Car towed, now steering rack needs replacement

[Bryan L]

My M3 has been in the shop for 5 weeks. I had made an appointment to get the front bumper replaced after getting hit by tire debris on the highway which pushed back a fog light and knocked out two parking sensors. Two days before the appointment my 12v battery completely died and the car had to be towed. Yesterday they said the car was ready for pickup. When I got there, they said it would be another 20 minutes while they did an alignment. I thought that was odd since I did not have an alignment issue. After almost 2 hours they said it is still pulling right and will need the whole steering rack replaced. The only way it could have been damaged was on the tow truck. Since the car was bricked, they had to wench it up on the flat-bed. Has anyone else dealt with this after a tow?

 

[untilcomplete]

Wow should not have been wenched. The tower should have put it in a dolly and towed it that way. I’ve had my 12v die and that’s how they towed it.

 

[Bryan L]

The tow truck drivers and myself were on the phone with Tesla support (the tow drivers have a number to call Tesla if they have issues). They did exactly what Tesla told them to do. The back wheels were put on skids and they pulled it up. I asked Tesla if I could just go down to the service center and get a battery since it was so obvious that was the issue (and the car was inside my garage making it hard to get out). Tesla said me putting in my own 12v battery "would void my warranty." Can you imagine any other car maker saying that? I will be replacing this one in about a year (since that's how long the old one lasted) with a lithium battery.

 

[MountainPass]

I have seen tie rods and control arms get badly bent when tow drivers attach the hook/chains to them. Did they use the tow hook instead of doing that?

 

[P3dStealth]

The tow truck drivers and myself were on the phone with Tesla support (the tow drivers have a number to call Tesla if they have issues). They did exactly what Tesla told them to do. The back wheels were put on skids and they pulled it up. I asked Tesla if I could just go down to the service center and get a battery since it was so obvious that was the issue (and the car was inside my garage making it hard to get out). Tesla said me putting in my own 12v battery "would void my warranty." Can you imagine any other car maker saying that? I will be replacing this one in about a year (since that's how long the old one lasted) with a lithium battery.

It's possible that tesla has an agreement with the battery manufacturer that it's warrantied 2years as long as they install it or something. Tesla might be sending them back when they go out.

Did you try charging the battery? It likely just died because you weren't driving the car for so long. The car only charges it when it's awake apparently. I think tesla replaces these batteries instead of just trying to charge them

Was your car sitting plugged in? Some people say it also charges when plugged in but I don't think it's confirmed.

 

[Bryan L]

It's possible that tesla has an agreement with the battery manufacturer that it's warrantied 2years as long as they install it or something. Tesla might be sending them back when they go out.

Did you try charging the battery? It likely just died because you weren't driving the car for so long. The car only charges it when it's awake apparently. I think tesla replaces these batteries instead of just trying to charge them

Was your car sitting plugged in? Some people say it also charges when plugged in but I don't think it's confirmed.

I did not try charging it because it was really hot and smelled badly. The tow truck drivers did try to connect it to both a portable jump-starter and to their truck. The car had been driven daily and was only parked overnight when it died. It was not plugged in because I had charged it at work and it had 86% SOC. I never received a 12v battery warning BUT I had noticed the main battery was experiencing at least double the phantom drain. I will watch for this tell-tale sign in the future. That occurred for 2-3 weeks prior to it dying.

 

[Bryan L]

I have seen tie rods and control arms get badly bent when tow drivers attach the hook/chains to them. Did they use the tow hook instead of doing that?

They did use the tow hook to get it on the truck...but I wasn’t there when they dropped it at Tesla. And since the car was dead and was facing forward on the flatbed, they may have gotten creative on getting it off the truck.

 

[P3dStealth]

I did not try charging it because it was really hot and smelled badly. The tow truck drivers did try to connect it to both a portable jump-starter and to their truck. The car had been driven daily and was only parked overnight when it died. It was not plugged in because I had charged it at work and it had 86% SOC. I never received a 12v battery warning BUT I had noticed the main battery was experiencing at least double the phantom drain. I will watch for this tell-tale sign in the future. That occurred for 2-3 weeks prior to it dying.

Man that is weird. I wonder what was draining it. Your steering rack broke. The model 3 has an electric steering rack. Maybe it had a short. Ask for your old battery back if it's not destroyed and try charging it not in the car. You might be able to bring it back and end up with a spare.

 

[smatthew]

Did you try charging the battery? It likely just died because you weren't driving the car for so long. The car only charges it when it's awake apparently. I think tesla replaces these batteries instead of just trying to charge them

Was your car sitting plugged in? Some people say it also charges when plugged in but I don't think it's confirmed.

So wrong. When the car is asleep VCFront monitors the 12V battery voltage and when it drops below a certain level the High Voltage battery is connected and the 12V battery is charged. But if the battery starts catastrophically failing the PCS stops trying to charge it and the car dies.

 

[P3dStealth]

So wrong. When the car is asleep VCFront monitors the 12V battery voltage and when it drops below a certain level the High Voltage battery is connected and the 12V battery is charged. But if the battery starts catastrophically failing the PCS stops trying to charge it and the car dies.

I wouldn't say that is so wrong. You just said the car wakes itself and charges. I said if it's asleep it won't charge. I was thinking he had a broken bumper so wasn't using the car and wasn't plugged in and dropped below 20%. I read that it stops waking and charging the 12v below 20%. I don't know if that's true but that's what I got from the forums.

He replied he used the car and charged daily so it's not relevant.

 

[smatthew]

I read that it stops waking and charging the 12v below 20%. I don't know if that's true but that's what I got from the forums.

wrong again. You're thinking of Dog Mode and Camp Mode. That would mean the car would die if you let it turn off with the main battery below 20%.

It's going to keep the 12V battery charged until the HV battery goes into protect mode somewhere below 0%, UNLESS the battery exhibits a failure like a short, where charging the battery would be unsafe. .

 

[Oldmanelectron]

Sometimes, a good battery will go bad. Which can cause major problems. Heat can damage electronics. As for replacing a battery yourself, I think Tesla is trying to protect itself from liability. If the battery is installed incorrectly, frying your car or yourself is a possibility.