2017 Model S scroll wheels are slow to respond / intermittent

[DavidZemon]

When we first got the car in September of 2020 with its original MCU, I was frequently annoyed with how many clicks I'd have to spin the scroll wheels before a single click was recognized. Slow scroll, fast scroll, didn't matter. It seemed like only 1 out of every 3-5 clicks would actually get recognized.
A few months later, I paid for the MCU2 upgrade and the issue drastically improved. A fast scroll would still skip many clicks, but every click was recognized so long as I moved the wheel slowly.

A month or two ago, things got worse again. It seems to be related to a software update, but it's been long enough now that I couldn't say for sure. But we're back to lots of scroll ticks getting ignored even if I move the wheel slowly and deliberately. It's a very frustrating experience.

Anyone else running into this? Is there anything that can be done? Rebooting the MCU by holding both scroll wheels did not improve anything.

Both left and right wheels behave the same. Pressing either wheel gets recognized immediately - it's only spinning them that is problematic.

 

[richrootes]

I’ve had some weird glitches like this in the past which were fixed by a ‘factory reset’. I know it’s inconvenient to have to set things up again, but it’s worth a try - saves a lot of hair pulling!

 

[Rascoe]

When we first got the car in September of 2020 with its original MCU, I was frequently annoyed with how many clicks I'd have to spin the scroll wheels before a single click was recognized. Slow scroll, fast scroll, didn't matter. It seemed like only 1 out of every 3-5 clicks would actually get recognized.
A few months later, I paid for the MCU2 upgrade and the issue drastically improved. A fast scroll would still skip many clicks, but every click was recognized so long as I moved the wheel slowly.

A month or two ago, things got worse again. It seems to be related to a software update, but it's been long enough now that I couldn't say for sure. But we're back to lots of scroll ticks getting ignored even if I move the wheel slowly and deliberately. It's a very frustrating experience.

Anyone else running into this? Is there anything that can be done? Rebooting the MCU by holding both scroll wheels did not improve anything.

Both left and right wheels behave the same. Pressing either wheel gets recognized immediately - it's only spinning them that is problematic.

I had that the other day after a software update. I did the 4 finger reboot (press both scroll wheels and the buttons above the scroll wheels at the same time until it restarts) and it fixed it for me. It has not returned. I did not have to do a factory reset, which I was very happy about.

 

[DavidZemon]

Thank you both for the replies. I haven't tried the 4-finger reboot in a long time, so I'll give that a go next time i get in the car.

 

[phiberoptiks]

I recently noticed this as a new problem as well. I'm sure it's software related. I can't seem to fix it. Sometimes rebooting helps and other times it makes it worse...

 

[COS Blue]

I tried the 4-finger reboot a couple of times and it did not help. Then I got mobile service to come out and replace the switch assemblies (includes scroll wheels and the buttons surrounding them). My service guy said that they've had issues in dry climates due to static electricity, and he seemed confident that this would fix it. It did not. So, I fear it is indeed software related.

Service guy suggested I gather timestamps of when it's happening and submit a service request, so that it can be remotely diagnosed. So, I'll try that, but I'm not optimistic.

 

[sparkles]

I am having this exact problem. I also had the steering wheel controls replaced, but it has come back. I tried doing a reset by switching the wheel sizes to cause some kind of harder reset and sometimes this fixes it for a while, but eventually the volume scroll wheel and temperature scroll wheels start intermittently working and not. Also have a similar issue with the actual buttons like track skipping. I haven’t tried a factory reset nor a battery disconnect hard reset.

Has anyone had any luck with a permanent fix? Thank you!

 

[DavidZemon]

No luck here. It's mostly really bad, but I get intermittent good times.

 

[raywonqa]

Apologies for the length of this post, but there’s sort of a happy ending.

I’ve had this very same issue with the scroll button / wheels on my 2019 MS since early 2023 while my car was still under warranty. I had the car in for service 3 times for this issue. The first time they said they could not reproduce the problem. So I paid closer attention to when it happened most frequently and found that it happened a lot when the nav system was active. Took the car in for service the second time and told them how to reproduce the issue. They replaced the scroll wheel and then told me everything was fine now - “all vehicles are different and some exhibit more lag than others” the tech said. Of course, it wasn’t fine at all. I set the nav to go home and tried adjusting the sound volume and nothing had changed - still the same laggy response or no response. I noted the exact times it was happening so that Tesla could “check the logs” to verify. So I took it in again and had a long talk with a service manager and described it all in detail and I provided the exact times when the issue occurred. Being a sympathetic guy, he said he would get a tech to run extensive tests (one of which was the “low voltage” system check - more on that later). So they run all these test and the tech performing the work says that he does notice some “occasional” lag so he ends up replacing the entire center portion of the steering wheel - new air bag AND scroll wheels - and that now the scroll wheels work better. Upon receiving my car back I was so pumped - SURE that I would be happy with the scroll wheel operation - but the excitement didn’t last. They still acted the same way - laggy all the time and especially so when the nav was active - basically, the busier the compute system was navigating for the car, the more lag there was in the scroll wheels. I finally gave up and thought it was just a software issue - kind of like how your phone gets slower over time as more and more updates gets loaded. Fast forward to early March 2024 - the car is now my 4 months out of warranty - and we’re leaving the parking lot of a store. I go to enter an address into the nav and notice the display is unresponsive, so I pull into a parking spot and do the 2 scroll button reset. And wait. Both displays remain dark; the turn signals don’t work, the seat heater stays on as well as the HVAC system. Fortunately the car still drives so we go home and I go down the “dark screens” rat hole and learn about the 2012-2018 recall to address the MCU memory fault errors. I’m hoping that maybe my car has the same problem so I make a new service appointment - luckily I can get in 3 days later. “No your car has the newer MCU” they say. The problem with my car is that MCU processor has died. They need to replace the entire MCU - all the electronics in that metal cage behind the center display - and it’ll be $1800 + a diag fee + a “low voltage” system check (again!) for a total of just over $2400. So, I am pissed but I agree to pay. What else am I gonna do, right? I want my car back. They do the work, I get my car back and all the setting are gone. Car name, seat settings, bluetooth devices - everything is gone but the displays work now. It’s a new MCU, right? Whatever, I’m just glad to have my car back.

As I’m driving home I decide to play some music, and low and behold, the scroll wheels now work perfectly! No lag, no missed clicks, it’s like when the car was new! So now I’m dealing with service trying to convince them that scroll wheel issue was caused by the imminent failure of the MCU while the car was still under warranty. I’ll let you know what happens.