Purchased everything recommended and took care of it myself following this tutorial. Only took driving around for like 20 minutes for the squeaking to stop. Thank you!
Did this earlier today on my 2019 Tesla model 3. It wasn’t until I took the car for a ride for a few hours after applying the oil treatment when I noticed the squeaking stopped. It would be an understatement to say this video was very helpful. Thank you
I went to the local auto parts store and got a gun, needle and the grease and used a puck and lifted my driver side with my jack and it gave more than enough room to inject the grease. I’ve injected grease and “voila” problem solved. Thank you for this great video!!!!
I own a 2018 Model 3. A few months ago I ran through a few inches of rain in a construction zone. Squeaking started, then stopped, and recently came back. So at the end of March 2014 I took it to Tesla service. The technician knew immediately it was the driver side upper control arm. Apparantly it happens often and the part had been re-designed 3 times since 2018. Two years ago Tesla applied a urathane sealent to both front upper control arms, but it didn't last. This time Tesla replaced both front upper control arms (they need to be replaced as a pair). My car is two years out of warrenty, so I expected to pay for the repair. Tesla charged me $180 for the parts ($90 each) and ate the installation labor (no charge for the 1.02 hours). Tesla also charged me $20 to make a EPAS alignment check. So it cost $200 to fix the problem. All in all, I thought Tesla was very nice to comp the installation labor. By the way, JD Power says the price range for a control arm is $220 to $530 and installation labor adds $150 to $200. So Tesla charging a total of $200 for the job, including an alignment check, is fabulous.
My model y recently got this sound and mine is only 19000 miles from 2021. Do you think they will cover the cost if the car is still in the warranty period?
@@weidong6846yes, I had a model 3 in uk that started to have this issue at 28k miles. They replaced arms as a warranty repair with no charge. The default for any noise seems to be replace the upper control arms. (And if it’s in warranty and you can spare the time off the road it’s better than the temporary fix in the video). Brilliant video though, I hope they’ve fixed this issue on the highlander design.
just purchased a 2018 model 3. immediately began hearing this problem on drivers side front wheel. spent $40 on grease gun, needle, and grease. best investment ever. worked perfect. did both sides as a preventative step. Thank you so much for this video!!
I can't wait to do this tomorrow I thought i was gonna have to spend a bunch of money to replace something. My 2020 just hit 49k miles. Thanks for the vid
I had the same issue on my model 3 long range 2021 and I just fixed it the same way you did it on this video. Thank you so much for sharing the quick solution!
@@kennedym5486 no issues so far. I think it's good to take out the wheel, free up the control arm and move it around a little bit after refilling for optimal results. GL!
Hey now, no need to be poking holes in the knuckle boot! You can remove the boot seal by pealing the wire around from the rim, put a little heavy oil and not grease. The oil will keep the joint lubed better and not push out like the grease does. Put it back together and wrap the wire around the boot again, have done this several times. It's been squeaky free for over 2 years now and no need for fancy tools.
Thanks. Inserted the grease but it did not take care of the problem. I went back and inserted more grease, problem solved. I inserted the grease until I could see the boot starting to expand which did the trick.
It is incredible how it worked! Thank you for laying it down so clearly. Any repair scares me, and I can’t believe I did it and it worked 😂! After about 100miles there was no more squeaking!
I found that after just adding the grease I needed to remove the bolt and move the pin around for a while. The two of those fixed it right up. Thanks!!
Thanks for the excellent diagnosis! My Model 3 after 4.5 years has developed the identical problem, This helped me to understand exactly what the problem is 🙂 I will be buying the upper control arms from tesla and getting them Installed.
Wow you can really see the air and moisture coming out of the vent hole. Guess it wasn't as sealed as Tesla thought. Hopefully they've redesigned the upper control arm to fix it.
My early 2020 Model 3 started squeaking at 3 and a half years and 56K miles. Was only the LF upper ball joint. I had to inject a lot of grease into ball joint with needle attachment and slightly warm joint and force ball to move and work by kneading grease into joint for 5 mins before squeak finally went away. Greased RF as well, it was not making any noise and was free moving.
