Car Computer Chip Type

[Peter 224]

My April 21 build M3 Long Range needs a new "Car Computer", Tesla don't expect this before mid January 21. The car works, but Autopilot isn't safe to use as it is prone to cutting out or trying to do things I wouldn't do. So I don't use it: if I commuted in the car I'd be cross, but to be honest it isn't an issue.

I discovered recently that this isn't exactly a rare problem, in the UK there is a que of cars waiting for new car computers: some are "off road" with a blank screen....

A bit of net investigation reveals that the M3 have an Intel Atom processor at the heart of the computer. The chip is an ultra low power chip of mid range performance, but in its latest version it is prone to internal clock failures after 6 to 18 months use and CISCO has withdrawn some products using this chip.
I also discovered that Tesla is moving from the Atom chip to the AMD competitor, starting with the Model Y. I wonder if this is linked to the warranty claims.

Does anyone have any background information? I'm no IT person....

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

The AMD Ryzen chip first appeared in the new Model S so it’s been knocking around for some time in the Tesla world and I suspect was always the plan for the next generation. Probably not a surprise either as Intel bought Mobileye a few years ago and there’s no love lost between the 2 companies after the way AP1 relationship ended abruptly after the first death of someone using AP incorrectly. There may be chip issues too but I would t be surprised if the change wasn’t the sum of multiple factors.

 

[MrT3]

A bit of net investigation reveals that the M3 have an Intel Atom processor at the heart of the computer. The chip is an ultra low power chip of mid range performance, but in its latest version it is prone to internal clock failures after 6 to 18 months use and CISCO has withdrawn some products using this chip.
I also discovered that Tesla is moving from the Atom chip to the AMD competitor, starting with the Model Y. I wonder if this is linked to the warranty claims.

Does anyone have any background information? I'm no IT person....

The fault that was affecting some Cisco routers was a number of years ago now and Intel corrected the problem a long time ago on newly manufactured processors. That fault stops the processor from starting up so a complete failure rather than what you are suffering.

There are hundreds of different processors in the Atom family, the ones Tesla is using aren't really related. I don't know for sure but I'd suspect the problem Tesla is facing isn't related to the actual processor but another component within the computer.

 

[NewbieT]

Technically the heart of a Tesla that runs autopilot /FSD computer is a pair of microchips of Tesla’s own custom design (to great acclaim). FSD Chip - Tesla - WikiChip

The user interface (M3 iPad) is where the Intel Atom is used. So probably the delay is just a general microchip manufacturing capacity issue than anything else. Could be any component in the FSD computer holding things up and not necessarily the main processors. Likely all capacity going into new cars leaving few for repairs.

 

[Kietrax]

I’ve been waiting 4 months now for a new car computer - the current one isn’t letting the car sleep but everything else seems to be working (most of the time, had a bit of a turn at the weekend with cameras, nav, cruise control not working and eCall failed messages, but managed to go to sleep somehow). Guess this might put me further down the list for a replacement but does feel off that thousands of new cars have been built in that time but they can’t supply spares to fix cars of people who already paid!

 

[Irata]

I suspect service centre staff use "new computer" as a rather generic term that probably means many different parts in different faults. For example, there is a "computer" for the infotainment, there is a different computer for the FSD.

If computer means a single chip, there are hundreds of computers in the car.
If you group all chips together, the whole car could be called a computer.

It is a rather silly term really.

I don't think there is any general "computer chip problem" here at all. A part has failed and a new part is on order. If everyone compared the final invoice after their "new computer" warranty repair, I suspect we will see many different part numbers.

As for the wait, unfortunately that does seem to be a problem with many Tesla spare parts. There are many examples of cars waiting for all sorts of parts and lots of discussion about this. This is something Tesla does need to focus on improving.

 

[MrBadger]

I’ve been waiting 4 months now for a new car computer

Wow still? As mentioned before, we had a ‘car computer’ failure in this same period and got a replacement by next day.

