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Very loud noise when AC is on

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H

hemants

Member
Dec 13, 2014
118
5
toronto
#1
On a hot day when I first start the car or if I turn on hvac before entering car there is sometimes a VERY loud fan noise

I got in and manually turned down the fan speed and it didn't affect the sound, however, turning off the AC made the noise go away.

Is this some sort of battery cooler or something that needs to be looked at by Tesla?
 
#2
hemants said:
On a hot day when I first start the car or if I turn on hvac before entering car there is sometimes a VERY loud fan noise

I got in and manually turned down the fan speed and it didn't affect the sound, however, turning off the AC made the noise go away.

Is this some sort of battery cooler or something that needs to be looked at by Tesla?
Click to expand...

You're hearing the compressor and fan (the compressor noise is typically louder than the fan. For the most part, I think other cars are equally loud with the AC on like that--it's just masked by engine noise.
 
#5
hemants said:
On a hot day when I first start the car or if I turn on hvac before entering car there is sometimes a VERY loud fan noise

I got in and manually turned down the fan speed and it didn't affect the sound, however, turning off the AC made the noise go away.

Is this some sort of battery cooler or something that needs to be looked at by Tesla?
Click to expand...

I had the same experience. A crazy loud sound when a/c was on. There is an acoustic blanket that the service centre will add if you request it. So far this summer, I have been very pleased at its effectiveness.
 
#6
If you have the temperature set low, the A/C compressor is very powerful so it will be loud. Try starting at a higher temperature setting and then lowering the temperature setting as you drive. This has worked for me in previous cars as well as the Model S.
 
#8
Yes I think it's really loud in certain circumstances - because it's capable of doing a great job.

I remember going to visit my in-laws last year, and the car was parked out in the sunshine w/ windows up and no windshield/dash protector. Ambient temperature was in the 90's, I'm sure the temperature inside the car was 115 or more after several hours.

Turned on the AC from the house to show them the phone app, and within a few minutes, once it had cranked up, the car honestly sounded like a jet aircraft sitting at its gate, ready to taxi! I am sure the neighbors wondered what was going on.

If the car finds itself in an extreme circumstance, at least it has the power to deal with it.

Since then though, I have managed the situation so that the car doesn't go so crazy with the noise. Wind the windows down... park it in the shade, use a windshield protector etc. and the AC has a smaller job to do.
 
#9
Johan said:
There is a TSB for this, where they install a sound dampening blanket around the AC compressor. Ask to have it done in the Service Center.
Click to expand...

It does help, especially with the noise outside of the car. I recall before having the fix done that several people stopped to tell me my "engine" sounded weird. It now sounds like a more normal fan noise from the exterior. Inside the car, however, it is still quite loud. I can feel vibration through the steering wheel and when I touch the 17" screen. I will often use Range Mode just to tone it down a bit because Range Mode limits the compressor somewhat.
 
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#10
I posted a similar thread, I have a lot of vibration in the passenger foot-well, less so on the drivers side steering wheel and foot-well. It's the compressor, because when I turn the fan to 1, it's still there.

OP -- have you tried to turn off the climate control and then instantly turn it back on? This seems to fix the vibrating issue for me? (maybe I'm just not letting the compressor kick on? but it keeps the car cool enough)

The SC called me (after seeing my thread) and scheduled an appointment to verify if it's running normally or not.
 
#11
MartinAustin said:
Turned on the AC from the house to show them the phone app, and within a few minutes, once it had cranked up, the car honestly sounded like a jet aircraft sitting at its gate, ready to taxi! I am sure the neighbors wondered what was going on.
Click to expand...


I think there are two things being confused here, and what you describe is likely what the OP is talking about. Not the compressor noise, but the cooling fan noise. Mine went into this "supercooling" mode for the first time (that I noticed) on a recent trip while supercharging. Below is a video I took of it (warning loud). While you can hear the compressor faintly, most of the sound is the actual fans and the whistle of the air sucking in the front louvered vents. Standing behind it, you get blasted with warm air blowing out from under the back of the car. Does sound like a jet about to launch down a runway in person. Personally, I think it sounds pretty cool.

