App not waking car

[Katic1972]

Apologies admin if this has been discussed. I have tried searching but couldn’t see an answer.

Collected my M3LR today and all was perfect. I’ve set up my iPhone 11 Pro Max to work as the key. I’ve connected my car via internet (had to move a Google mesh puck) to ensure good Wi-Fi connectivity. The car has lte network connectivity and my phone still unlocks and wake the car as I approach and enter.

However after a day of excitement if I open up the Tesla app it doesn’t want to connect. Any ideas? Is there a simple fix?

I did change the language to British English, because I can and when I first connected to Wi-Fi it said there was a new version of maps available.

I selected the phone app to try and fix, I had to re-pair my phone to the car. I also powered down the phone and completely reset the device.

Any insights would be helpful at this stage, I’m still learning.

 

[NewbieT]

Be patient! Can take 24h and it’s a weekend.

 

[Katic1972]

Be patient! Can take 24h and it’s a weekend.

Wait,… seriously? Does the car need to be set up somewhere centrally by Tesla for me to connect to it from my phone?

I should say that it did connect successfully earlier. I used it to unlock the charge port. Used it to flash the lights. Seems like somehow the app or the car has lost the ability to communicate.

 

[Mr H]

Press and hold the steering wheel buttons until the 'T' appears to reset the car

 

[MrBadger]

Certain features work via bluetooth, other features require access to SMS (to wake the car) and internet.

Tesla recently added to the list of what works via bluetooth, adding to the use key to open the doors and 'starting' etc I think opening charge port and flashing lights, honking the horn are all bluetooth too and now open bonnet etc. You should be able to see if app connects via bluetooth as the main screen will show your phone as 'connected' if in range. Its quite possible that you were testing these options earlier and not going via LTE/WiFi which might be having problems.

Other features need lte or wifi afther the car is awake - can be woken by SMS, bluetooth action, or trying to open a door.

If car is awake but still inaccessible, it may be that it is offline, has a fault, or not yet connected to Tesla servers for you. A car may be offline if it connects to wifi but there is an issue with wifi - disable wifi and let it connect via lte. But you haven't really given enough info to diagnose further. I would initially suspect you might not be fully connected yet or have a wifi issue - the car is notoriously fickle with wifi and a few inches difference in position may be the difference between good wifi and problematical wifi.

 

[Katic1972]

Now that is weird. I had the app open and trying to connect for 15 mins. Gave up and went back to it a little later and it’s all connecting ok now.

Il leave it tonight. I’ll try again in the morning. Thanks all for your help. I tried switching off Wi-Fi on my phone, it made no difference. It seems fine right now. Thanks.

 

[MrBadger]

Thanks all for your help. I tried switching off Wi-Fi on my phone, it made no difference.

You need to switch wifi off on the car to force it to use its own lte/mobile connection. That will rule out any wifi issues between the car and your ISP.

 

[Katic1972]

You need to switch wifi off on the car to force it to use its own lte/mobile connection. That will rule out any wifi issues between the car and your ISP.

Thank you, I’ll give that a go first thing in the morning. I can’t connect to my car from the app now so somethings not quite right.

 

[Katic1972]

With Wi-Fi off in the car and on my phone for good measure I still am not getting connection to the car. The image of the car is on the app and as before it’s a spinning circle stating “last seen X minutes ago”. The phone key still works (obviously Bluetooth is ok).

I’ll get out again shortly (it’s bloody freeing) and try a reset by holding down the two steering wheel buttons until the “T” appears”.

 

[MrBadger]

Try it again having woken the car via Bluetooth or trying a door.

If the car is not getting the SMS wake-up it will behave as you are experiencing.

Either you are out of SMS range like underground parking or remote location or your SMS isn’t working properly.

A couple of years back we all had issues when Tesla Spanish mobile service stopped working for several days. They eventually moved us all to Dutch service. Maybe it’s coincidence but we are now all moving to UK service. It was wide spread when that happened but your seems isolated case.

