Seats ticking?

tliving · Oct 13, 2015

Hi folks, I have about 50K miles on my Model S and i'm hearing a "ticking" type noise on back/bumpy (but not too bumpy) roads or when I stop/start coming from what sounds like inside my seat or my passenger seat. Going with my standard procedure I waited for a passenger to notice, but its driving me crazy. Its obviously not something serious but it sort of sounds like a lose paperclip dangling on a string inside the seat somewhere clicking against metal. Anyone else have something like that and any ideas how to get rid of it? I've tried reaching around, having people crawl over the car to listen etc but so far its eluded me.

mmccord · Oct 13, 2015

tliving said:
Hi folks, I have about 50K miles on my Model S and i'm hearing a "ticking" type noise on back/bumpy (but not too bumpy) roads or when I stop/start coming from what sounds like inside my seat or my passenger seat. Going with my standard procedure I waited for a passenger to notice, but its driving me crazy. Its obviously not something serious but it sort of sounds like a lose paperclip dangling on a string inside the seat somewhere clicking against metal. Anyone else have something like that and any ideas how to get rid of it? I've tried reaching around, having people crawl over the car to listen etc but so far its eluded me.

If you find it, let me know. Mine does the same thing.

demundus · Oct 14, 2015

Same. Just my drivers seat though at 70k

Omar Shahine · Oct 14, 2015

demundus said:
Same. Just my drivers seat though at 70k

Did you guys figure this out? Just started with my car. 1,500 miles 70D.

Alysashley79 · Oct 14, 2015

Mine did the same thing. The techs tried lu one everything and tightening everything and 4 months later and a lot less hair a new seat was put in.

tliving · Oct 18, 2015

Omar Shahine said:
Did you guys figure this out? Just started with my car. 1,500 miles 70D.

No luck yet

NoMoGas · Oct 18, 2015

Guys... If it sounds like a clock.. it's in the dash on the left knee... part of the braking system and considered normal. Min stopped of the most part

cassiri · Oct 18, 2015

Mine with 4000 miles just started making a noise due to right side bolster rubbing against the center console. It seems the seat bolsters have stretched a bit from use and rub. Or maybe they rubbed before but due to it being new material it didn't make the noise.

mmccord · Oct 19, 2015

cassiri said:
Mine with 4000 miles just started making a noise due to right side bolster rubbing against the center console. It seems the seat bolsters have stretched a bit from use and rub. Or maybe they rubbed before but due to it being new material it didn't make the noise.

Mine does that in addition to the clicking noise.

ToddRLockwood · Oct 19, 2015

The Watertown MA service center took care of that problem in my 2013 P85 10K miles ago. It hasn't been a problem since. My Model S now has 45K miles and is remarkably rattle-free. One area to be aware of however: if Tesla Service removes the interior trim on your doors more than twice, you might want to request that they replace the nylon retaining clips that hold the trim in place. The speaker grilles and the uppermost trim piece (just below the window) seem to be the first parts to require clip replacement.

This is an area where Tesla would have benefitted from having a former Audi or BMW interior engineer involved in the interior planning. It's the kind of stuff that luxury car makers glean from decades of refinement, much of it invisible to the owner but important nonetheless. Tesla does perform a rattle test on every vehicle at the end of the assembly line, but of course this does not account for the effects of several years of driving.

Omar Shahine · Oct 19, 2015

Alysashley79 said:
Mine did the same thing. The techs tried lu one everything and tightening everything and 4 months later and a lot less hair a new seat was put in.

In my case the sounds comes from underneath the seat. I looked down there and saw a mess of cables, many had come loose from their zip tie attachments. I'm not 100% sure if this is it, but it seems like the most likely candidate.

When my wife is driving (different seat position) no noise. So strange.

Did they replace your drive seat?

tliving · Oct 19, 2015

NoMoGas said:
Guys... If it sounds like a clock.. it's in the dash on the left knee... part of the braking system and considered normal. Min stopped of the most part

Mine is definitely not a clock type noise or from the dash by the left knee.

- - - Updated - - -

Omar Shahine said:
In my case the sounds comes from underneath the seat. I looked down there and saw a mess of cables, many had come loose from their zip tie attachments. I'm not 100% sure if this is it, but it seems like the most likely candidate.

