2013 Model S, can't drive, multiple warnings shown on forward display

[ualdriver]

Tesla forum brain trust-

I have a 2013 Model S with around 60,000 miles. For the second time in the past week, I have gone out to drive the car only to have multiple faults appear on the forward screen, effectively making the car undriveable. Below the speedometer I get multiple warnings (ABS anti-lock braking system disabled, parking brake requires service vehicle may be free rolling, steering assist unavailable, traction control disabled, anti-lock braking disabled) and a few others that I am likely forgetting. I get a Fault light in the upper right corner of the forward screen. The first time this happened a few days ago, after a few hours I went back out to the car and it drove normally again.

I can move the car forward and backward, but the steering wheel is really hard to turn. I didn't want to force it, so I don't try too hard. I did the dual thumb wheel reset, but no luck. The Tesla Service Centers out by me are horrible. They don't answer phones, and rarely return phone calls. I've made an appointment via the app.

In the mean time, is there anything I can do to try to get the car running so I can at least drive it to a service center?

Thanks for your time!

 

[ualdriver]

To add to the above post in case someone else has the same problem, I limped my car 40 miles to the service center and barely made it. For whatever reason, one day the car started and I drove it while the getting was good.

Tesla told me my old (2012 era!) tire pressure sensor monitor was taking out the whole CAN bus and causing the failure of all the above systems listed in my initial post. I thought that to be weird because one, I am surprised one sensor could take out other independent components of the car, two, lots of Tesla owners drive around with that TPMS monitor warning on the forward dash and don't run into the problem I had. Regardless, the TPMS sensor on the CAN bus is getting replaced, and now I have to replace all my tire pressure sensors in all 8 of my tires at $75/pop. Oh well.

 

[MonsterMullet]

Test voltage on 12v battery, that will do the same thing.

 

[Lasttoy]

Call 877 798 3752, have them log into the car to see what is wrong. They were in my car twice last.

 

[ualdriver]

Thanks guys. Post #2 above summarizes what Tesla found when I brought it in to the shop.

 

[gaswalla]

8 tires?
Agree that this sounds like the 12v battery

 

[ualdriver]

Us people out east have 4 snow tires and 4 summer tires ; )

 

[maximizese]

I hope your issue gets resolved. I would find it baffling why a TPMS fault would compromise the many drivability functions, but I don't know the software programs Tesla uses. It does seem like systems ought to be independent and redundant from a safety and reliability stand point. My first suspicion would be the 12V battery and/or battery contactor.

I recently had an intermittent "car needs service. car may not restart" warning that would pop up once every few weeks for about 5 seconds before disappearing. One day the warning stayed on throughout a 20 minute drive followed by a "system check" when I tried to restart the car. I then got a "Acceleration and top speed reduced" and "regenerative braking system disabled." I called roadside service as I was driving to the SC. They said to reboot the system when I get to the SC just in case the car doesn't restart. No luck, but the SC did expedite my service and discovered the drive unit and HV contactors needed to be replaced. SC also replaced the 12V battery while there were at it, all under warranty on our 89K mile old used 2013 S85.

 

[MP3Mike]

I hope your issue gets resolved. I would find it baffling why a TPMS fault would compromise the many drivability functions, but I don't know the software programs Tesla uses. It does seem like systems ought to be independent and redundant from a safety and reliability stand point. My first suspicion would be the 12V battery and/or battery contactor.

In this case Tesla said that the TPMS receiver module was taking out the entire CAN bus, so the other systems weren't able to communicate/function. It probably isn't reasonable to have a separate CAN bus for every device... And this doesn't appear to be a common fault.

 

[ualdriver]

So far, the car is running great with the repair. They told me initially that they checked the 12V battery and it was fine. I'll report back if the problems pop up again.

 

[maximizese]

In this case Tesla said that the TPMS receiver module was taking out the entire CAN bus, so the other systems weren't able to communicate/function. It probably isn't reasonable to have a separate CAN bus for every device... And this doesn't appear to be a common fault.

I'm still having trouble comprehending that this is a good practice. The TPMS receiver module on our 2013 Fiat 500e became finicky and triggered an intermittent fault and warning, but the issue was isolated to the TPMS system only and did not affect the ABS, ESC, or trigger limp mode. The TPMS would register and read correctly maybe 10% of the time, but I got tired of the warning an swapped out the receiver module.

I know the Fiat is not the same as the Tesla, but I guess I'm being critical of a structure where an independent and ancillary system can affect the function of other independent systems. I would prefer a different way of doing things.

 

[MP3Mike]

I'm still having trouble comprehending that this is a good practice. The TPMS receiver module on our 2013 Fiat 500e became finicky and triggered an intermittent fault and warning, but the issue was isolated to the TPMS system only and did not affect the ABS, ESC, or trigger limp mode. The TPMS would register and read correctly maybe 10% of the time, but I got tired of the warning an swapped out the receiver module.

Sure, and most failures of the TPMS system in Teslas don't cause this issue, they just cause it to report a TPMS fault warning.

I know the Fiat is not the same as the Tesla, but I guess I'm being critical of a structure where an independent and ancillary system can affect the function of other independent systems. I would prefer a different way of doing things.

Pretty much the entire automotive industry has standardized on using a limited number of CAN busses to interconnect all of the electronics in the car. Part of this is to reduce the amount of wiring in a car to save on weight, costs, labor, etc. Tesla has patented wiring technology that takes this even further. So I doubt you are going to see a different way of doing things in the near future. It is possible that Teslas new architecture might help in this situation since I think it uses a loop for the CAN bus, and if the module before, and after, the failed module, TPMS in this case, could detect the failure and isolate it from the bus the rest of the car could continue. (Though you could only deal with one "fatal" bus failure at a time.)

 

[CaryRx]

To add to the above post in case someone else has the same problem, I limped my car 40 miles to the service center and barely made it. For whatever reason, one day the car started and I drove it while the getting was good.

Tesla told me my old (2012 era!) tire pressure sensor monitor was taking out the whole CAN bus and causing the failure of all the above systems listed in my initial post. I thought that to be weird because one, I am surprised one sensor could take out other independent components of the car, two, lots of Tesla owners drive around with that TPMS monitor warning on the forward dash and don't run into the problem I had. Regardless, the TPMS sensor on the CAN bus is getting replaced, and now I have to replace all my tire pressure sensors in all 8 of my tires at $75/pop. Oh well.

\
I just had my early 2013 MS85 (48k miles) in for service. The stupid TPMS had been lit up solid for like 4 months. Nothing else ever malfunctioned though. They did replace a couple TMPS sensors (under warranty). I happened to mention the weird whining noise from the motor. Two hours later they called me and said the TPMS thing was all fixed, but they wanted to replace the drive unit. Now the car is totally quiet... I kinda miss the space ship whiney noise. LOL