Cabin camera broken

[amerimark]

We have now and then gotten the "Cabin camera unavailable" message, which disappears after a moment and seems to have no impact.

Until Friday, that is, during a long drive home from the Bay Area. Friday, as others said above, when we engage Autopilot we are immediately in blue flashing mode. Disengage, try again, same thing. I waited a few hours and a charge stop, and same thing. After we got home, it belatedly dawned on us to reboot the computer. The next drive was this morning when my wife went out. She tried AP and it worked normally.

In short, a reboot seemed to fix it, which tends to confirm the suspicion of a software bug.

Side note: If indeed any of us do need the cabin camera replaced to actually fix this, it's kind of unfair for it to not be under warranty. For example, our car is four years old and over mileage for warranty. But we had no opportunity during the warranty to learn whether the cabin camera was functioning properly. Fair would be if the warranty clock for the cabin camera began when the software first started using it.

I tried a reboot and it didn’t fix the issue. For some reason, every time I parked it at home and it sat overnight, the issue disappeared the next day. So, that may have been what happened since you parked it and your wife didn’t drive again until the next day.

Granted, I tried the software reboot while driving, so I’m not sure if that makes any difference. Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[MCIVSTX]

I read recently that Enhanced Auto Pilot (EAP) is going to become available again. Apparently, It’ll be roughly 1/2 of what FSD costs, but I can tell you it brings about 70-80% of the features that FSD currently gives. I’ve had EAP for about 3 years now, and think it’s a much better deal considering what you actually get. Paying full price back in 2018 for ‘pie-in-the-sky’ features for me was, well… ludicrous.

I'm still kinda annoyed a lot of EAP features are still very half baked. Smart Summon is a gimmick and NOA still freaks out when it it sees an exit.

 

[abem]

I tried a reboot and it didn’t fix the issue. For some reason, every time I parked it at home and it sat overnight, the issue disappeared the next day. So, that may have been what happened since you parked it and your wife didn’t drive again until the next day.

Granted, I tried the software reboot while driving, so I’m not sure if that makes any difference. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Experiencing all these issues and found this thread. Mine has gone from intermittent to constant. Reboots, resets, nothing has any impact. I had actually disabled FSD months ago because it constantly was yelling at me for not looking at the road, and I had just figured the software wasn't ready for primetime yet...hadn't occurred to me i just had a faulty camera. I have scheduled service and I will see what they come back with but my AP is basically unusable until I get some resolution.

Also, to make matters worse, if I do get my camera fixed, I'd kinda like to try FSD again, but I picked up 4 strikes in the last couple days on a road trip before I figured out what was going on...and I can't imagine Tesla actually reversing them for me.

 

[amerimark]

Experiencing all these issues and found this thread. Mine has gone from intermittent to constant. Reboots, resets, nothing has any impact. I had actually disabled FSD months ago because it constantly was yelling at me for not looking at the road, and I had just figured the software wasn't ready for primetime yet...hadn't occurred to me i just had a faulty camera. I have scheduled service and I will see what they come back with but my AP is basically unusable until I get some resolution.

Also, to make matters worse, if I do get my camera fixed, I'd kinda like to try FSD again, but I picked up 4 strikes in the last couple days on a road trip before I figured out what was going on...and I can't imagine Tesla actually reversing them for me.

Ouch That’s really unfortunate. I hope you come to a resolution soon. I would just hate for the camera to be the issue instead of a mere software bug.

The issue has resolved itself for me, but I’m still curious as to what the real issue may be.

 

[Daoasis]

Tesla Toronto Service Center is gaslighting me on the issue and refuses to even address any of the points regarding the cabin camera error.

The fact that the camera has only just been activated by the FSD update which revealed the fact that there's an issue. I'm 12,000km over the 80,000km warranty but 90 days before the 4 year warranty. Either way, this should be covered because it has been faulty since they put it in and only revealed to be so when they started accessing it for FSD.

I fear we will need to gather everyone experiencing this issue together to cause a fuss. So disappointing.

If you're reading this and have the same issue, can you please message me so we can get a list of people together, or if someone else has an idea of how to get Tesla to take responsibility please let me know.

I had to take BMW to court regarding their i3 and had lots of media around it. I will be reaching out to my media contacts shortly regarding this and it would be good to show that it's affecting many other owners.

Thanks,

 

[Daoasis]

I had this repair done under warranty, so no info on cost. Here's the part numbers:

ASY,HARN,GLASS 1068787- 00-E
ASY, SECURITY CAMERA 1098383-00- G

Did you start getting the errors after the FSD update?

 

[Daoasis]

We have now and then gotten the "Cabin camera unavailable" message, which disappears after a moment and seems to have no impact.

Until Friday, that is, during a long drive home from the Bay Area. Friday, as others said above, when we engage Autopilot we are immediately in blue flashing mode. Disengage, try again, same thing. I waited a few hours and a charge stop, and same thing. After we got home, it belatedly dawned on us to reboot the computer. The next drive was this morning when my wife went out. She tried AP and it worked normally.

In short, a reboot seemed to fix it, which tends to confirm the suspicion of a software bug.

