fully expect that Tesla Engineering will conclude the noise is "within limits". If you're patient and persistent, you can cut through their concerted and well rehearsed efforts to gaslight you (ex. "What gaps?"), but does that mean your concerns will be addressed to your satisfaction? I'd love to be wrong, but all available evidence suggests that I'm going to be thoroughly disappointed. Will update when the car is returned.
This is very interesting. Note that the seal fits around the perimeter of the entire penthouse, forming a seal between the battery and the body. There probably is another seal for the penthouse cover but I doubt you'd be able to see it without removing the cover. It's difficult to be sure, but I do think I see your seal in the pictures you provided. It appears to be black material, which is interesting because I believe mine is a cream or gray color. I've attached a photo of a Model 3 HV Battery with the seal still in place for reference.
Also, here a video of a Model Y battery after removal. Note the light gray seal.
Curious, have you driven the car with the back bench seat removed like that? I have, and I recall that all motor noises (including whine) were much much louder. The sound deadening properties of the back bench appear to be significant.
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I don't see how the normal is no Motor whine and yet they could somehow claim motor whine present is "Within Spec". That's a pretty convenient Engineering Spec. I hope they have tighter tolerances on their specs on the Space X side.
Well, after exactly 3 weeks in the SC my car was returned to me.
They replaced the Penthouse Perimeter Seal and also added butyl tape to various seams underneath the rear seat, but alas, the whine is still there. It’s slightly more bearable now but still quite annoying.
I went on a test drive with the service advisor prior to leaving and then talked to the service manager. He maintained that the whine is normal and that all Model Y’s have it to varying degrees, and that he was unable to do anything more.
I profoundly regret not returning the car when I had the chance.
They replaced the Penthouse Perimeter Seal and also added butyl tape to various seams underneath the rear seat, but alas, the whine is still there. It’s slightly more bearable now but still quite annoying.
I went on a test drive with the service advisor prior to leaving and then talked to the service manager. He maintained that the whine is normal and that all Model Y’s have it to varying degrees, and that he was unable to do anything more.
I profoundly regret not returning the car when I had the chance.
blecchus_rex
Member
A belated update on my case (prompted by a turn for the worse today):
- After taking delivery of my wife's Model Y at the end of August and noting the whine I drove the vehicle in to the service center to have it assessed for whether or not the problem would be characterized as fitting "within spec." I feared they'd claim this after my 7 day opportunity to return had elapsed and wanted to get a read on this documented prior. They test drove it and confirmed it was abnormal... so I decided to keep this VIN and lumped a number of other delivery time issues as well as homelink and tow hitch install into a single service appointment.
- Unfortunately, the scheduled appointment kept getting pushed out due to delays in receiving service parts. But I finally got into the service center the 3rd week of September and was looking forward to everything getting addressed in one fell swoop. When dropping off the vehicle the service advisor used some fairly non-committal language w/ me around assessing the noise to determine (paraphrasing here... I don't recall the exact words) if it was an issue or not (e.g was within their spec). They claimed to not have any record of my prior visit, nor to have received the audio clips I'd sent in of the issue. Suffice to say I was... err... nonplussed. They did later indicate though that they'd encountered the noise and confirmed it was abnormal.
- Alas it was another nine days before I got the vehicle back... and w/o the primary issue (the high-pitched whine) having been addressed. Despite my having discussed w/ multiple service advisors the nature of the problem, provided them audio clips, pointed them to other reports / potential resolutions they ended up where I started w/ the most likely culprit believed to be either a missing or improperly installed SEAL,PERIMETER,PENTHOUSE. It wasn't immediately available and wouldn't be for some time so I elected to get the vehicle back and schedule a subsequent appointment after the aforementioned part would arrive.
- After having retrieved the Model Y it had (aside from the ever-present "dental implement" aura) been otherwise fine and we were awaiting our subsequent appointment slated for mid-month Sept. So that sets the stage for today's events: my wife and kids (in a rainstorm of course) were confronted with a rapid-fire series of "shutting down" and "unable to drive" messages w/ no prior warning or indication that anything was amiss. The vehicle shuddered, and then they came to stop on the side of the road. Fortunately, it was a residential street and not far from home. I quickly scheduled roadside assistance and in parallel she troubleshot (rebooted) and then followed some additional steps (to exit and re-enter the vehicle) as advised by a subsequent error message. The vehicle magically returned to operation and we were able to get the vehicle back to my driveway.
- I contacted the service advisor and after consulting logs / remote diagnostics they advised to re-engage roadside assistance immediately and to not attempt to drive the car. After they had a look at the vehicle today it was indicated: "Upon inspection of your vehicle, our preliminary findings are that the rear drive unit will need replacement. We will need confirmation from our engineering team. Your vehicle unfortunately will not be able to be driven at the present time."
- So now the Y is sitting back at the Service Center (the Austin Pond Springs location... completely overflowing with cars parked in fire lanes and in the empty patches of dirt at its periphery) w/ an indeterminate ETA for resolution.
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