Power Train Problems of Tesla Model Y - part 2

I hit a rock at approximately 35 mph that got projected under my car and caused a bad leak in the battery coolant system. Received a low coolant warning about one minute after the incident. The alert indicated that the car was safe to drive but to schedule service ASAP. Tesla instructed me to drive to the local SC that is 15 min away when though enough coolant had leaked to render the user display black. I had no turn signals, no speedometer, nothing except the ability to move the car. Tesla alerted me the next day that the damaged occurred at a poorly protected point where the coolant lines connect to the hv battery and that the battery with less than 20k miles needs to be replaced. As a result, they discharged the energy from the battery to avoid a “thermal event”. In doing some research, I discovered a number of documented cases of similar failure due to the fact that a plastic part is used to protect this critical area and is known to break and not offer ample protection to the coolant lines and front drive system. I’m very concerned that had this occurred on the highway and I continued to drive that a “thermal event” would occur and put me in grave danger of a vehicle fire. This area is too critical for proper vehicle operation and safety around high voltage components to use plastic parts to protect them. I also discovered that earlier model model 3s used a heavy cloth for this role before changing to the plastic version.

See all problems of the 2023 Tesla Model Y 🔎.

This is not a defect but rather something I consider could be dangerous. On slippery conditions example, during heavy snow fall, or when there is slush or if there is an icy surface, I find that the awd system in my vehicle which is all controlled via software that the manufacturer wrote (because it is a dual electric motor setup, and there is no mechanical connection between the front and rear axle), tends to either send too much power or tried to regen too much to/from the front motor when the steering wheel is turned (something they can detect), and it tends to cause unexpected understeering which if you are not accustomed either to driving an electric car or Tesla’s awd system could end up in a potential accident. I am writing to you because I know that my voice will go unheard since I do not have access to any of their feedback challenge. Again I do not consider that a potential dange, nothing imminent or defective with the vehicle. The fix in my opinion is a software update that could impliment road surface detection via their vision, in combination the steering angle sensor wheel slippage detection, to detect that the trajectory of the vehicle is not going as desired and mitigate that through multiple techniques of traction control, I know that with a rwd Tesla they do use the front brakes in certain conditions to force the wheels to dig in the snow and try to find traction from experience even though there is no front motor.

See all problems of the 2022 Tesla Model Y 🔎.

I purchased a Model Y performance on October 31, 2023. I was driving the vehicle on 11/1 and I received an error that my rear motor was disabled and my top speed was reduced to 68 mph. This occurred on a high traffic highway. Took the car to the dealership and they replaced the rear motor inverter. Vehicle only had 130 miles on it. This should not occur in a brand new vehicle. I felt unsafe while driving it in this condition.

Vehicle started reversing from a parallel parking spot to get enough room in front to exit. Once vehicle reversed enough to exit the parking spot driver confirmed vehicle was switched to drive. Accelerator was pressed and vehicle moved backwards instead of forward. Street was flat and vehicle was stationary from when drive was selected and before accelerator was pressed.

The Model Y abruptly stopped in traffic creating a collision hazard and impact of the front of the vehicle. The vehicle was completely disabled and had to be towed. Upon inspectiong by the Tesla service, the power conversion system had failed for the rear motor system which is part# assembly - front vehicle controller generation 3. 1(1583991-10-d). The attached document has links to other owners with the same complaint. Also attached is the Tesla repair estimate which as can be seen has nothing to do with a rear end collision as it is replacing the front power conversion system.

On August 28, 2023, driving back from golf at tijeras creek, the vehicle noted several faults: cruise control disabled, autopilot disabled, parking brake disabled, and others. We parked in newport beach and the vehicle failed to move—appears the parking brake locked up. The vehicle was taken to Tesla for repair; the vehicle had 4,423 miles on the odometer when it was taken to Tesla for repair. The technician states that they identified the brake fault, removed and replaced the right brake caliper. Its disabled the vehicle from safe operation. September 21, 2023, the vehicle was driven locally 23 miles and the condition returned. This time the vehicle was in a shopping mall and the parking brake would not release, disabling the vehicle. Screen shots of the fault codes were taken to preserve the evidence. Eventually, the operator was able to shimmy the vehicle forward and return to the house. On October 4, 2023, only 90 miles after repair by Tesla, the exact same condition—parking brake function degraded. The vehicle, again, refused to disengage the parking brake. The vehicle suffered again the problem that rendered the vehicle in operable. The vehicle was again towed. On October 13, 2023, the vehicle was picked up from Tesla service for repair of the third defective and dangerous condition; the vehicle was driven locally and, on the freeway, to determine if Tesla had actually corrected the dangerous and defective condition. After about two hours in varying conditions and 90 miles, the vehicle was parked in the garage overnight. In the morning, the vehicle was loaded for an outing, and again the dangerous and defective condition occurred. This time, the vehicle could not be backed out of the garage; the tow truck was called.

