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Yep, this is indeed an option too, although I prioritize getting root when I'm inside/working on the car at the moment.
Today consisted of a lot of unsuccessful attempts at getting root or factory mode. I'd be surprised if I had success this quickly, and I'm liking the challenge as it means success will be that much sweeter.
One thing I've noticed is that the internal SD card has some logs that could be used for diagnostics, but that requires me to disassemble the MCU completely to get at it's also incomplete information.
I have a number of ideas of things to try at this point, and I haven't touched the IC at this point in time, just trying things MCU only at this point in time.
One thing I've noticed is that the internal SD card has some logs that could be used for diagnostics, but that requires me to disassemble the MCU completely to get at it's also incomplete information.
I have a number of ideas of things to try at this point, and I haven't touched the IC at this point in time, just trying things MCU only at this point in time.
Satoshi,
I read your thread and it's very inspiring. My father is an electrical engineer and I'm an Architecture and Construction Management major working as a professor in South Florida.All throughout high school I took autotive tech in traditional internal combustion engines and ever since fixing cars has been a passionate endeavour for me. I see it as giving it a second chance. I was planning on taking on a model s salvage title as a father son project. I learned a lot from this thread and I look forward to seeing your success. I have torn apart and fixed many cars as a hobby and I'm a little skeptical about the model s. The one I'm looking at just has cosmetic damage bumpers fender and hatch. No structural damage but the seller says it doesn't run it needs charge and they have no way of charging it. I'd love your feedback if you can spare the time to give me insight on the potential of the project. It's over 1,000 miles away and it's priced over 20k now.
Thanks!
I read your thread and it's very inspiring. My father is an electrical engineer and I'm an Architecture and Construction Management major working as a professor in South Florida.All throughout high school I took autotive tech in traditional internal combustion engines and ever since fixing cars has been a passionate endeavour for me. I see it as giving it a second chance. I was planning on taking on a model s salvage title as a father son project. I learned a lot from this thread and I look forward to seeing your success. I have torn apart and fixed many cars as a hobby and I'm a little skeptical about the model s. The one I'm looking at just has cosmetic damage bumpers fender and hatch. No structural damage but the seller says it doesn't run it needs charge and they have no way of charging it. I'd love your feedback if you can spare the time to give me insight on the potential of the project. It's over 1,000 miles away and it's priced over 20k now.
Thanks!
If the seller claims it just needs a charge, tell them to hook a 12v battery or use another car to "jump" the Model S using the jump posts located behind the black "nose cone" on the front of the car. At this point the car will wake up, even with a dead battery and the center screen will show the state of charge of the main battery so it will be obvious if it is is just not charged. If there are any faults there will be a red exclamation point icon at the top left if the screen, and touching this icon will display a list of faults. They won't be very descriptive, but that should still give you an idea if there is truly anything wrong with it or not.
When a Model S is in an accident that is sufficient to deploy any airbags or seat belt tensioners, it will also fire it's safety shutdown system that disables all high voltage in the car. This is done for the safety of both the occupants and first responders.
In this case there will be a "car will not start" message in the error list. Also, even though the display will still show the accurate charge level of the main battery, it will not allow it to be used for anything nor will it allow any charging.
This simple procedure will verify if the seller is telling the truth and the reason the car doesn't move is just because it needs a charge.
When a Model S is in an accident that is sufficient to deploy any airbags or seat belt tensioners, it will also fire it's safety shutdown system that disables all high voltage in the car. This is done for the safety of both the occupants and first responders.
In this case there will be a "car will not start" message in the error list. Also, even though the display will still show the accurate charge level of the main battery, it will not allow it to be used for anything nor will it allow any charging.
This simple procedure will verify if the seller is telling the truth and the reason the car doesn't move is just because it needs a charge.
I'm flattered that my story has inspired someone... Although bear in mind I haven't really accomplished anything until I get root/factory mode.