No wonder it was squeaking, look at all the rainwater forced out of the ball-joint by the new grease. I've read suspicions that many came with no grease in the ball-joint (oops by a vendor and oops by Tesla receipt inspection?). Tesla's official fix per TSB, after re-greasing, is to glob RTV on top of the upper ball joint to shield from rainwater. Best to put a dab of RTV over the hole punctures. I wonder why Tesla has 2 lower-control arms with separate ball-joints, rather than a single wishbone w/ one ball-joint. Some say similar to M-B suspensions. Most ball joints since 1990's have no grease nipple, so the hypo-needle for adding grease is common and at most auto parts. In my experience, the rubber boots fail before the ball joint. I toss the factory boots and install a better polyurethane boot when I can. Some people drill the top of a new ball-joint to install a grease nipple. A "lube job" used to be common thru the 1980's when factory ball joints (and tie-rod ends) had grease nipples. On the plus side, the upper ball-joint sits above the tire so no need to remove the tire, just jack the body up so the tire hangs down for more room. On older U.S. cars, you must remove the wheel to access the upper ball joint.
My only question is whether it's necessary to jack the car? I looked and have access to the ball joint without, but the wheel not being weight bearing may be an important part I am overlooking. Thanks for the video.
Used a grease needle to inject fresh grease into the rubber housing on the ball joint, then used a lot of silicone lubricant on the control arm joints where they connect to the vehicle body (looked a bit rusty). Still squeaking the next day, but drove about 100 miles and all squeaking/creaking is now gone! I removed the tire to get a little more room for the spray can, but i don't think it was necessary.
Thank you so much for this informative video- quick question, what do you do about the exposed holes you’ve poked? doesn’t it leave space for contamination or leakage?
The holes kind of "seal" themselves with grease and pressure of the rubber. Again, a bandaid, however this got me more than 36k+ miles more before I replaced the control arms.
@@GarageMahalStuff agreed, if you are interested you can see couple of my videos on going through the model 3 and eliminating simple rattle points. Tesla engineering is genius in one hand and unacceptably stupid for simple things that could be solved by design or a 10 cents fix.
With my model Y I was getting a very similar noise and I brought it to Tesla and they fixed it why I waited. It took them only 66 minutes And it was free of charge on the warranty And this is what the invoice stated: Concern: Customer states: Other · Noise & Vibration - Front control arms just started squeaking this morning. Multiple friends with Tesla’s tell they’ve had theirs replaced as well. Seems to be a common issue. Verified customer concern. Diagnosed and found both front upper control arm ball joints to be seized, causing the squeaking noise when turning the wheel. Replaced both front upper control arms. Performed validation test drive to verify proper operation after repairs. No noise present at this time, no further action needed. Is this the same thing? It seems like it’s better to just bring it to Tesla while you’re still on the warranty Because if they’re going to replace the control arms for free, you might as well do it Rather than wait till your warranty has expired, and then you have to pay out-of-pocket
Hey guys same thing is happening to my 2018 Tesla , do any you go through a third party for warranty? My basic expired , I will be trying this out temporarily
Just done the same on my 2014 Model S. Water pools in the upper wishbone metal stamping form and finds its way into the ball joint (lift the plastic covers in the frunk pull up the rubber covers underneath you can see the ball joint, its easy, leave the wheels on simple). Tesla design in LA.......no rain. Teslas suffer from water ingress in lights, body sealing, sunroofs, window seals.......not badly just indicative of LA focus /experience and running a Tesla 130,000 uk miles 25% in the rain! This is the Achilles heel of Tesla but my guess is Cyber Truck and onwards they will have learned and lets face it who really cares the vehicles are staggering either way these injection needles exist because grease nipples and preventative maintenance "not cool" LOL
Yep... My family owns a 2018 Model 3, we're in Switzerland. Lots of rain, salt in winter, and narrow roads. We always joke about the car - she's a California girl, she doesn't know how to cope in Europe 🤣 It's still a great car, though. 4x4, can drive on snow... Squeaks a lot, of course, that's why I ended up here.
like the video ... thx ... however if you film with your mobile make sure that you clean the lens before filming, otherwise you have this white glare/fog in the picture (like the first 5 minutes)
Great video. Just finished mine and the squeaky sound went away. Question, is it normal the grease came out from the hole after I landed the vehicle from the car jacks? Thx
Thank you very much for this video. You have just save me a lot of time and effort 👍 just ordered my needles now. Got to ask though is Darth Vader recording this video for you 🤣
hey, thanks so much for the very useful video, my long range model Y from 2021 is now creaking after 75,000 miles, I ordered using your links appreciate it man!
