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Clicking/tapping noise when braking

40K views 105 replies 45 participants last post by  cheater-gears  
#1 ·
My Polestar 2 arrived on Friday, I drove 160 miles without issue, however yesterday a clicking/tapping sound has started when the car brakes. Sounds like it is coming from the front driver side wheel area. I have looked but cannot see anything a miss. Anyone else experienced the same?
 
#2 ·
Welcome to the forum and congrats on getting your car!

I haven't heard this type issue from any others on the forum before. I'd think if it was tied to the motor then it wouldn't be appearing to come from a specific side so likely something non BEV specific.

Maybe check the tire for a nail? Alternatively you could have some tiny debris in the brakes (happens on any car) and just need to give it a strong amount of braking in a safe area to clear the pads/rotor.

Also, are you PP or non-PP?
 
#3 ·
Congrats, and welcome!

As to your issue, the car blends regen and brakes even when you use the pedal, so it's hard to say what it could be without more detail. Could be as simple as something embedded in, or stuck on the rotor that will eventually clear itself out, but I'd call CS and have it looked at just to be safe.
 
#4 ·
Just the noise when slowing down?

Then it's probably the relays turning on / off. The car always regenerates even with OPD in the OFF mode, unless you are slamming the brakes on.

Also you will get a similar noise when you first drive the car after a a day sitting outside.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the replies. Car is non performance pack. The noise comes when slowing down, almost sounds like something clicking the wheel as it rotates. This is only apparent when braking, and slows as speed slows so suspect something is stuck somewhere but I cannot see anything. Will give support a call in the morning to see what they suggest.
 
#7 ·
I hear the same noise. It only happens while actually slowing down using only regen. And I only hear it at very low speeds, just before stopping. It's faint, but it almost sounds like a playing card being held into the spokes of a spinning bicycle wheel.
The sound disappears when getting off the brake (or pushing the accelerator pedal, in OPD mode). So it isn't something mechanical related to tires or wheels.
 
#6 ·
I suspect it’s similar to a clicking noise I heard when slowing to a stop with the music off. Turned out was a set of relays that click at levels of braking engaging from no braking to braking and at different intensities of braking from there.
For me I can reproduce it every time the power meter goes from Orange (acceleration/motor) to white (regen/braking). This is entirely normal and in all our cars
 
#15 · (Edited)
Hi,
sorry for bumping this older post, but I have a question about relays clicking when slowing down.
I understand when releasing throttle, there is a relay engaging to activate the regen in OPD mode.
In my car this relay is constantly clicking ON and OFF whilst slowing down the car (whitout touching the brakes),
the frequency of clicking is correlated to the speed of the car (slower speed = slower clicking), is this normal?
I thought it would click only once when releasing throttle?
(best heard when OPD set to low, it's very faint and only noticeable with music off)
 
#10 ·
The ticking noise appeared on my ps2 a couple of months ago is been tracked to a CV joint not cover which hasn't got the flexibility and pliablity. So it needs two visits 1 week apart to apply some special grease that they've had to order in. It's going in next weekfor application 1.
 
#18 ·
In my PP car I think I might have heard this clicking yesterday. Sounds like it’s from the driver side A polar higher up, and can only hear it with music off/low at city speeds. Seems correlated to speed like you say.
I only noticed it going to work in the morning, not so much in the afternoon - not sure why that might matter.
do keep us posted!
 
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#20 ·
I specifically listened for this clicking on the same commute, route, etc this AM and honestly couldn’t hear it. Given it’s intermittent and seems to have come after a software update, I’m fairly certain it’s not hardware related directly. I almost wonder if it’s related to speed modulation of audio output?

in either case, filing away as yet another random non disabling tech bug that all my devices seem to suffer on occasion.
 
#21 ·
Not sure it’s the brake pedal, I did some more testing and the clicking stops when hitting the brake pedal.
brake light needs to be checked by someone outside the car, to see if the brake lights turn on or are flickering when releasing the throttle with OPD set to low.
 
#22 ·
I hear the same ticking sound. It is quite easy to replicate, with OPD on max, once I let go I hear a very faint ticking sound. I’m not sure it is brake lights on/off or just ticking «on a curve» for the braking intensity. I don’t hope the brake lights come on as often as the ticking, because then I might be the most annoying car to drive behind..

It is the same ticking sound that you hear in the morning (or after the car has been sitting for a while) when you sit down and everything is powering on.
 
#23 ·
This noise drives me nuts because I'm worried something will wear out from switching so much! It doesn't correlate to the brake lights (I tested this one night when I could see my brake lights in mirrors), but seems to happen when crossing from no regen to regen or maybe a little ways into regen ramping up. It is almost like it switches at a very low amount of deceleration, but lower than the amount that turns on the brake lights. My first thought was a relay, but any relays should be solid state (inaudible). If it is a mechanical relay/switch, I'm afraid of wearing it out because it switches a lot if you are operating around the trigger point. I need to test again to see if it happens without OPD. I always drive with OPD.
 
#24 ·
6

As a very new owner was disappointed to take care out of farage and when releasing the brake peddle to reverse an swful graunching soundcfromnunder the car. I thought i had done something wrong or ran over something . Then whilst driving definitely started hearing the knocking that changes speed with speed. Hubby thought it might be related to brakes. Is this normal with all EV's or have we bought a dud? Didnt see any of this when i was reading reviews prior to purchasing of course. I hope they can sort it out. Obviously from these posts it is still safe to drive??
 
#26 ·
The grinding sound for the first 30 seconds or so is likely the brake self cleaning mode. Because the brakes are not used much (most stopping power comes from regeneration), the car will drag the brakes on the rotors to clean them of rust when starting out on a drive. It is much more obvious after driving in the rain or washing the car as more rust forms. Also, the longer the car sits with wet rotors the more rust to clean.

There is a known problem with the brake pad material binding to the rotor and breaking off - you will hear and feel that as a rhythmic clunking that varies directly with speed. The Polestar service location will replace the rotors and brake pads if this is the case. But if the grinding goes away and everything is then working as normal, then the car is behaving as designed.

Hope this helps!
 
#27 ·
The grinding sound for the first 30 seconds or so is likely the brake self cleaning mode. Because the brakes are not used much (most stopping power comes from regeneration), the car will drag the brakes on the rotors to clean them of rust when starting out on a drive. It is much more obvious after driving in the rain or washing the car as more rust forms. Also, the longer the car sits with wet rotors the more rust to clean.

There is a known problem with the brake pad material binding to the rotor and breaking off - you will hear and feel that as a rhythmic clunking that varies directly with speed. The Polestar service location will replace the rotors and brake pads if this is the case. But if the grinding goes away and everything is then working as normal, then the car is behaving as designed.

Hope this helps!
If you are going to replace the pads I highly suggest installation of ceramic pads. They are somewhat more expensive but don't rust onto the rotor like the stock semi-metallic pads.
 
#34 ·
I should not read this forum. Never heard that clicking sound before, now I do... Sounds like a relay to me. Might be only after 2.1, don't know.