No idea why some have such a large delay. Maybe a slightly different version of the same part? I recall only seeing one part in the parts catalog but ours does mention e-call which I wonder if that is specific to the button cars.

suspect service centre staff use "new computer" as a rather generic term that probably means many different parts in different faults.

They actually seem to use the term ‘car computer’ which is the MCU. When ours failed, iirc the invoice used the term for the replacement part so ‘car computer’ is an official description.

Removed and Replaced Car Computer
Correction: General Diagnosis
Correction: Car Computer (Remove & Replace)
Parts Replaced or Added
Part QTY.
TLA,HW3.0.CAR.COMP,RHD, eCall- PROVISIONED 1.0 (1462554-S5-H)

The slightly scary thing is that the warranty on the car computer is only 2 years. We snuck in with a few days to spare.

 

[Irata]

Wow still? As mentioned before, we had a ‘car computer’ failure in this same period and got a replacement by next day.

No idea why some have such a large delay. Maybe a slightly different version of the same part? I recall only seeing one part in the parts catalog but ours does mention e-call which I wonder if that is specific to the button cars.



They actually seem to use the term ‘car computer’ which is the MCU. When ours failed, iirc the invoice used the term for the replacement part so ‘car computer’ is an official description.



The slightly scary thing is that the warranty on the car computer is only 2 years. We snuck in with a few days to spare.

So that's the media control unit.

I wonder what wording is used for the FSD computer, do they also say car computer for that.

 

[Somex]

I wonder what wording is used for the FSD computer, do they also say car computer for that.

I think that’s called “a joke”

 

[Kietrax]

Wow still? As mentioned before, we had a ‘car computer’ failure in this same period and got a replacement by next day.

No idea why some have such a large delay. Maybe a slightly different version of the same part? I recall only seeing one part in the parts catalog but ours does mention e-call which I wonder if that is specific to the button cars.

Can I ask which SC you used please? I know of others who've managed to get replacement computers from Reading SC, just wonder if it's a Park Royal issue for me maybe?

Had an interesting weekend last week though - Saturday got in the car, no cameras, eCall needs service message, nav not picking up movement so thought the car was at home the whole time I was driving and parked away from home. What that resulted in though was the car sleeping while parked in a car park (guess 'cos the car thought it was home it didn't enable sentry but actually slept for the 30 minutes when it hasn't managed more than a couple of minutes for the last 4 months). When I got home, it then slept for 21 hours until I used it again. Couple more drives with eCall messages showing, then "visualisations reduced due to sensor issues" and no TACC when I tried it, but more time sleeping. Two button restart had no effect, but a a Power off cycle did (eventually) clear the eCall messages completely, and brought back the cameras. No more sleeping though so looks like we're back to where we were. Bizarrely though, the charge port alert has gone away and the "open by touching" functionality has been restored - also broken since August. No idea why power cycle now fixes that when back in August it made no difference but ...

Sorry - that turned into a bit of a rant but I do find the inconsistency with how spares can be sourced a little frustrating. My car has downloaded and failed to offer install for at least 3 firmware versions now - the latest being 2021.40.6 yesterday. Not a massive deal, but just feel like I'm missing out on a load of "stuff" on the car and Tesla seem to have no interest in trying to sort it out.

 

[MrBadger]

Can I ask which SC you used please? I know of others who've managed to get replacement computers from Reading SC, just wonder if it's a Park Royal issue for me maybe?

Guildford, Surrey, which is really Peasmarsh so a bit further south off of A3 at Puttenham/Compton turnoff (you really do not want to travel via Guildford if you can help it). They also do an out of hours collection/drop-off which I found really handy but probably not a great location if having to use without a second car or courtesy car. I found the service I got from them to be very good, especially the communication.

 

[Peter 224]

Can I ask which SC you used please? I know of others who've managed to get replacement computers from Reading SC, just wonder if it's a Park Royal issue for me maybe?