I have the exact same noise on my Mercedes C class it has only 50k miles on the clock but not sure if it’s exact same part as shown in the vid or similar
Wasted $105 with tesla service center to tell me the same diagnosis..qouted 380 to replace both control arms..this is a very common issue with tesla... too bad I am out of waranty..never had this issue with my 14 year old toyota.
Some other videos suggesting this fix suggested that it was necessary to drive around a few miles after greasing in order for the "grease to work its way around." Do you think that's necessary?
Gravity always plays a part here, I would aim the needle as high as you can to totally get the best coverage, move the needle around to get all the spots. Yes driving around will also help circulation of the grease. But rarely will grease climb... but typically will kind of stay in place.
@@efoo5416 : they said some things were loose in there too and it will keep squeeking , and that it's normal they do that (even if my car only have 29 000KM)...
Thanks for the video. I think I'm having this issue as lately I can often hear creaking when turning the steering wheel at low speeds on my 2015 Model S with ~145K miles. Is there a way to confirm? Could the noise be anything else? Around 130K miles I had the lower control arms replaced by a 3rd party shop (seems different though). I don't have air suspension on my car and I have 21" tires but I can reach in to touch this part. Do I need to jack the car up?
With that kind of high mileage I would honestly have the uppers replaced, use this as a temp fix until you do it or a shop. The needle grease fix you can either turn the wheels in and out to get clearance, a jack would make it a lot easier.
Hey Everyone, mine is 92k kms on it and it started making this noise. The next service centre is 300 kms from here and the wait time is 9 days. What grease should I use?
@@GarageMahalStuff thanks. My mechanic did this and it was all good until the grease started to come out. The squeaky noise is back again. Do you have any recommendations?
This is sad my 2021 Tesla model y LR with only 49.5k miles and it’s doing this after a snow storm here in nyc, it’s funny that the warranty is about to expire in 500 miles and the next available appointment is in 2 weeks
Just saw this video uploaded by you on our Facebook group and I’m just curious to know this is a temporary fix but ultimately we would have to get new parts right?
@@GarageMahalStuff well it was raining super hard out here in Washington. I put some in still makes some noise. I’ll try to see if I can put more in tomorrow.
As stated in the video, you can turn the wheel all the way left or right to enable easier access without a lift, lift was purely for videography purposes...
Water will find a way. RTV could help, but you never want to plug any possible spots water could escape... typically moisture enters ball joints as moisture, in colder climates. However surrounding the area with drain water from the windsheild is certainly not helping keep that moisture level down.
You have to aim the needle upwards... 2nd Tesla we did needed the needle aimed up to get more on top... so move the needle around to get more coverage inside. We really had to get a lot of grease in the 2nd one...
I don't think it's a problem in the Northeast. My 2018 Tesla Model 3P with 28,000 miles which spent its whole life in Northern CA (very little rain, no salt EVER) has the problem. It just seems like a matter of time before this happens to ALL teslas, perhaps the ball joint geometry eventually moves the grease away from the ball, or they skimped on grease when they built the ball joint!!!
@@GarageMahalStuff Again, I live in a dry climate (Palo Alto, 15 inches of annual rainfall), the problem happened after only 28,000 miles and 5.5 years. Maybe car washes caused it? We are not car wash fanatics, probably did it less than 15x over the past 5 years ... I did the fix today but it hasn't stopped squeaking yet, I drove about 4 miles total so far ...
It is so small it almost "self seals" and the grease pushes through with the positive pressure. We did 30k+ more miles with no issues before we traded it in...
@GarageMahalStuff thank you. It's been gradual. Over a few weeks. Finally realized today it was more than standard tesla noise. Bringing it in 12 days. Should he okay til then??