Vehicle's rear drive unit failed suddenly while traveling on a highway. Rapid deceleration with only seconds to react has created a hazardous conditions for the driver and those around him. Throttle was unresponsive. Tesla confirmed the failure and replaced the rear drive unit with a "remanufactured" part. Follow warning/fail codes were shown during the incident: app_w009, dif_a062, bms_a170.

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the power steering failed and that there were three error messages displayed on the control panel; however, the contact was able to safely drive the vehicle to his residence. The contact stated that after he the vehicle had sit for a couple minutes, the power steering did return. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,170.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request?: I got delivery of my new Model Y and odometer was reading 3 miles, I took the delivery and drove 10 miles and it stuck the steering wheel , "rear motor got disabled alert" and vehicle went to slow speed on freeway all of sudden, I had truck behind me it would ended up very bad for me and family, I had to immediately put emergency signal and stop on road side, I tried to call Tesla road safety helpline and they were totally busy and did not receive call. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? ; this car "rear motor disabled " twice in middle of freeway , has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center?: yes they confirmed but unable to give me more details . Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? : no they kept it secret with less info. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear?: no warnings, just stopped over in middle of freeway . So scary specially to new car. I would like NHTSA to inspect all new Model Y car which have problems reported please check online and see the percentage of people received this kind of risky issues.

Battery is not able to charge . The message shows need services bring the car to Tesla service center , they told us the battery need to be replaced. They did not tell us what caused the battery to die. The car has about 30000 miles on it . Daily driving to work. Don’t understand why the battery dies so fast . Does anyone report the same problem on 2021 Tesla Model Y ?.

See all problems of the 2021 Tesla Model Y 🔎.

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while pulling into the driveway, the vehicle accelerated at high-speed causing the vehicle to struck a wall to the contact resident. The contact stated the brake assist did not activate. The vehicle had major front-end damages. The contact's resident wall was damages. Both the contact's wife who was driving and the passenger suffered concussion and whiplash. The contact's wife suffered neck injuries but neither the driver or passenger seek medical attention. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was towed to a repair shop. The manufacturer was contacted for the vehicle data. The failure mileage was 3,746.

While driving at highway speeds, the car unintentionally went into neutral. The setup: the driver was on the highway with cruise control on. Upon turning cruise control off to prepare for entering an exit ramp, the car also went neutral. We lost power and the regenerative braking that you expect in this car. The center console stated something like “please shift into drive or reverse”. The cause is that Tesla uses an up movement on the right hand gear stalk to cancel auto pilot, cancel cruise control, and to put the car into neutral. If that up movement is too long, the car will inadvertently go into neutral regardless of car speed. We reported this to Tesla and they suggested all model 3s and ys do this. Some light searching online showed this happening to others too. This feels dangerous at highway speeds. And the point at which you are turning cruise control off could be a critical phase of driving and feels like a unsafe time for the car to loose power.

See all problems of the 2020 Tesla Model Y 🔎.

I was about to park in car space in a parking lot. Instead of stopping in the car space, it has accelerated suddenly into the lawn in front of the car space. Tried to stop and it accelerated again and then hit the tree. The left front part of the Model Y is damaged and is still in the body shop even after more than a month. I thought the only explanation is I have pressed accelerator instead of break. But as I think about it, I don't think I pressed the accelerator. It did sudden intended acceleration twice during that incidence.

The power steering went out and it was virtually impossible to turn the steering wheel. It was unsafe to drive because you were not able to turn the car unless you were very strong. Safety issue-unable to turn the car without possibly colliding with another car. Tesla replaced the drive train. Another incident happened while getting into the car and driving it. An alert came up on the screen saying that the power train needed immediate service and that I could not exceed 60 mph. I was driving at the time. As I continued to drive to my destination the alert kept coming on with different speeds I could not drive at. It eventually got down to 53 mph and it physically would not drive over that speed and it was on the freeway and dangerous because the car kept slowing down. Tesla replaced the oil pump in the back battery. I have had this car for 3 years and it has been in the shop 15 times.