Hot Tesla supercooling while supercharging - YouTube
 
#12
While I had the frunk bin out doing some maintenance on my car recently... I noticed the placement of some components under there, A/C compressor being one of them.

It so happens this summer I had notice some very loud (embarrassingly so) A/C compressor noises coming from outside the car, that could also be heard inside the car, along with some vibrations..

I noticed a couple things that may have contributed to the noise, and made corrections (at zero cost) in effort to solve the noise issue. Maybe this will help you too?

For the record, my car is 2014 RWD with largest frunk ever made. The A/C compressor is mounted near the front of the car under the bin, and toward the driver side. (The brake vacuum pump is forward and to the passenger side). The compressor is mounted nicely on springy bouncy things that is meant to isolate vibrations. (So is the brake vac pump.) I do not have "the blanket" fix or whatever mod was made for noisy compressors.

1. An A/C hose to the compressor was bumping the bottom of the frunk bin! You could tell this because everything under the frunk is dusty from road dirt... but one spot on this hose was cleaned off from rubbing... So that would be whacking the bottom of the bin like hitting a drum and amplifying noise. The hose is a combo rubber tubing aluminum piping thing that can be bent down away from the bin slightly by bending the aluminium tubing part. No more contact.

2. The wiring connector / harness mating pair for the A/C compressor had fallen from its slide-on mount and was lying at the side of the compressor, now freed and being subject to vibration and rattles because it's a hard plastic thing hitting on metal parts that have a lot of movement. I saw how the connector should have been mounted and slid it back on with a positive "click" once firmly in place. I think it may have never been mounted correctly from factory assembly. It seems like it's going to stay on its mount now, so one less thing to buzz.

I'll need a real hot day next summer when A/C is operating at full thump to tell if these things made a difference to noise levels... but intuitively, pretty sure that hose was a major contributor.

Maybe check this on your car first if you're off warranty and getting loud A/C compressor sounds. It could save you a lot of money from blindly having the A/C compressor replaced.
 
Last edited:
#13
scottm said:
While I had the frunk bin out doing some maintenance on my car recently... I noticed the placement of some components under there, A/C compressor being one of them.

It so happens this summer I had notice some very loud (embarrassingly so) A/C compressor noises coming from outside the car, that could also be heard inside the car, along with some vibrations..

I noticed a couple things that may have contributed to the noise, and made corrections (at zero cost) in effort to solve the noise issue. Maybe this will help you too?

For the record, my car is 2014 RWD with largest frunk ever made. The A/C compressor is mounted near the front of the car under the bin, and toward the driver side. (The brake vacuum pump is forward and to the passenger side). The compressor is mounted nicely on springy bouncy things that is meant to isolate vibrations. (So is the brake vac pump.) I do not have "the blanket" fix or whatever mod was made for noisy compressors.

1. An A/C hose to the compressor was bumping the bottom of the frunk bin! You could tell this because everything under the frunk is dusty from road dirt... but one spot on this hose was cleaned off from rubbing... So that would be whacking the bottom of the bin like hitting a drum and amplifying noise. The hose is a combo rubber tubing aluminum piping thing that can be bent down away from the bin slightly by bending the aluminium tubing part. No more contact.

2. The wiring connector / harness mating pair for the A/C compressor had fallen from its slide-on mount and was lying at the side of the compressor, now freed and being subject to vibration and rattles because it's a hard plastic thing hitting on metal parts that have a lot of movement. I saw how the connector should have been mounted and slid it back on with a positive "click" once firmly in place. I think it may have never been mounted correctly from factory assembly. It seems like it's going to stay on its mount now, so one less thing to buzz.

I'll need a real hot day next summer when A/C is operating at full thump to tell if these things made a difference to noise levels... but intuitively, pretty sure that hose was a major contributor.