Had an interesting weekend last week though - Saturday got in the car, no cameras, eCall needs service message, nav not picking up movement so thought the car was at home the whole time I was driving and parked away from home. What that resulted in though was the car sleeping while parked in a car park (guess 'cos the car thought it was home it didn't enable sentry but actually slept for the 30 minutes when it hasn't managed more than a couple of minutes for the last 4 months). When I got home, it then slept for 21 hours until I used it again. Couple more drives with eCall messages showing, then "visualisations reduced due to sensor issues" and no TACC when I tried it, but more time sleeping. Two button restart had no effect, but a a Power off cycle did (eventually) clear the eCall messages completely, and brought back the cameras. No more sleeping though so looks like we're back to where we were. Bizarrely though, the charge port alert has gone away and the "open by touching" functionality has been restored - also broken since August. No idea why power cycle now fixes that when back in August it made no difference but ...

Sorry - that turned into a bit of a rant but I do find the inconsistency with how spares can be sourced a little frustrating. My car has downloaded and failed to offer install for at least 3 firmware versions now - the latest being 2021.40.6 yesterday. Not a massive deal, but just feel like I'm missing out on a load of "stuff" on the car and Tesla seem to have no interest in trying to sort it out.

Your story is an almost exact replica of my problems earlier this year and which resulted in a decision by Tesla to replace the car computer...eventually.
However the last 2 updates have loaded and work, after a "push" by Tesla Service at Winchester.

 

[Jason71]

Wow still? As mentioned before, we had a ‘car computer’ failure in this same period and got a replacement by next day.

No idea why some have such a large delay. Maybe a slightly different version of the same part? I recall only seeing one part in the parts catalog but ours does mention e-call which I wonder if that is specific to the button cars.



They actually seem to use the term ‘car computer’ which is the MCU. When ours failed, iirc the invoice used the term for the replacement part so ‘car computer’ is an official description.



The slightly scary thing is that the warranty on the car computer is only 2 years. We snuck in with a few days to spare.

2 years? Surely the general warrenty is 4 years? Why would the computer be less?

 

[MrBadger]

2 years? Surely the general warrenty is 4 years? Why would the computer be less?

My bad, that's the warranty on a replacement computer. Its not 100% clear to me whether the original car warranty trumps the replacement part warranty, although I suspect it does.

 

[MrT3]

Its not 100% clear to me whether the original car warranty trumps the replacement part warranty, although I suspect it does

Yes it definitely would do. But if you had your computer replaced 3 years and 11 months into ownership you would only get the remaining 1 month vehicle warranty to cover it - unless you paid for a replacement computer you won't get it's 2 year warranty.

 

[Peter 224]

Can I ask which SC you used please? I know of others who've managed to get replacement computers from Reading SC, just wonder if it's a Park Royal issue for me maybe?

Had an interesting weekend last week though - Saturday got in the car, no cameras, eCall needs service message, nav not picking up movement so thought the car was at home the whole time I was driving and parked away from home. What that resulted in though was the car sleeping while parked in a car park (guess 'cos the car thought it was home it didn't enable sentry but actually slept for the 30 minutes when it hasn't managed more than a couple of minutes for the last 4 months). When I got home, it then slept for 21 hours until I used it again. Couple more drives with eCall messages showing, then "visualisations reduced due to sensor issues" and no TACC when I tried it, but more time sleeping. Two button restart had no effect, but a a Power off cycle did (eventually) clear the eCall messages completely, and brought back the cameras. No more sleeping though so looks like we're back to where we were. Bizarrely though, the charge port alert has gone away and the "open by touching" functionality has been restored - also broken since August. No idea why power cycle now fixes that when back in August it made no difference but ...

Sorry - that turned into a bit of a rant but I do find the inconsistency with how spares can be sourced a little frustrating. My car has downloaded and failed to offer install for at least 3 firmware versions now - the latest being 2021.40.6 yesterday. Not a massive deal, but just feel like I'm missing out on a load of "stuff" on the car and Tesla seem to have no interest in trying to sort it out.

Your story is an almost exact replica of my problems earlier this year and which resulted in a decision by Tesla to replace the car computer...eventually.
However the last 2 updates have loaded and work, after a "push" by Tesla Service at Winchester.