When my wife is driving (different seat position) no noise. So strange.

Did they replace your drive seat?

Ive been trying to feel something under the seat but perhaps haven't been aggressive enough. How did you see under there to see the loose cables? Its tight/awkward space

Omar Shahine · Oct 19, 2015

Push the seat all the way up and backward. Grab flashlight and look. Lots of cables and such that could tick if in just the right position.

Andyw2100 · Oct 19, 2015

I just started having this problem on my Next Gen driver's seat. I made a video, to send to my service manager. The link to the video is below.

I'd be interested in knowing if the sound in the video is similar to the sound some of you are hearing.

As I state in the video notes, the sound I'm talking about is a metallic clicking that I reproduce in the video by putting pressure on the driver's seat. When the pressure is released, the sound is made. (There is also a sound made in the video as I put pressure on the seat, but that is not the sound in question, and that sound is not made while driving.)

Casey Nguyen · Oct 20, 2015

i have this ticking sound and squeak noise, the tesla advisor and technician told me that it was my fault for sitting in it. " you drive alot and its an old car, its normal for the side bolsters to loosen up"
.
my car is a 2014 s 85 With 50 k km. needless to say i have open a case to the Norwegian consumer Council.

tliving · Oct 20, 2015

Andyw2100 said:
I just started having this problem on my Next Gen driver's seat. I made a video, to send to my service manager. The link to the video is below.

I'd be interested in knowing if the sound in the video is similar to the sound some of you are hearing.

As I state in the video notes, the sound I'm talking about is a metallic clicking that I reproduce in the video by putting pressure on the driver's seat. When the pressure is released, the sound is made. (There is also a sound made in the video as I put pressure on the seat, but that is not the sound in question, and that sound is not made while driving.)

Thats not the noise I hear. Moving around in the seat or adding/removing pressure doesnt make the noise happen. So far I like the loose cables idea the best for my particular issue. Im going to crawl/poke under my seat this weekend when I have time.

Omar Shahine · Oct 25, 2015

I got my wife to drive around, and laid flat on the floor in the rear seat with a flashlight and my ear to the ground. Sound is coming from the right rail area of the driver seat.
Also got a recording. You can hear the metallic ticking sound throughout the recording. It happens about 8 times.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/305392/Ticking Noise 2.m4a

I have a service appointment in a few weeks. So will see what happens.

tliving · Oct 25, 2015

Omar Shahine said:
I got my wife to drive around, and laid flat on the floor in the rear seat with a flashlight and my ear to the ground. Sound is coming from the right rail area of the driver seat.
Also got a recording. You can hear the metallic ticking sound throughout the recording. It happens about 8 times.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/305392/Ticking Noise 2.m4a

I have a service appointment in a few weeks. So will see what happens.

That sounds exactly like what i'm hearing. I still havent found the thing thats doing it. Will be very interested to hear what service says about it!

p.s. I'd have done that but I don't let the wife drive. Last time she was hooting and doing 95...

tliving · Oct 25, 2015

I dug around under both front seats. The driver's side on my car is super tight and nothing seems to be loose. On the passenger side I found one thing that was not very secure and could make a clicking noise:

Seems to be something related to seat heater I think. Anyway its mounted on a metal rail but it can slide back and forth on that rail easily and could make noise I think. I put on some electrical tape:

Not sure thats it but worth a shot. Short of that I don't have any better ideas.

Andyw2100 · Oct 25, 2015

tliving said:
Thats not the noise I hear.

Omar Shahine said:
I got my wife to drive around, and laid flat on the floor in the rear seat with a flashlight and my ear to the ground. Sound is coming from the right rail area of the driver seat.
Also got a recording. You can hear the metallic ticking sound throughout the recording. It happens about 8 times.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/305392/Ticking Noise 2.m4a

tliving said:
That sounds exactly like what i'm hearing.

That sounds like the sound in my car too! So it's odd, tliving, that you didn't think the sound in my video sounded like the sound in your car. Perhaps it was just too exaggerated in the video. In reality, it is more subtle, and sounds just like the sound Omar Shahine recorded.

Seats ticking?

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