Maybe check this on your car first if you're off warranty and getting loud A/C compressor sounds. It could save you a lot of money from blindly having the A/C compressor replaced.
Click to expand...
ScottM
I am pretty sure my 2014 S85 with microwave has identical problem. The car has been in three times, and the Tesla folks just shrug...and refuse to do anything. Mine got even worse when the 12 volt battery was replace, like something shifted in the car, and now something is laying against the compressor or its lines. No solution. No sympathy, either. Did your problem diminish in warm weather? Did you take any photos of what you did. I am relatively handy, but have not clue how to remove the microwave. Thanks, if you can. I have been looking into selling the car to get a new X, but no one is going to buy the car like it is.
 
#14
Living in the south and spending a lot of time in Texas, I have not a problem in the world with the fan noise when the AC is running hard... Just sounds like a nice cool car to sit in when it's 105F outside. :)

If you hear a loud buzzing sound, there is an acoustic blanket that can be put on the compressor to make it quieter. The fans, however, will always be crazy loud at max speed because they're low-profile and very high RPM fans meant to pull a lot of air across the condenser coils when the car is sitting still Supercharging on a hot day.
 
#15
Ed Hart said:
ScottM
I am pretty sure my 2014 S85 with microwave has identical problem. The car has been in three times, and the Tesla folks just shrug...and refuse to do anything. Mine got even worse when the 12 volt battery was replace, like something shifted in the car, and now something is laying against the compressor or its lines. No solution. No sympathy, either. Did your problem diminish in warm weather? Did you take any photos of what you did. I am relatively handy, but have not clue how to remove the microwave. Thanks, if you can. I have been looking into selling the car to get a new X, but no one is going to buy the car like it is.
Click to expand...

I didn't take pix, but it is pretty simple to get your frunk bin out and check yourself at home. It's not just the microwave, it's the whole frunk that has to come out. There's got to be a youtube video on pull the frunk bin out of a classic Model S by now.

It hasn't really gotten hot here since I did the (presumable) fix... so no hard working A/C to test/check if the problem is resolved. The problem really was proportional with heat and how hard the A/C was working... on hottest days it was the loudest and embarrassing. On medium hot days, livable.

The bin would have had to come out with the 12v replacement, but nothing under the bin needs to be touched where the A/C compressor is located.. but maybe they bumped something, or put a foot in the trunk to get better reach to the battery, or rested tools in there... or left a tool in there?
 
#16
Ed Hart said:
ScottM
I am pretty sure my 2014 S85 with microwave has identical problem. The car has been in three times, and the Tesla folks just shrug...and refuse to do anything. Mine got even worse when the 12 volt battery was replace, like something shifted in the car, and now something is laying against the compressor or its lines. No solution. No sympathy, either. Did your problem diminish in warm weather? Did you take any photos of what you did. I am relatively handy, but have not clue how to remove the microwave. Thanks, if you can. I have been looking into selling the car to get a new X, but no one is going to buy the car like it is.
Click to expand...
I am very happy to report on this string also that my noise problem has been solved. Tesla Service changed out my compressor, saying the original compressor was tearing itself up internally. The new compressor has made the car quieter than when it was new - really! - thus I think the compressor was defective as originally installed.
 
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#17
Ed,

Congrats on getting yours addressed. May I ask, what was the determining factor in getting your compressor replaced? I reported a loud noise when the a/c was initially turned on and it turns out my 2013 S 85 already has the aforementioned acoustic blanket installed. The SC says the noise is normal but it sounds so darn loud.

Thanks!

Martin
 
#18
mrod1975 said:
Ed,

Congrats on getting yours addressed. May I ask, what was the determining factor in getting your compressor replaced? I reported a loud noise when the a/c was initially turned on and it turns out my 2013 S 85 already has the aforementioned acoustic blanket installed. The SC says the noise is normal but it sounds so darn loud.

Thanks!

Martin
Click to expand...
I took the car in on a number of times, and even though acknowledging that it was loud, the message was that there was nothing they could do. I recorded the sound a number of times and sent it to various channels st Tesla. My best leverage probably came when we took a test drive in a Model X for my wife, and I asked the salesman if Tesla could assure me that the MX would not have a similar problem. When he asked what it sounded like, I walked him over the my S so he could hear it for himself. He was amazed. He recorded it and sent it up his channel. I think that went into my file, so when I took the S in for annual service, The did not argue, but diligent went after the problem.
 
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