My new Model Y has caused numbness and tingling in both myself and passengers of my car while driving. Tesla has stated nothing is wrong with the car. It injures me every time I drive it. They forced me to take the car back and return my Model Y loaner car. The loaner vehicle caused no issues at all.

Location: car wash tunnel symptom: ghost braking/shifting while in car wash mode and neutral, Tesla shifted inexplicably from neutral to park, causing Tesla to be rear-ended by the car behind in the car wash tunnel. My passengers and I could have been injured. Tesla engineers completed a technical review of the safety incident but refused to provide the full report instead directed me to consult lawyers. On the day of the service appointment, they did not even inspect my vehicle but instead told me to request vehicle data online. It turned out to be a waste of time to download vehicle recorded data that only Tesla engineers understand. The service invoice says, “verified proper operation of the vehicle. ” that is false. They did not even admit my car into the service entrance. This crash is preventable, but Tesla is not taking this defect seriously and refuses to share the full report of technical review.

The new Model Y froze in the middle of an interstate highway indicating it was shutting itself down and not driveable. It took only 30seconds from 60 miles per hour to completely inoperable and stopped itself in traffic. Currently the mileage of this car is only 12 miles and I drove only 7 miles about 20 minutes after the we picked up the car. Tesla service told me it was a rear motor inverter issue. There are many incidents of similar occurrences people report online. Luckily we were saved by some quick thinking driver who called 911, while we were anxiously trying to contact Tesla service. The police parked his cruiser to shield us from the fast moving traffic.

Component or system failure: the internal malfunction of the rear drive unit in my 2022 Tesla Model Y, which has been documented and addressed on two separate occasions by the Tesla service center, has raised significant safety concerns. This component is critical for the vehicle's operation, and its failure mode necessitates thorough inspection and a definitive resolution to prevent recurrence. Safety risks: the sudden loss of power on a busy highway, without any warning, significantly compromised my safety and the safety of others around me. Being forced to restart the vehicle under such conditions was not only distressing but also exposed everyone involved to a heightened risk of accidents. This incident has profoundly impacted my confidence in the vehicle's reliability and safety. Problem reproduction and confirmation: the malfunction was initially confirmed and addressed by a Tesla dealership, which underscores the seriousness of the issue. However, the recurrence of the problem, even after professional intervention, and the subsequent attempt to rectify the issue without a clear diagnosis, adds to the uncertainty and concern regarding the vehicle's safety and the effectiveness of the repairs conducted. Inspections: the direct involvement of Tesla's service center in inspecting and attempting to repair the vehicle indicates that the manufacturer is aware of and is taking steps to address the issue. Nevertheless, the absence of a definitive resolution or clear understanding of the malfunction's cause continues to be a source of worry. Warning signs prior to failure: the complete absence of any warning signs before such a critical failure is particularly alarming. This lack of forewarning deprived me of the opportunity to take preventive action, further exacerbating the fear and potential danger associated with the malfunction.

1)2 weeks into owning the car had a powertrain error message which was fixed by replacing the front drive unit oil pump. 2)static noise behind the display unit was due to the harness of the circuit not being tightened properly. 3)left hand drive side latherallink bolt was loose and dropped off while making a turn. Right hand latherallink bolt was not tightened to the recommended torque. Lefthand driver side latherallink was replaced and bolts have been tightened. I have updated the invoices, videos and pictures of the 3rd issue. Have requested Tesla to replace my car with a new one as I do not feel safe in the car nor do I feel safe having my family in the car. I have raised this issue with Tesla on Saturday (April 30) and have not heard back from them. I could not upload the video of the issue that I have captured on my phone in this ticket. Please let me know how to share that via an email.

The car started to malfunction its ability for regenerative braking (regen. ) upon release of the accelerator. The car felt as if the regen feature was slipping - so instead of a constant brake and deceleration, the car could be felt moving forward as if accelerating. Then while driving on freeway at 65-70 mph, car lost its ability to brake when I pressed on the brake twice, instead of slowing it felt as if the car just continued at its current speed. Then the car cut its power and flashed an alert "power reduced - exiting and re-entering vehicle may restore operation" it then flashed an alert "pull over immediately - unable to drive". According to Tesla, they said it was the "lh body harness. Found that the harness was not creating an efficient connection" but they never directly addressed why it felt as if the car was accelerating when I pressed on the brake. Safety was critically comprised for myself and others who I could have hit in a vehicle collision since the brakes did not respond accordingly and felt as if it accelerated or continue to maintain its speed. The problem was confirmed by Tesla but they only addressed the car going into what they refer to as "limp mode". Car was inspected by Tesla and diagnosed the problem to a faulty/bad body harness that caused an improper signal. No warning lights or messages prior to the failure. Symptoms started the morning of the incident with the noted regen not fully engaged/working correctly. I did not have any feature setting which would have caused or replicated the lack of regen. I can provide the dealer invoice if needed.

