Bogus "Steering alignment needed" + 1/2 dozen other alerts

[avramd]

Hello,

I'm mid service appointment, so I apologize in advance that my pre-search was quick and I may have missed something.

A couple days ago my '20 MYP (non-PUP) alerted me that the steering needed alignment. Shortly after that, a bunch of other alerts fired, the gist of which was turning off lots of things like emergency braking, hold at stop, autopilot, and regenerative breaking. (edit: this alert was out of the blue, there was no road event, no pothole or hit of anything else, just normal driving on a slightly bumpy road that I've driven on hundreds of times before)

Long story short, Tesla has confirmed the car does not need an alignment, but they can not get that alert to go away. They are now trying to tell me that my non-standard wheel configuration is to blame. I have 18" rims with 245-50R18 snow tires on them. They are claiming that this is due to this wheel configuration having a different rolling circumference than any of the valid wheel configurations. There is a 2.2% difference in circumference compared to my OEM 255-45R19 tires.

I have been running this size winter tire since Jan '20. I have roughly 10,000 miles on them (out of 32,000 total miles). These specific tires are new as of 1,800 miles ago.

Is anybody else buying this? Is it legit that a 2.2% diff in circumference can trigger a false wheel alignment alert? I've never gotten this before. Personally I feel like it is more likely that there is a faulty sensor.

They are basically telling me that they will not troubleshoot further without putting a set of OEM W&T on the car. Unfortunately, I tore open a sidewall on one of mine, so I have a bit of a project to address before I can put mine back on. Tesla was kind enough to offer charge me labor to put on a set just for test purposes. Considering that they wanted me to pay $275 for an alignment when Town Fair Tire will do it for $89, I told them no-thanks.

 

[avramd]

Couple other details worth sharing after reading the similar threads I've found so far:

• These narrower tires do require higher pressure - I normally run them at 48-49 psi to reduce the turn-in delay to something acceptable. Currently they are at 45 psi, which I lowered them to at Winter Driving School. I wonder if the lower pressure is causing an artificially low real-world rolling circumference?
• A couple posts mentioned having Tesla check/reset the 12v system. At WDS, I installed the tow hook, and removed the cover plate from the 12v leads that are secured to it. I noticed that they were touching each other, and I don't see a way to stop them from doing that when connected to the peg that holds them. Should only the positive lead be on that peg, with the negative lead hanging loose? Could this be tripping up the electronics? Could this really have anything to do with the car triggering a false steering alignment alert?

 

[240vPlug]

I think it's possible that it's causing the issue even though it seems unlikely. Tesla will not move forward so I think your only option is to put the OE set back on. That will put to rest the issue of car vs wheels/tires.

 

[fiehlsport]

Go into service mode --> Chassis --> and try resetting the steering angle offset.

Wheel speed from the improperly sized tires shouldn't be reported as an "alignment" issue, but you never know.

If the angle offset is too great, then the car thinks it's misaligned.

Steering wheel alignment alert

I took my 2021 M3LRAWD to Goodyear to have tires rotated and alignment checked. Goodyear charged me $100 for alignment check. On the way home, there was an alert recommending service due to steering wheel alignment issue. Upon contacting Tesla, was told I would be responsible for any charges and...

teslamotorsclub.com

I've reset this multiple times on my car before and after the car has been aligned. It adapts after driving for a while and will spit out a number after a day or two. If yours is way off (a degree or two) then resetting it may be wise.

 

[avramd]

Hey everyone,

I am so sorry, I was sure that I posted the conclusion, but apparently I did not. I swear I remember typing it, so there must have been a submit failure (either mine or the internet's). Or maybe I posted it to the wrong thread...

fiehlsport, thanks for the tip on service mode. I assume that Tesla can tell if service mode has been accessed outside of a service appointment - can anyone confirm that, and comment on whether Tesla ever uses this as an excuse not to honor the warranty?

Here's where the service landed:

• The report from the service rep that they couldn't get the error to go away was a misunderstanding. When I asked her "Are they resetting it and it keeps coming back?" She said "yes," but I think she was guessing. I believe what was really happening is that they were trying to get it to go away on its own.
• They did find that some setting - they did not call it Steering Angle Sensor - was off by a small amount. I believe it was 2.2º. The technician described it as "It tells the autopilot what angle to put the steering wheel at to get the car to go straight. It has no effect when autopilot is not in use." He did confirm that the actual steering wheel angle was perfect, and suggest that this number being off could be what triggered the alert.
• Ultimately, they only reset the actual alignment alert once, and it hasn't come back since. I have a few hundred miles on it since the appointment.

