Brakes very soft after minor collision

[mcharkowski]

Had a bit of a fender bender the other night. I had a 4-bike platform rack attached to my Model Y's hitch. While backing up, the rack came into contact with a wall corner in a parking garage that I didn't see until it was too late. It messed up the rack and a couple of the bikes. Afterwards, my brakes are super soft/spongy and you have to press really hard to get the car to recognize the brakes are pressed and let you shift. Also getting the "hold no longer available" error. I'm kind of assuming the ibooster/brake booster is blown or malfunctioning. I've put in an insurance claim, but am stuck at a vacation house about 2 hours from my home until an insurance adjuster comes to look at it (what they're going to look at is beyond me).

So 2 questions:

1. Is it unsafe to drive it with the brakes in their current condition? My understanding is that if the "power brakes" are out, you still have manual brakes, it just requires a harder press? I'd love to get it to my house so I can check out of the vacation home I'm at.
2. I'm about 150 miles from the closest Tesla Service center. For something like brakes, would it be worth considering bringing it to somewhere more local?

 

[ewoodrick]

I'd recommend creating a Service Ticket. They may be able to do some remote diagnosis and/or use mobile tech if you are going to be there long enough.

Did the car get any impact? From your description it seems like just the bike rack and bikes.
When do the brake lights turn on? With a slight push or the heavy push? Get someone to look at lights as you touch brakes.

You may also reset the car and make sure that it gets a good night's sleep with Sentry turned off.

 

[mcharkowski]

I'd recommend creating a Service Ticket. They may be able to do some remote diagnosis and/or use mobile tech if you are going to be there long enough.

Did the car get any impact? From your description it seems like just the bike rack and bikes.
When do the brake lights turn on? With a slight push or the heavy push? Get someone to look at lights as you touch brakes.

You may also reset the car and make sure that it gets a good night's sleep with Sentry turned off.

Thanks for the suggestions. The car itself didn't have any direct impact, but there was a load of force put on the tow hitch. The rack got bent in multiple places, including the hinge that's .5" thick steel. So whether it caused any kind of torquing, etc. further downstream is hard to tell. I took the rack out and looked at the receiver and it doesn't look bent in any way. But I also know that sometimes that kind of torque on the frame shows up in places you might not expect.

 

[ewoodrick]

Don't assume that the two events are correlated, could be complete coincidence.

 

[MountainPass]

The two things don't really seem related to me, but if you're having issues with the brakes, that remains a fact. If you have to press them really hard to get any deceleration, it doesn't seem safe to drive. I wonder if somehow one of the harnesses or wires for the rear parking brake motors was damaged, which would explain why the car won't hold now.

 

[mcharkowski]

The two things don't really seem related to me, but if you're having issues with the brakes, that remains a fact. If you have to press them really hard to get any deceleration, it doesn't seem safe to drive. I wonder if somehow one of the harnesses or wires for the rear parking brake motors was damaged, which would explain why the car won't hold now.

Thanks. I put in a service request. Supposed to drop it off next week. Their service estimate includes replacing the brake booster... under warranty, at least on the estimate. They also added a $275 alignment, which I will probably fight. I can't understand why it would need an alignment, unless it's because of the brake work... which, if that's under warranty... then why wouldn't the alignment be?

 

[MountainPass]

Thanks. I put in a service request. Supposed to drop it off next week. Their service estimate includes replacing the brake booster... under warranty, at least on the estimate. They also added a $275 alignment, which I will probably fight. I can't understand why it would need an alignment, unless it's because of the brake work... which, if that's under warranty... then why wouldn't the alignment be?

I can't think of a situation where you'd need an alignment due to brake work. Maybe they are calling for an alignment due to the "collision" but from your description it sounded very mild and there was no big hit that would bend anything in the suspension.