Auto acceleration(forward) caused while parking and crashed into fence and utilities. Requested Tesla to diagonalize the cause of auto acceleration. Tesla couldn't handle my request well and they canceled and delayed my request, finally, they rejected my request as the car was salvaged.

My wife was driving in moderate rain on the freeway. We were going about 70mph which was the same speed as the rest of the cars. We were going around a gentle turn in the road. Then without warning, our car started to slowly spin around. My wife instantly and completely lost control. We spun almost 180 degrees, crashed into two other vehicles, and came to rest against the cement barrier. Luckily nobody was seriously hurt, but we totaled two vehicles and damaged another. If the spin had happened along a different section of road we frequently drive on, we would have slid into oncoming traffic and people could have been killed. I requested that Tesla send the full data logs of the accident. It shows that my wife released the accelerator pedal right when the spin started. In most cars, releasing the accelerator causes the car to gently slow down. But Teslas, on the other hand, do aggressive regenerative braking when the accelerator is released. So it was as if my wife had pressed the break. Here is the problem: the regenerative braking system applies the breaks to the rear wheels only. On dry pavement this is fine, but on a wet road, going around a turn, hitting only the rear breaks was enough to cause the back of our car to slide out from behind us. Here is more detail: 1. Our car was all wheel drive. But the Tesla has published that for increased efficiency, they don't actually use the front motor except during high acceleration. This means that most of the time the car is only rear wheel drive. 2. Our car had under 25,000 miles on it, and the factory tires. The rear tires were worn more than the front tires, likely due to the car's acceleration being mostly applied to the rear tires. I believe that Tesla could fix this issue with an over-the-air recall. The recall would need to either reduce regenerative braking when wet roads are detected, or apply braking across both the front and rear wheels while on wet roads. Thank you!.

This is the second instance of this issue happening, first at 1800 miles odo, and second at 4690. Both instances, when driving, the vehicle suddenly and violently shuddered to a stop. The first instance happened as I pulled out from a stop sign to take an unprotected left onto a street. In the middle of the intersection, the car shuddered to a stop violently and a lot of warnings and alerts came up on screen. Cars moving both directions had to suddenly stop to not hit my car dead in the intersection. The gear stalk inputs to put the car in drive or reverse and allow function of the vehicle did not work. I pushed the park button on the right stalk and then moved it into drive, which it allowed. I was then able to limp the car out of the intersection (with power vastly reduced and speed reduced) and await a tow. The second instance I had pulled into a parking lot at around the same speed (~15 mph) in which the car again shuddered violently to a stop with no ability to override. Traffic behind me had to brake as to not hit my vehicle which stopped in the middle of the lot. Again the car was inoperable until this time locking and unlocking the car from outside of it and reentering to limp it to a parking spot for tow. Safety of myself and others were put severely at risk suddenly and without warning from the car stopping itself. If this were to happen in other, less fortunate scenarios, risk to human lives is great. Problem has been confirmed by Tesla service center, but not reproduced while in their possession. The vehicle was inspected by Tesla service after the first incident and was explained to have found no faults with any hardware, but found a corrupt line of code in the firmware (no update or firmware change was noted to be available). Warning messages and alerts populated at time of incident and no sooner (no warning is given prior to issue). Alerts include power reduced, rear motor disabled, vehicle shutting down, automatic emergency braking disabled and more.

Bought a brand new Tesla Model Y with 11 miles on it. 1 mile down the road it tells me to “pull over immediately” “reduced power” I was going 45 mph downhill and thankfully not a lot of cars around. I pulled over and it said reduced power, exit and enter vehicle to restore operation. I did and it worked fine. I drove home with no problems for 25 miles. An hour later I was headed somewhere else and stopped at a light, when it was green I accelerated then it did the same thing but I was on an entrance ramp to a bridge and 5 cars were behind me. The car then was in reduced power mode and told me to do the same thing again, exit then re-enter. It was busy traffic and took me 5 minutes to get out when there were no cars going past me. It reduced power and couldn’t excelerate and caused a dangerous situation. This happened 3 more times while I was on the phone with Tesla support before I had to wait 2. 5 hours for a tow with 47 miles on it.