It was an interesting conversation with the service rep and technician once I got there to pick up my car. At first, they were treating me with distancing behavior - giving me sort of a party line, not really listening to me, and kinda making things up to try to quiet me. But once they saw that I was treating them with respect, being cooperative, and had functional technical knowledge, they became very cooperative. I explained about the need to run higher pressure to avoid the spongy feeling, and asked if the issue could be that I let some pressure out when it snowed a few weeks ago (still above spec). I said "maybe the real-world rolling circumference is lower than before b/c I'm at 47 PSI instead of 49, and that's what's different now?"

He said it was possible. I brought up the 12v reset and he said he didn't think there was any way that could be involved. They didn't charge me anything, despite having conducted three alignments.

 

[gx9901]

Hey everyone,

I am so sorry, I was sure that I posted the conclusion, but apparently I did not. I swear I remember typing it, so there must have been a submit failure (either mine or the internet's). Or maybe I posted it to the wrong thread...

fiehlsport, thanks for the tip on service mode. I assume that Tesla can tell if service mode has been accessed outside of a service appointment - can anyone confirm that, and comment on whether Tesla ever uses this as an excuse not to honor the warranty?

Here's where the service landed:

• The report from the service rep that they couldn't get the error to go away was a misunderstanding. When I asked her "Are they resetting it and it keeps coming back?" She said "yes," but I think she was guessing. I believe what was really happening is that they were trying to get it to go away on its own.
• They did find that some setting - they did not call it Steering Angle Sensor - was off by a small amount. I believe it was 2.2º. The technician described it as "It tells the autopilot what angle to put the steering wheel at to get the car to go straight. It has no effect when autopilot is not in use." He did confirm that the actual steering wheel angle was perfect, and suggest that this number being off could be what triggered the alert.
• Ultimately, they only reset the actual alignment alert once, and it hasn't come back since. I have a few hundred miles on it since the appointment.

It was an interesting conversation with the service rep and technician once I got there to pick up my car. At first, they were treating me with distancing behavior - giving me sort of a party line, not really listening to me, and kinda making things up to try to quiet me. But once they saw that I was treating them with respect, being cooperative, and had functional technical knowledge, they became very cooperative. I explained about the need to run higher pressure to avoid the spongy feeling, and asked if the issue could be that I let some pressure out when it snowed a few weeks ago (still above spec). I said "maybe the real-world rolling circumference is lower than before b/c I'm at 47 PSI instead of 49, and that's what's different now?"

He said it was possible. I brought up the 12v reset and he said he didn't think there was any way that could be involved. They didn't charge me anything, despite having conducted three alignments.

Did you end up having to put the OEM wheels/tires back on for Tesla to further troubleshoot?

 

[fiehlsport]

Service mode can't have any effect on warranty. There's no settings to change.

They reset the steering angle offset - which is what I mentioned in my post. 2.2º is a lot - I would check Service Mode after a few days to see what it ends up being at. If it's 2.2 again, the car still needs an alignment. (though service mode will tell you it doesn't if it's under 3º... but that is still a pretty noticeable amount in the steering wheel)

 

[rrolsbe]

The steering wheel and tie rod ends can be in perfect alignment as far as the rack and pinon steering rack are concerned; however, I believe the computer handling the power/auto steering can be out of sync with the mechanical linkage alignment. The power/auto steering is driven by a belt that could slip causing the motor controller to be out of alignment; likewise, a problem with the interface between the magnetic pickup in the steering column and the motor performing the power assist/auto steering could cause an alignment problem. Does anyone know how the motor steering assist is aligned with the actual physical linkage?

 

[avramd]

Did you end up having to put the OEM wheels/tires back on for Tesla to further troubleshoot?

No, but only b/c there was no symptom left to iterate on.

 

[avramd]

Service mode can't have any effect on warranty. There's no settings to change.

They reset the steering angle offset - which is what I mentioned in my post. 2.2º is a lot - I would check Service Mode after a few days to see what it ends up being at. If it's 2.2 again, the car still needs an alignment. (though service mode will tell you it doesn't if it's under 3º... but that is still a pretty noticeable amount in the steering wheel)

Fair point - entering service mode isn't the concern - the concern is using it to rest something w/out being authorized by Tesla to do so. My question can be rephrased as "If I change anything in service mode, am I risking either voiding my warranty, or creating a data trail that Tesla may use to justify refusing to cover something under warranty that otherwise would have been covered."

 

[KevinT3141]

• A couple posts mentioned having Tesla check/reset the 12v system. At WDS, I installed the tow hook, and removed the cover plate from the 12v leads that are secured to it. I noticed that they were touching each other, and I don't see a way to stop them from doing that when connected to the peg that holds them. Should only the positive lead be on that peg, with the negative lead hanging loose? Could this be tripping up the electronics?

It shouldn't, those wires only connect to the frunk release solenoid and not the 12V battery, and also the +ve lead likely has a diode so that it doesn't short out the frunk circuit whenever you're opening it normally. I wouldn't be worried about it.