RESOLVED Does your front footwell woofer work properly? TSB-B1122-001

[thegman82]

Update: Success!

Service (Frank) was at my house today to fix the problem with the woofer in the footwell on the driver side. I previously called in a subwoofer, but he corrected me… It is a woofer. Anyhow, the woofer sounded like it was "blown" from the beginning, so he brought a new speaker with him. The best way to demonstrate it is with the song "Need You Tonight" by INXS, move it the 1:00 minute mark and stick your head down inside of the car next to the dead pedal. Shouldn't hear muddy vibrations on the kick drum.

Since the time that I originally discovered the problem, more knowledge has been gained about it. It turns out it's not the speaker at all. Behind the footwell carpet is aluminum body and in it, two 1 inch holes. These holes are covered by a piece of tape that looks like duct tape, about 4" x 2". It turns out it was that very tape that would vibrate and cause the sound of distortion. Frank removed that tape and replaced it with some foil backed butyl tape (Pella window tape to be specific). Voilà, the problem was instantly gone. The sound system sounds amazing now. While he was at it, he also did the passenger football which had some of the same problem, but not as pronounced. So happy with the sound system now!

While we were at it, he worked on the steering wheel to get rid of the creaking plastic to plastic sound. He took it off and apart (beat that, Tesla, even cooler than your dorky yoke), then put foam spacers at each of the four screws that hold it together from the back. A couple squirts of WD-40 dry lube, and the problem is gone forever!

We are blessed to have Frank here, he's patient and helpful. Thanks, Lucid. Love my GT!

Hi team,
Thank you so very much for your information sharing and particularly these photos. I had the same sound issues reported above, went through the 5 stages of grief, then stumbled upon this post. I showed the issue to Tyler, the mobile tech servicing the Philly region. I explained that I learned of a possible cause and solution on this forum. He was happy to read about it and learn more. I suggested the butyl tape solution. Of course, I wish the Lucid team already knew all the info on this forum already but Tyler was open to learning about it, ordered up some butyl tape, and came back for a second mobile visit to try to fix it. Just as others have described, covering that hole with appropriate damping tape solved the issue instantly. The sound quality in my car is ridiculously improved.

Thanks again! -G

 

[SCV]

Very happy to find this thread. Picked up my Pure today and the very first thing I noticed was the awful sound coming from the drivers side footwell. Was completely disgusted all the way home. Now I just need to get a piece of dynamat

 

[xponents]

Very happy to find this thread. Picked up my Pure today and the very first thing I noticed was the awful sound coming from the drivers side footwell. Was completely disgusted all the way home. Now I just need to get a piece of dynamat

If possible, could you record it?

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Very happy to find this thread. Picked up my Pure today and the very first thing I noticed was the awful sound coming from the drivers side footwell. Was completely disgusted all the way home. Now I just need to get a piece of dynamat

Text service, this should definitely be part of a due bill where they should come to your house and fix this. This is a known old problem and cars shouldn’t still be leaving the factory like that. The Sept 2022 build GT loaner I had had the same problem, it was amazing to me how much better my March 2022 build GT sounds with identical tracks. I was very happy when I got my car back so I could enjoy the music in maximum splendor again.

 

[thecodingart]

Wholly crap. Called service, got the butyl tape and this just change so so much on sound quality.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Wholly crap. Called service, got the butyl tape and this just change so so much on sound quality.

Yeah, I didn’t realize the difference until I had a loaner GT that had that defect where the bass port hadn’t been sealed properly, which partly explains why my car sounded so damn good but some others were underwhelmed with theirs.

 

[borski]

Yeah, I didn’t realize the difference until I had a loaner GT that had that defect where the bass port hadn’t been sealed properly, which partly explains why my car sounded so damn good but some others were underwhelmed with theirs.

Same. I had the TSB done for mine and it made very little difference. But on the loaner GT? Good god

 

[Bobby]

Same. I had the TSB done for mine and it made very little difference. But on the loaner GT? Good god

I was the first to have this done. We carefully documented the process. It made a huge difference in the sound, especially the lower frequencies. At first we thought it was the woofers themselves. Turns out it was this tape issue. Make sure to do both sides!

 

[DeaneG]

At my recent one-year service, Millbrae said my car's front woofers were fine and did not need work.

 

[thecodingart]

I was the first to have this done. We carefully documented the process. It made a huge difference in the sound, especially the lower frequencies. At first we thought it was the woofers themselves. Turns out it was this tape issue. Make sure to do both sides!

I flat out couldn't/wouldn't believe posters about there being quality sound in these vehicles after I transitioned from my 580 EQS to my AGT. The sound quality was just such a drastic drop in my AGT and I sort of accepted it.

This still isn't EQS quality, but it closed the gap in ways I wish I tried to discover early on. It makes some of what some people have said in here more practical vs just confusingly illogical.

 

[LucidJazz]

Didn't call service, just did it myself. I didn't remove the rubber door seal, just removed the trim piece, removed the plastic cover (2 T-20 screws) under the dash to be able to pull back the carpet. After removing the plastic cover, I had to disconnect the footwell light to move it out of the way. Then, pulled the carpet back and replaced the tape covering the holes with foil backed butyl tape. Reversed the procedure and it's good to go.

