$6.4k for this repair now I wonder how much the spline problem will cost? Does this require a motor replacement or gear box replacement? If you hit 10k that will be something! Ext Platinum Warranty is a must with this vehicle unless you are an expert at repair electric vehicles DIY.
So it looks like they switched the drive unit from manual to automatic grease injection for the 2014 +. Does this mean stay away from any 2013 and early model s units? USED?
https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/s ... train-goal"“We transitioned to automatic grease injection into the spline of the large drive unit – we had variation in how much grease was put into the spline and if not enough grease was put into the spline, it would have premature wear,” said Musk.
The issue of reliability for Tesla has been a hot topic lately after Consumer Reports downgraded the Model S to “below average” reliability and pulled its recommendation for the sedan. Mark Rechtin with Consumer Reports said the drivetrain was one of the “main problem areas” for the car."
https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/t ... -live-blog"Q the Newer drive unit. How is the quality compared to the initial drive unit?
A - We are very happy. Internally, we've changed the goal from 200K miles to being 1M miles. We want DU that never wear out. The units shipped for the last few months are much improved. One period of time that we transitioned from manual to automatic grease injection, with variation on how much grease made it to the spline."
https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/m ... e-problems"Basted on your description of the noise it suggests the spline fit at either end had become sloppy. This can be a result of socket wear or axle wear or both (possible lubrication problem). It is possible the socket at either end was replaced improving the fit. I haven't been able to find an explosion view of Tesla's axle design so this is just a guess. I do however doubt they would do a cheaply temporary fix just to get you out of their hair. At least now you should get an un-discounted trade in value and a good chance of long term serviceability."
"@Amped, I think you should include the gearbox/gear reduction system that has been problematic early on. Those problems were somewhat unique to Tesla because of the high torque (gear wear) and magnetic flux (bearing failure) which may extend to the drive shaft (spline wear) as part of the drivetrain. If it turns out to be a design flaw or manufacturing flaw, either way it should be a warranty issue unless abuse can be shown ."
https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/h ... otors-last" jordanrichard | January 21, 2016
The only 2 wear points in the motor itself are the bearings. There are no other moving parts that touch each other. At one end of the rotor shaft is splined and goes into the gear reduction box. So I guess you could consider that wear point as part of the motor."
https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/2 ... 0000-miles"This would be a lot more informative if they included a Pareto chart showing the failure modes by frequency and expense. It's possible that 65% of the cars need to have some bolts tightened and 1% strip out the splines or gears in a way that trashes the motor and transmission. "
https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/axle-problem"You did say why the axles have to be replaced. My '14 S85 (presently 86,000 miles) recently developed a click noise when accelerating and decelerating. I feared that the axles req'd replacement, but all that was required was to lube the splines in the hubs. "
https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/e ... rive-units"I have mine replaced due to a clunking noise when I took off from a stop (easy or hard). The spline wasn't being greased properly(?), but the new units have an automatic greaser.
the new units for our cars @nick-r with the code Q in the part number is suppose to be the best units. I have the P coded unit in my p85+ and so far no issues and it's completely silent!"
"Huh, I had that metal on metal clunk but they just re greased the spline and sent me on my way. Still getting a clunk between power and regen like there's a bit of loose in the spline. Now I'm getting a low milling noise below 20 km/h. Turning the radio on fixes it for now but I'm hoping they swap in a Q unit at the next scheduled maintenance. I'm on the original Dec 2014 S85 DU. I'm guessing ceramic bearings started making their appearance shortly after that.
Silver, are you sure the P coded unit isn't the latest version for the P85? Seems like the S85's have been getting the Q units. I was under the impression they were the same except for the inverter. I could be wrong."
"The newer DUs have the spline autogreasing technology and the earlier DUs do not as per Elon. I don't know if that's been rectified on older DUs, but my DU was replacement recently because of spline making clunking noise. This is the 2nd DU in my car's history @34k miles"
"@flight505, let me summarize what has been said, I have experienced, and what I have read since 2013 ( my first Tesla). Very few drive units have actually failed but two types of noises have developed that led to Tesla taking action.
The milling sound seems to be caused by reduction gear or motor bearings when unexpected pitting occurred caused by electrical flux interference of steel to steel bearings. Once the cause was discovered it was resolved but introducing ceramic (non conducting) bearings.
The clunking seemed to be a symptom of spline wear caused by lubrication failure and high stress. Changing lubrication I believe has resolve that as well.
My drive unit change was free and at the time I was told it was covered under the 8 year warranty.
My Sept. 2014 Tesla shows no sign of either issue and in fact has been totally free of problems.
Hope this gives you some level of comfort."
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