Of course if your car is still under warranty, Tesla will replace ‘both’ ball joints with updated control arms free of charge, even if just one side is squeaking.
im kimda sceptical of the rubber sealing good enough after pocking a hole with the needle. can anyone recommend rubber sealant that u can put on those 2 holes?
It is easier that way, but if you turn the wheel all the way right or left, you can kind of get in there... just make sure you move the needle up and down, right and left inside the pin hole you make. That way you get the grease all up inside there...
Ok thank you! I just don't have a floor jack and I just got all the parts you've listed and I'm excited to grease her up, I'm getting new tires tomorrow so I'ma try an take advantage of the jack or when it's jacked up.. just they don't let u into the garage usually, but thank you for your video it's exactly what's happening to my m3 2019.. and for replying awesome!!
Omgoodness I forgot to tell you it worked perfectly...I can drive with or without a radio now!!! So nice and quiet...thank you for the video it helped me for sure!!
Good job you successfully contaminated the old grease on a worn out sealed ball joint, congrats! You even talked about the evidence which is abnormal inner tire wear(which you do have and show in the video). Do it right next time and replace the ball joint.
Congrats for listening to the whole video, I state this is a temporary fix... nothing more annoying than hearing the squeak while waiting for the part, or being proactive in preventing in the first place 😉
Every "squeak" wears metal away... safety issue, too long and it will become so loose it will break off. Greasing is or replacing the joint/control arm is necessary. Be safe
I don't have a squeak issue I have a clicking issue, when I decelerate it clicks once when I accelerate it clicks once again, until I decelerate and then it clicks again, this is an ongoing constant noise from my front left rim. Annoying since the rest of the car is so silent.
Drive shafts. Replaced mine last week and clicking sound is gone. Now I only need the grease the ball joints so the noise from the suspension will also go away!
To everyone that was replying, no it was not the drive shafts and it was not the ball joints. It was simply removing the wheel and the hub nut lubricating inside reapplying the nut and torquing down to its proper torque specifications. Completely solved the problem, has been quiet for weeks now. Out of warranty, but they didn't charge me anything and gave me a loaner vehicle to top it off.
Very common problem on TM3. Hub nut not tightened in the factory to the recommended torque. If the car owner does not go to Tesla service center immediately, the shaft splices will wear out.
I don’t buy the water analogy. I think that’s just you repeating what you heard online. The reason I don’t buy it is because cars are allowed to get wet. What do you think happens when it rains and water splashes up in the wheel well? It’s like a river. Further you admit that the ball joint is sealed. Then what would water splashing matter? I think it’s just a matter of too small a ball joint and not enough grease capacity so it dries up. The water draining on top theory is just a red herring
I strongly disagree, water will find away... sure water splashes up, but sitting out in the rain with constant water pouring in on top... certainly not helping. Ball joints are plenty big, even for a small truck, which it matches the weight of. Just poor parts, badly engineered. 😢 sorry Elon, I am a big fan, but always room for improvement.
Moronic theory as to "design flaw." Water drains out from windshield when raining is the issue? As if water isnt splashing up from road on any other car. Ball joints go bad by nature. Planned obsolescence.
Moronic... That's not nice... why do people feel the need to name call instead of having a solid offense? Design flaw, yes. Designed obsolescence, of course. Point it out with a video to show the exact hit of the drained water onto the part that squeaks and fails, great visual example.
@@GarageMahalStuff Didn't call you a name. Said the logical deduction is moronic. An equivalent amount of water is splashing and spraying all over every other ball joint on every other car off the road ways when raining. Every ball joint gets extremely wet in rain.
Hi, I've seen 2 fixes for this, yours and disconnecting the ball joint and moving it around and effectively loosening it. Is it better to just add the grease as it seems like there is a lack of grease in there and you will encounter the same problem again since no grease was added to help lubricate the movement of the ball joint. Putting holes in the boot will have the drawback of moisture getting in there which would be the negative of your fix.
Actually if you fill them sufficiently they will last a long while. The needle is thin enough the rubber does close up well and seal, I see you are unfamiliar with that.... This will extend the life for sure. And as stated... not a permanent fix, but will extend the life.