Uh, I thought mine only had cosmetic damage until I REALLY started to take it apart. So there's a good chance yours will too.
If you can inspect it, do it, but if not just be realistic with your expectations, even with the dream team EE father & Structural Engineer son... I imagine it will take a lot of your free time. It will be fun, but not easy.
Personally, I wouldn't spend as much as you are proposing. There is no guarantee that as price goes up that the ease of repair goes down... It's all based upon which auction has the attendance of the right moron with the deepest wallet.
@satoshi
<--- This is f-ing hilarious, it's also the reason I hate name dropping and touting qualifications, just because you have a degree and a title (or PE license) doesn’t mean you know how to FEA your way out of a paper bag. So could we have less arguing about the morality of repairing a salvage vehicle (I realize that discussion was not started by you) or "I'm an engineer who knows famous professors who hold patents" and just focus on the technical aspects? Most of the people on TMC who are interested in this stuff are fairly low key about their CV since ones work always speaks volumes more. BTR's thread is a great example of this, wherein he reminds us that he is 100% not an electrical engineer, but that in no way degrades the quality/comedy of his work. More science and less philosophical discussion as Feynman would say.
Love the project and would be happy to help with any expertise (EE and mechanical related things) if you want, I've got some leads on the diagnostic connector (both new CAN and ethernet). Wish I was doing this myself but I'm building a house at the moment, which has a way of taking up most of my time and capitol (have you seen the price of toilets and lumber lately?).
I kind of did start it by flipping out on BTR in his thread about his Li-ion cells.
I only stated qualifications to state that if I myself don't have the necessary knowledge I'll find someone who does and make sure that what I learn of their field is accurate and sufficient enough to be a proper repair. This, in my mind, conveys responsibility.
Note that I'm only an electrical engineering student so technically I have no qualifications until I graduate.
I'd love to hear what info you have either via pm or email.
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Looking at some logs on the MCU, it appears the DCDC converter isn't communicating with the MCU... it isn't getting a hardware ID # upon boot. So it would seem there might be a connection problem there, this explains some behavior I've witnessed regarding the car's 12V battery and other 12V electronics.
There might be HV problems as the MCU would send a command for the BMS contactors to close, but when it probes for status later they remain open.
This latter issue could be dependent on the DCDC problem though (I'm hoping so).
EDIT: Apparently... My parents now think I'm an expert at sourcing car parts because they bought a car that needs a front bumper for $1.5k and are expecting me to help them find a bumper. (-____-#)... (Not saying I can't do it, just saying I don't really want the distraction considering the size of the current project I already have, but alas they're allowing free storage of my project so...)
There might be HV problems as the MCU would send a command for the BMS contactors to close, but when it probes for status later they remain open.
This latter issue could be dependent on the DCDC problem though (I'm hoping so).
EDIT: Apparently... My parents now think I'm an expert at sourcing car parts because they bought a car that needs a front bumper for $1.5k and are expecting me to help them find a bumper. (-____-#)... (Not saying I can't do it, just saying I don't really want the distraction considering the size of the current project I already have, but alas they're allowing free storage of my project so...)
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Wow that's some great info, the airbags don't seem to have been deployed and he said the 12v system works fine. I'm assuming that means the display activated and it shows zero charge. Is there like a standard 120 extension cord type charger I can ship to them so they can charge it at their facility?
That'd just be the Tesla Mobile Charger:
Tesla — Mobile Connector Bundle
Or, you could see if you can find a cheap J1722 charger and use this adapter: http://shop.teslamotors.com/collections/model-s/products/sae-j177
Tesla — Mobile Connector Bundle
Or, you could see if you can find a cheap J1722 charger and use this adapter: http://shop.teslamotors.com/collections/model-s/products/sae-j177
I think Satoshi should do similar design for B-pillar mod 
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I think Satoshi should do similar design for B-pillar mod
Heh... With my crazy driving, probably a good idea actually.
