Falcon Wing Door Slowly Dropping

[ohmman]

So.. Wohmman came home today complaining that the driver's side FWD isn't staying up. Sure enough, it's not. At full opening, it seems OK. But anytime it's obstructed from a full open (sensors/umbrella mode), it begins to slowly descend. Seems like a leak in one of the arms. The lower the door is, the faster the descent.

I'll be calling the SC tomorrow. Anyone else seen this?

 

[ModelXBoy]

Oh boy! This is getting out of hand. I don't have my X yet but I think it's the hydrolic shot leaking pressure. This happened to one of my previous car as well. The RSX back hatch hydrolic.

 

[sukhi]

@ohmman, sorry to hear that. Have not seen this issue so far. It would be a bad since now I have changed the setting to not open the doors fully (after the big discussion on seeing issues under certain circumstances).
Did you try calling the 24hr tech service line? Although they are likely to direct you to a SC.

 

[Skotty]

FYI -- It's my understanding that the falcon wing doors do not have hydrolics. I read they considered them but after problems they switched to electric motors. Not that this changes the problem, but just sharing what I've read.

 

[AnOutsider]

Didn't they change to electric from hydraulic?

•edit• Skotty ninja'd me. IIRC, they supposedly changed from hydraulic to electric as late as May of last year.

 

[ohmman]

Well, there are those two hydraulic arms which I believe support the weight of the door. I am not trying to pretend I know much about this, so I ask that the others in the forum correct me here - but I think the doors are electrically lifted and lowered, but that they are supported by hydraulics. The difference with the original design, assuming there was one (Eds invocation here), would be that the doors were hydraulically actuated - a pump would control the raising and lowering of the doors.

My feeling is that the electrical actuator/motor is fine, but one of the hydraulic arms has failed or is leaking.

 

[K-MTG]

I recall that Musk said they decided not to use hydraulics on the X for the FWD?

 

[Mark Z]

I can report that the Falcon Wing Doors will lower gradually when driving with them open. A slow short test drive was tried in an empty parking lot to test if the doors could be left open for a parade. Seemed the bounce of the vehicle caused the lowering.

You can physically push the door down. They are designed to be closed if the electrical assist fails.

I have never experienced the gradual lowering of a open Falcon Wing Door while the vehicle is parked or during a showing of Model X as during the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival.

 

[Out4aDuck]

It's common to use gas struts to balance the weight of a lift gate, even those that are motor operated. I suspect one of the struts is failing.

 

[ohmman]

It's common to use gas struts to balance the weight of a lift gate, even those that are motor operated. I suspect one of the struts is failing.

Thanks. That's what I was trying to say, but I was calling them hydraulic arms instead of gas struts. I agree, that seems to be the most likely cause.

 

[Aljohn]

Although the majority of the weight is counter balanced by the high tension coil springs (similar to those for garage doors), there seems to be two Gas Struts like the frunk and rear deck have.

 

[AnOutsider]

Great graphic

 

[Vitold]

Although the majority of the weight is counter balanced by the high tension coil springs (similar to those for garage doors), there seems to be two Gas Struts like the frunk and rear deck have.

View attachment 172811

Based on the rendering it looks to me the gas strut is used to counterbalance the outer hinge. So the question is is the whole door closing down or just the end going limp?

 

[ohmman]

Based on the rendering it looks to me the gas strut is used to counterbalance the outer hinge. So the question is is the whole door closing down or just the end going limp?

I believe it's the inner hinge - I'll take a photo/video later this morning to show how it's drooping and verify.

 

[Aljohn]

Good Luck @ohmman BTW the picture is from the Model X First Response Guide. Lots of good details about the X insides there.

 

[ohmman]

I can't identify these on the image @Aljohn posted above. I assumed these were the terminating points of the gas struts.

 

[Aljohn]

If those are gas struts @ohmman, they aren't visible on the diagram, they are on the opposite side. Guess we will have to have the SC sort it out.

 

[ohmman]

Nothing terribly interesting here, but you can see the behavior. It appears to be happening at the inside joint in the center of the vehicle - the other joint doesn't appear to be flexing.

Note that the door is considered open, and the car isn't controlling this fall. This is just how it lowers itself after opening.

 

[AnOutsider]

lol "sinking falcon"

 

[retinaguy]

At least it's not a diving falcon!