Tesla Model S or X — 2012–2020
The rotor seal inside every 2012–2020 Large Drive Unit will eventually fail. We fix it permanently.
Jaunt is Australia's largest EV conversion workshop — based in Melbourne since 2018. Good Design Australia Gold Award winners.
The Problem
Here's the short version: your Tesla's rear motor has liquid coolant flowing through it to keep it cool. Some of that coolant flows through the spinning centre of the motor — the rotor — via a hollow shaft. Three small rubber seals are supposed to keep the coolant inside that shaft. They don't last.
When those seals fail, coolant leaks into the motor's electrical components. It corrodes wiring, destroys bearings, and can short-circuit the entire drive unit. You might notice a whining noise, reduced power, or error messages — or you might notice nothing at all until the motor stops working.
This isn't a rare defect. It's a design limitation that affects every 2012–2020 Tesla Model S and Model X with a Large Drive Unit. Tesla acknowledged it in later revisions by removing the rotor coolant path entirely. That's exactly what our service does — applied to the motors that still have the original design.
The three rubber lip seals inside the rotor shaft break down from heat cycles and age. This is material science, not bad luck.
Liquid coolant leaks past the seal into the rotor cavity. It wicks into the stator windings, corrodes connectors, and destroys bearing grease.
You might notice a whining noise or reduced power. Or nothing at all. The damage often builds for months before anything obvious happens.
The motor shorts, the inverter floods, the drive unit needs full replacement. That's $10,000–$20,000 at a service centre.
The only workshop in Australia offering this as a full-service fix.
The Fix
This isn't a parts-cannon approach. We strip the unit down, address the root cause, replace everything that should be replaced, and put it back together to factory spec.
Complete teardown of the Large Drive Unit. Every component removed, inspected, and catalogued. We need to see everything before we touch anything.
Thorough removal of all coolant contamination from the rotor, stator, and inverter components. We use gentle cleaning techniques — no wire brushes on critical surfaces, no shortcuts that create debris.
The coolant delivery tube is precision-milled and capped with a machined manifold cap, sealed with high-temperature sealant. The rotor coolant path is permanently eliminated — matching the manufacturer's own revised design. Gearbox cooling is completely unaffected and continues to flow normally.
Both half-shaft seals replaced as standard. These are a secondary leak path that most workshops overlook. We don't.
Rotor inspected for contamination damage and runout. Bearings assessed. If coolant has reached places it shouldn't, we'll tell you exactly what we've found.
All single-use bolts replaced with new. Every fastener torqued to factory specifications. Not "close enough" — exact. The unit goes back together the way it should have been built.
From our workshop
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Why Jaunt
We don't send parts out. We mill, machine, and fabricate in-house. The stator tube modification requires precision tooling that most EV workshops simply don't have.
We've been pulling apart and rebuilding electric drivetrains for eight years. This isn't a side project — high-voltage powertrains are our core engineering discipline.
Every bolt torqued to spec. Every seal replaced. Every step documented. The same standards we apply to our award-winning vehicle builds, applied to every LDU we service.
Our work has been recognised by the Good Design Australia Gold Award, the Victorian Premier's Design Awards, and AFR Best Cars. We bring that same precision to this service.
Precision engineering. Every component inspected.
Pricing
Full drive unit replacement at a service centre: $10,000–$20,000.
Since the work was completed I have driven Melbourne to Port Lincoln and return, 3,000 kilometres, and the car behaved absolutely normally. No leaks, no warnings. I am completely satisfied with the cost and impressed with the quality of the work.— P90D owner, Sydney
Every seal replaced. Every bolt torqued to spec.
FAQ
Get Started
Tell us about your vehicle and we'll be in touch within one business day to confirm availability and schedule your service.
Not sure if your drive unit needs this work? Get in touch anyway — we're happy to help you figure it out.
We'll be in touch within one business day to confirm availability and schedule your service.