But it also sometimes does take a while for car to wake. When it fails the app normally gives an error when it has given up and might be several minutes.

 

[Katic1972]

The lte signal strength looks fine. Completely removing the car from
Wi-Fi I still cannot connect to the car with the Tesla app. Seems ok if o manually wake the car but for some reason it’s not connecting. I can use the in car connection for YouTube, Netflix etc.

I tried a reset but I’m not sure it completed correctly. I didn’t get the T and reset but the screen went blank. I will check again and double check that I am performing the reset first.

 

[Adopado]

The lte signal strength looks fine. Completely removing the car from
Wi-Fi I still cannot connect to the car with the Tesla app. Seems ok if o manually wake the car but for some reason it’s not connecting. I can use the in car connection for YouTube, Netflix etc.

I tried a reset but I’m not sure it completed correctly. I didn’t get the T and reset but the screen went blank. I will check again and double check that I am performing the reset first.

You need to hold the buttons down for much longer than you think for the T to appear.

Car waking via the app can have issues once in blue moon. Sometimes it's a temporary Tesla server or account issue, sometimes Tesla/car SMS issue, sometimes a home network issue ... so not easy to pin down. Though maybe less likely to be related it could be worth tying with a different phone too.

 

[Simonix]

Have you tried uninstalling the app, deleting phone as a key, then reinstalling and setting up from scratch?

Might just be a bug?

 

[MrBadger]

The lte signal strength looks fine. Completely removing the car from
Wi-Fi I still cannot connect to the car with the Tesla app. Seems ok if o manually wake the car but for some reason it’s not connecting. I can use the in car connection for YouTube, Netflix etc.

Just to double confirm, if the car is already awake, the app still cannot reliably connect to the car other than for bluetooth functions - key, start, thinks like open bonnet etc, but not to access climate features etc.

Also, are you waiting long enough before the app either works or gives a connection error? It should be no more than a few tens of seconds, often much quicker, but it can be several minutes (it seems) before the app gives an error.

 

[Katic1972]

Have you tried uninstalling the app, deleting phone as a key, then reinstalling and setting up from scratch?

Might just be a bug?

Yes. Done do twice no change.

 

[Katic1972]

Just to double confirm, if the car is already awake, the app still cannot reliably connect to the car other than for bluetooth functions - key, start, thinks like open bonnet etc, but not to access climate features etc.

Also, are you waiting long enough before the app either works or gives a connection error? It should be no more than a few tens of seconds, often much quicker, but it can be several minutes (it seems) before the app gives an error.

Don’t think the car is awake, I could have the app open for like fifteen mins and there is no connection to the car.

 

[Katic1972]

I just switched off my Bluetooth. And accessed the app. It then connected to the car. Now this would be a revelation perhaps but I was a good mile from my car earlier today (out with the dogs) and tried and failed to connect to the car via the app.

I’m going to set up my wife’s phone and card and see if it’s perhaps my phone.

Weird, single toggling my BT off and on the app is connecting fine now.

 

[Katic1972]

Edit. Seems no luck re the above. After 30mins or maybe sooner the car once more could not be reached by the app. I’ve now tried a reboot using the brake pedal and am waiting 30 mins to see if the car will respond. Tbh I don’t hold out much hope.

Don’t suppose there’s any iPhone setting I need to check?

 

[Adopado]

Edit. Seems no luck re the above. After 30mins or maybe sooner the car once more could not be reached by the app. I’ve now tried a reboot using the brake pedal and am waiting 30 mins to see if the car will respond. Tbh I don’t hold out much hope.

Don’t suppose there’s any iPhone setting I need to check?

Seems like you are at the contacting the SC stage ...

 

[Katic1972]

Yep. Annoyingly no appointments available in Glasgow until 13/12. A bit annoying for a car with 52 miles on the clock.