2014 Tesla Model S transmission problems

Filed May 1, 2026 · Engine, Lights · TX

Motor suddenly failed after a required update while driving, nearly causing a crash with multiple commercial vehicles and pedestrians, leaving brake lights dangerously always on and alarm sounding, killed 12v as well.

Filed Apr 28, 2026 · Transmission · TN

**Incident / Defect Description for the federal safety agency Safety Complaint** **Vehicle Information** - Make: Tesla - Model: Model S - Year: 2014 - VIN: [XXX] - Approximate Mileage: 148,129 miles - Date of Discovery / Failure: 04/23/2026 **Description of the Defect** This vehicle is equipped with Tesla’s Large Drive Unit (LDU / rear drive unit), which was used in the majority of 2012–early 2020 Model S vehicles (RWD and Performance models). The LDU design routes coolant through the hollow rotor shaft. Over time, the rotor seal fails and allows ethylene glycol coolant to leak internally into the motor and inverter. Evidence of this failure is easily visible by removing the rear speed sensor, where blue coolant, corrosion, and debris are present. This is a well-documented design flaw affecting thousands of vehicles. **Consequences of the Defect** Coolant intrusion causes: • Corrosion and rust in the stator windings • Washing out of bearing grease • High-voltage isolation faults • Inverter damage • Complete drive unit failure **Safety Risks** This defect presents an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety because: • Drive unit failure can occur suddenly and without warning while driving, resulting in total loss of propulsion. This is especially dangerous on highways, in traffic, or at high speeds. • Coolant inside high-voltage electrical components increases the risk of electrical shorts, arcing, or fire. • Reduced power or complete shutdown can lead to loss of vehicle control and potential crashes. I have experienced complete drive unit failure. Many other owners report identical issues, often between 50,000–120,000 miles. Tesla has not issued a recall despite this being a widespread, predictable design defect. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jul 27, 2025 · Transmission · CA

Coolant ingress found on second Model S large drive unit in rear. After this leak destroyed my first vehicle, second was checked as a precaution and was found to have coolant leaking into drive unit as well.

Filed Oct 26, 2024 · Transmission · NC

The rotor seal on the Large Drive Units on Tesla Model S and X fail, causing coolant to leak into the drive unit, flooding it and damaging the inverter. This leads to a replacement cost from Tesla for approximately $7 - $8,000. As this is a design failure this should be a recall and Tesla should at least repair all units prior to their failure or replace them with an updated motor.

Filed Mar 20, 2024 · Transmission · NC

My 2014 P85D model S electric rear motor failed. I heard a loud noise coming from it so I took it in to Tesla and they agreed the motor was failing and needed to be replaced, Cost $6,582.04. If I had driven the car and the motor seized up it while on the highway it would have been catastrophic. I would have lost control as the motor froze the rear wheel. Tesla knows of this problem, has replaced many of them, unfortunately post warranty. They know the seals leak and coolant leaks into the motor and causes the motor to fail. They have made a number of design changes including the latest where they eliminate a cooling branch going through the motor. Prior to this change none of the fixes have eliminated the problem.

Filed Oct 20, 2023 · Transmission · TN

Loud whining noise coming from the rear of the vehicle. Tesla says it needs a new rear drive unit. The noise has been going on for some time and gradually gotten worse.

Filed Mar 21, 2023 · Acceleration, Electrical · PR

In 2014, I ordered this Model S P85D, received it on 12/20/2014, I also purchased a 4-year extended service plan. Starting from March 2017, it started to encounter random yet serious problems. The car would randomly produce critical errors, displaying several types of error messages, while losing most of its driving power; the driver would have to perform emergency pullovers onto the road shoulder, if available, before the power rapidly reduce to zero. Then the driver need to restart the main computer (sometimes several times), to reset the error messages. Only after that, the car became drive-able again. I wrote an email to [email protected] on 03/23/2017 describing the problem, since then, this became a chronic issue; Service centers in Virginia, Maryland, and San Juan PR have performed numerous attempts on this problem, none of them was able to fix it. According to my records, for this issue, the car has been in the shop for more than 10 times, and more than a dozen components have been replaced. The total time it has been out of service is more than 380 days. I now consider it "unfixable" by Tesla. This kind of problem have created many dangerous situations when it occurred on the road, especially when the driver doesn't know how to handle it, doesn't pull over on the shoulder quickly, or there's no safe place to pull over.

Filed Feb 18, 2023 · Transmission · TX

Car won’t shift gears just stuck on park. Battery reduced.

Filed Oct 18, 2022 · Acceleration, Transmission · CA

The vehicle went into "REDUCED POWER" (Turtle Mode) error. Which reduced the power and the ability to accelerate out of an intersection and away from incoming traffic. I followed the recommendations of powering the vehicle off. It would correct itself then randomly does the same thing. This is SAFETY ISSUE and needs to be resolved before someone gets into a major accident which will result in great bodily injury or death.

Filed Jul 25, 2022 · Electrical, Lights · FL

My 2014 Tesla Model S is an unsafe vehicle as my dash goes black constantly and I lose control of the car safety items included in the dash panel such as speed, back up camera, visibility and power train. I have complained many times but Tesla does not respond with results that will make the car safe again.