Update: Success!

Service (Frank) was at my house today to fix the problem with the woofer in the footwell on the driver side. I previously called in a subwoofer, but he corrected me… It is a woofer. Anyhow, the woofer sounded like it was "blown" from the beginning, so he brought a new speaker with him. The best way to demonstrate it is with the song "Need You Tonight" by INXS, move it the 1:00 minute mark and stick your head down inside of the car next to the dead pedal. Shouldn't hear muddy vibrations on the kick drum.

Since the time that I originally discovered the problem, more knowledge has been gained about it. It turns out it's not the speaker at all. Behind the footwell carpet is aluminum body and in it, two 1 inch holes. These holes are covered by a piece of tape that looks like duct tape, about 4" x 2". It turns out it was that very tape that would vibrate and cause the sound of distortion. Frank removed that tape and replaced it with some foil backed butyl tape (Pella window tape to be specific). Voilà, the problem was instantly gone. The sound system sounds amazing now. While he was at it, he also did the passenger football which had some of the same problem, but not as pronounced. So happy with the sound system now!

While we were at it, he worked on the steering wheel to get rid of the creaking plastic to plastic sound. He took it off and apart (beat that, Tesla, even cooler than your dorky yoke), then put foam spacers at each of the four screws that hold it together from the back. A couple squirts of WD-40 dry lube, and the problem is gone forever!

We are blessed to have Frank here, he's patient and helpful. Thanks, Lucid. Love my GT!

View attachment 7596View attachment 7597View attachment 7598View attachment 7599View attachment 7600View attachment 7601

 

[LucidvsTeslaS]

I was the first to have this done. We carefully documented the process. It made a huge difference in the sound, especially the lower frequencies. At first we thought it was the woofers themselves. Turns out it was this tape issue. Make sure to do both sides!

I kept complaining about the bass in this car. I knew I was onto something! My persistent complaints about the bass were justified. It just didn't feel right; it was like having a booming woofer in the trunk paired with puny satellites, leaving gaping holes in the frequency response. Finally, after much insistence, I convinced a technician to address the issue by covering those troublesome gaps. And let me tell you, the difference is staggering! They also replaced the car's computer, given the numerous issues I'd been experiencing. While the deep bass still leaves something to be desired, it's at least bearable now. I can't help but wonder if those front footwell woofers were even operational before the computer swap. Perhaps the significant improvement is due to the gap coverage alone, or maybe it's a combination of that and the now-functioning woofers. Regardless, thank you for uncovering this design flaw! As for others' critiques of the sound system, I'm in agreement. I recently had a BMW 530 rental, and while it may not have been as powerful, it definitely sounded better than my Lucid. My next step is to add an amp in the trunk , and an extra subwoofer, I will use the 12V outlet in the trunk for the subwoofer.

 

[Pejorative]

It’s not hard to do since the car was in the service center to fix a water ingress anyway. It would have taken a Lucid tech 10 minutes max. Disappointing. Thanks to this forum I knew how to fix it. Very much appreciated.
Btw, I also added A subwoofer in the sub trunk. Now the sound is incredible, even better than my Tesla and even my Rivian.

What sub did you add? And where did you get it installed?

 

[dcase99]

Just had the Dynamat tape applied to both footwells and yeah there is very much a difference between before and after. Before it sounded like the woofer was what I call "Bottoming out" where it sounded like too much power was being applied. After, the sound is so much "richer/warmer". Well worth having this fix done. Oh, and he also fixed the creaking steering wheel so double bonus!

 

[Oneofthesedays]

Is this issue fixed on newer ‘24 builds?

 

[dcase99]

Is this issue fixed on newer ‘24 builds?

Mine is a '24 still had the "problem". Also for some reason there was masking tape in addition to the electrical tape on the wiring harness near the speaker. Tech removed that and did the foam tape install and presto! Great sounding system!

 

[Oneofthesedays]

Mine is a '24 still had the "problem". Also for some reason there was masking tape in addition to the electrical tape on the wiring harness near the speaker. Tech removed that and did the foam tape install and presto! Great sounding system!

What should I say to the service rep to get this fixed?

 

[Bobby]

What should I say to the service rep to get this fixed?

Read this entire thread, become knowledgeable about the problem, make sure that this is indeed happening in your car, and then contact service and explain the symptoms you are experiencing.

 

[dcase99]

What should I say to the service rep to get this fixed?

I did what Bobby mentioned. I printed out pictures as well to show to the service tech. He was very accepting and zero pushback. Lucid service techs are a different breed vs other manufacturers.

 

[Oneofthesedays]

I have this same issue on a brand new 2024 Touring. Sounds like the woofer is bottoming out. Nowhere near as bad as Bobby’s but annoying enough for me to get this fixed.

Went to Lowe’s and got the butyl tape. Will update you all on how the fix goes, it seems relatively straightforward in my car. Kick panel comes off easily and I can see the tape that needs to be replaced. Did not need to take off the door seals or anything like that. I think this problem is far more pronounced on the driver side so only fixing that side for now.