Side note: If indeed any of us do need the cabin camera replaced to actually fix this, it's kind of unfair for it to not be under warranty. For example, our car is four years old and over mileage for warranty. But we had no opportunity during the warranty to learn whether the cabin camera was functioning properly. Fair would be if the warranty clock for the cabin camera began when the software first started using it.

Did the cabin camera error start appearing right after the FSD beta was enabled?

 

[Pricedm]

Did you start getting the errors after the FSD update?

My 10/2018 Model 3 was added to FSD beta program 11/2021. In February 2022, three months after joining FSD beta program, I started experiencing the cabin camera error alert. Initial repair (install new windshield harness) did not resolve the issue. Second visit (April 2022) did resolve the issue--new windshield harness and new "occupant camera".

Agree seems like this should be a warranty issue regardless of time or miles on a car, since the cabin camera was not enabled/used until a car joined the FSD beta program.

 

[mike123abc]

Well I never found out what happened with my cabin camera. I traded it in for a new Model 3. I tried to get it into service during the 2 weeks prior to trade in, but of course you cannot get an appointment in 2 weeks...

 

[amerimark]

Did you start getting the errors after the FSD update?

I've had this issue.

 

[Yozeeman]

I wish I had read this thread, as I just came back from the service center with a $350 bill. My 2018 Model 3 was out of warranty, and I kept getting FSD strikes after the "cabin camera unavailable" error. To earlier posts, this error only started to show sometime in Feb/Mar 2022 after a software update. They only changed out my wiring harness on my visit for $206 and added a diagnostic charge of $210 to boot! I managed to get it negotiated down to $350 at pickup, but they now tell me that I need to go back to get the cabin camera installed (when the parts arrive). I know misery loves company, but we really should see if we can get buy-in to cover the cabin camera issues as part of FSD support.

 

[Yozeeman]

I wish I had read this thread, as I just came back from the service center with a $350 bill. My 2018 Model 3 was out of warranty, and I kept getting FSD strikes after the "cabin camera unavailable" error. To earlier posts, this error only started to show sometime in Feb/Mar 2022 after a software update. They only changed out my wiring harness on my visit for $206 and added a diagnostic charge of $210 to boot! I managed to get it negotiated down to $350 at pickup, but they now tell me that I need to go back to get the cabin camera installed (when the parts arrive). I know misery loves company, but we really should see if we can get buy-in to cover the cabin camera issues as part of FSD support.

Oh, and if it matters, I did manage to find a short-term workaround for the camera unavailable issue while waiting for the SC fix:
1. When the "cabin camera unavailable" error shows up, find somewhere i can park and the a 2 thumbwheel reset
2. I should get about 20-40 minutes uninterrupted FSD/Autopilot time without any danger of strikeouts
3. After 40+ minutes, i will start getting nags about not having my hands on the wheel (while really holding the wheel).
4. Immediately disconnect autopilot / FSD, pull over and reset.

Not great for long road-trips, but doable for short commutes... Not sure if it'll work for everyone, but sharing in case..

 

[Bruinfan]

does replacing the camera fix the problem?

 

[Yozeeman]

does replacing the camera fix the problem?

I'll find out for sure when the camera parts arrive, visit scheduled for 7/19

 

[amerimark]

I'll find out for sure when the camera parts arrive, visit scheduled for 7/19

If it’s a software issue, hopefully it will be resolved when 10.13 is released any day now. That sure would beat a SC visit and cabin camera replacement bill.

 

[CharleyBC]

this should be covered because it has been faulty since they put it in and only revealed to be so when they started accessing it for FSD.

Exactly.

 

[CharleyBC]

Did the cabin camera error start appearing right after the FSD beta was enabled?

I'd say no, but I won't swear to that. I'd guess I first saw "Cabin camera unavailable" a month or two into FSD. But it was very intermittent. I wouldn't see it for weeks, until the recent trip I mentioned above. And it's been quiet so far this week.

 

[pankey]

I too have this problem now. Any form of autopilot is completely useless since engaging autopilot instantly says hands on wheel and pay attention to the road. Pushing the steering wheel to the limit of staying in autosteer but enough where the car actually starts to turn in the lane still causes blue flashing until you get get hit with a fsd strike. I have been getting the error infrequently for maybe 2 months but ignored it since fsd beta and autopilot still functioned perfectly fine (5000 miles driven just about). But today after resetting my camera calibration 2 days ago, it gave up the ghost.

service appointments are over 2 weeks out in my area and I would definitely like to have AP for next weeks 4000+ mile road trip soo hopefully the hardware doesn't need to be replaced. I'm also outside of the mileage warranty.

ps isn't it a bit ridiculous that if the camera fails you're just SOL completely? I can understand the people who want to try and block it or whatever but not caring at all about torque on the wheel and only relying on the camera is a bit insane

 

[Bruinfan]

If it’s a software issue, hopefully it will be resolved when 10.13 is released any day now. That sure would beat a SC visit and cabin camera replacement bill.

this is what i am hoping.. .my AP has been problematic more often now... 80% of my drives.

but also, if the replacement did make the problem go away, then that would throw a wrench into the software bug theory?

 

[Bruinfan]

Did the cabin camera error start appearing right after the FSD beta was enabled?

immediately.