4 KHz tone driving me crazy! (2022 Model S)

[Tommyc80]

This is my third Tesla - 2022 Model S refresh (non-plaid). I currently also have a 2021 Model X and previously had a 2020 Model 3.

Since the day I picked up this car I would hear a whiny sound when I was cruising down the highway, unlike my X or my previous 3.

It’s been driving me nuts. I try to just turn up the radio and ignore it, but I can still hear it pierce through, and if I want to listen to talk radio - or just drive around in silence it’s extremely annoying.

I’ve taken my car into Tesla twice and gotten the party line “that’s normal” and “we couldn’t reproduce the sound”. It’s not normal. None of my other cars have it

 

[Tommyc80]

This is my third Tesla - 2022 Model S refresh (non-plaid). I currently also have a 2021 Model X and previously had a 2020 Model 3.

Since the day I picked up this car I would hear a whiny sound when I was cruising down the highway, unlike my X or my previous 3. It’s not the sound you hear when you mash the accelerator. It’s constant, even in auto pilot. Sometimes it will fade away for a few moments but comes back shortly there after.

It’s been driving me nuts. I try to just turn up the radio and ignore it, but I can still hear it pierce through, and if I want to listen to talk radio - or just drive around in silence it’s extremely annoying.

I’ve taken my car into Tesla twice and gotten the party line “that’s normal” and “we couldn’t reproduce the sound”. It’s not normal. None of my other cars have it, nor do the two different loaners they gave me.

I took a recording of the sounds, and at the suggestion of a friend of mine who is an audio engineer - ran it through a frequency analyzer, and you see a visible pop at 4 KHz. That’s definitely the noise.

I tried googling this but I don’t see many stories out there. One similar story from a few years ago. I’m not sure what to do. Any help/guidance you guys could give? I’ve got 6,000 miles on this car and I’m ready to trade it in if this can’t get fixed.

I plan to set another service appointment and play the sound for them and show them the frequency readout. Is there any other guidance you guys could provide? Thank you :/

 

[DerbyDave]

I don't know if you saw this: 2022 Model X owners - do you hear this noise too?

 

[Tommyc80]

I don't know if you saw this: 2022 Model X owners - do you hear this noise too?

Thanks for sharing. That’s not the sounds. Mine is much more high pitched and it only occurs when I’m driving at cruising speed (pressing the accelerator slightly makes it go away)

 

[Muzzman1]

Have you tried turning off the ARNR? It's in the options of the sound system.
Although 4KHs is a pretty high frequency. It's almost up there with the squeal of old TV's (CRT's).
Our refresh MX or my Plaid definetly do not have that sound.

It might actually be motor whine. Have you tried putting it in track mode (if equipped) and moving the power bias from front to rear to see if the sound comes/goes.

My 2015 85D had this, and I could make it come/go using "range mode"

 

[Tommyc80]

Have you tried turning off the ARNR? It's in the options of the sound system.
Although 4KHs is a pretty high frequency. It's almost up there with the squeal of old TV's (CRT's).
Our refresh MX or my Plaid definetly do not have that sound.

It might actually be motor whine. Have you tried putting it in track mode (if equipped) and moving the power bias from front to rear to see if the sound comes/goes.

My 2015 85D had this, and I could make it come/go using "range mode"

Thanks for this. I’ll try the ARNR, but I don’t have track mode (seems like a plaid only option based on what I see on the Tesla website).

 

[Tommyc80]

Thanks for this. I’ll try the ARNR, but I don’t have track mode (seems like a plaid only option based on what I see on the Tesla website).

So this hasn’t really helped….I’ve got another service appointment on March 2nd to bring it back in again.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

To help the Service Center figure this out, you can do a test to isolate whether the source of the noise is mechanical gear whine or electrical whine.

Just find a stretch of freeway that isn't busy (early morning or late night) and temporarily put the car in neutral to see if it still makes the noise. You can press both steering wheel rollers at the same time to activate the PRND on the center console to make it easier to switch from Neutral to Drive and back.

In my case, I did this test to learn that my noise is definitely from the gears, and not the regen of the motor, like many have speculated with these types of noises.

At lower speeds, my noise sounds like gear noise, but on the freeway coasting around 70 mph, it becomes a sound more like a high pitch electrical buzzer.

 

[Muzzman1]

To help the Service Center figure this out, you can do a test to isolate whether the source of the noise is mechanical gear whine or electrical whine.

Just find a stretch of freeway that isn't busy (early morning or late night) and temporarily put the car in neutral to see if it still makes the noise. You can press both steering wheel rollers at the same time to activate the PRND on the center console to make it easier to switch from Neutral to Drive and back.

In my case, I did this test to learn that my noise is definitely from the gears, and not the regen of the motor like many have speculated with these types of noises.

At lower speeds, my noise sounds like gear noise, but on the freeway coasting around 70 mph, it becomes a sound more like a high pitch electrical buzzer.

I see where you are going with this, but putting the car in N does not mechanically disengage anything. Just Sayin'.
Gears might whine less without a load, but they can still whine.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I see where you are going with this, but putting the car in N does not mechanically disengage anything. Just Sayin'.
Gears might whine less without a load, but they can still whine.

You missed the point. The point is to isolate whether the noise is gear noise or electrical whine, such as regen or acceleration.

Putting in neutral does electrically disengage the motor. If you don't believe me, try it and see how your brakes feel in neutral compared to when the electrical regen is working.