Vehicle displayed alert “powertrain requires service - vehicle speed and power may be limited” at 1664 odometer miles. Vehicle had to be towed to the service center and the cause was a faulty oil pump.

Driving 70mph on the highway, car abruptly clunked and three warning messages appeared. App_w009 automatic emergency braking is disabled; dif_a062 power reduced; and bms_a170 acceleration and top speed recuded. Car immediately dropped to 40mph and gave me enough time to exit the freeway to the shoulder. After putting in park, the car would no longer shift into any gear. Soft reset and full reset, exiting and re-entering the car didn't fix the issue. Tow required. Failure of rear motor (inverter) was cited in the service center. Seems to be a common issue across model 3 (as far back as 2017), Model Y (deliveries in Nov/Dec 2022) and model s (the last 3-4 years). Very dangerous if someone had hit us when it decelerated hard on the highway. Traveling with a 6yr old in a car seat. Only 500 miles on the car.

I bought this Tesla Model Y in less than a month to be specific February 23th, I was forced to park the car due to rear motor failure. I had barely any time to find a parking lot before the car shot down on me. Until today, I have not gotten the car yet from Tesla due to long delay repair time.

Vehicle has less than 5,000 miles. On three separate dates, a sudden warning appears "rear motor disabled; avoid steep hills; if problem persists contact service. There is an image of a turtle icon, and vehicle speed is limited. This happens with a gradual reduction, first to around 65, in a few minutes it drops to 37 mph. I had to drive several miles on a limited access turnpike with no exits at 37 mph, including crossing some bridges with no shoulder lane. I was very concerned about being rear ended in this situation. Information below is on the most recent incident which happened today.

The vehicle started shaking and stuff wrong from the rear wheels and was told to pull over safely. The error codes dl_a063 and dl_a139 popped up and it seems there is a rear drive unit failure.

I purchased the car and took delivery on 12/29/2022 where immediately I noticed while driving the car home that there was a high pitch creaking sound from what I think is the front drive unit of the car. I have brought back the car to the service dealer over 8 times to rectify the concern of the noise. There were many service technicians that heard the sound while I test drove before the car went into service and they all acknowledged the sound and said it was not normal. However, the service techs had picked and choose which item they thought on the car that created this sound and this is documented on the service receipts/invoices. They kept taking my car apart and replacing parts on the car and when I would pick up my car the sound was still present int he car. Now I have had the car for 11 months and now the sound is still present and Tesla has no fix for this. The last service I brought the car in for for this high pitch sound and they replaced the front drive unit and still the noise is present.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while at a complete stop with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle rolled backwards. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring intermittently while at a complete stop. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

Steering wheel locked up and would not let driver navigate off-ramp from freeway. Car attempted to force driver to merge into a stopped lane. Auto-pilot features engaged in screen but they were not manually activated. Car attempted to cause an accident.

Touchscreen repeatedly freezes. Won’t show gear selection, speed, or any other items. The touchscreen freezes then takes some time to crash to black screen before reboot. Has happened daily since Tesla update. Tesla refuses to provide a fix and continues to tell us to wait for an update. This is unsafe.

There is no sound warning to switch gears. For example from forward to reverse. I was trying to go forward and I was actually in reverse. The gear change is on the steering stalk and doesn’t make any warning sound when switching. As the drivers eyes are looking forward, and not looking at the screen feedback, it makes it difficult to remember which gear you are in. Forward or reverse. I assumed I was going to move forward, but the car was actually in reverse. I hit the car that was parked behind me and did damage to my car. I’m feel that most cars makes a physical click sound with the gears shifting as well as a small jump in movement to remind the driver they have switched directions.

Without any warning, the display on my car froze up when my car came to a stop, and I could not accelerate. It seemed to say I was going 15 mph, when in fact I was stopped, and the display was completely unresponsive. Stepping on the accelerator did nothing. I could not use my turn signals, activate my 4-way flashers. No one was injured, since this happened on a quiet residential street, and I was able to wave to other motorists to go around me. After about 3 minutes, my car seemed to have reset, and I was able to drive it normally. I would gladly make my vehicle available for inspection upon request.