Car Unable to Charge

[KidDoc]

Great thread thanks for sharing. I've thankfully had no problems with charging other than a melted UMC cord a while back that was replaced with warranty. It is sad that Tesla continues to charge an crazy $175/hr labor (in TX) and instead of fixing anything they just insist on replacement. I recently had some bugs in my taillights (literally bugs/insects) and instead of offering to blow them out and reseal them they want to replace them both for $1000. Crazy and I hope for some changes or more options as the Model 3 enters the market then ages. I don't see Model 3 owners tolerating $175/hr shop fee for long.

 

[Timothy Meredith]

Great thread thanks for sharing. I've thankfully had no problems with charging other than a melted UMC cord a while back that was replaced with warranty. It is sad that Tesla continues to charge an crazy $175/hr labor (in TX) and instead of fixing anything they just insist on replacement. I recently had some bugs in my taillights (literally bugs/insects) and instead of offering to blow them out and reseal them they want to replace them both for $1000. Crazy and I hope for some changes or more options as the Model 3 enters the market then ages. I don't see Model 3 owners tolerating $175/hr shop fee for long.

Definitely agree, Model 3 owners definitely will not tolerate these kinds of repair quotes. Granted they have some time for those to go out of warranty, but even many CPO owners wont tolerate these kinds of repair quotes. The real issue is they need to offer "Core" discounts for parts if they won't repair them on the local level..

 

[Timothy Meredith]

I already had them swap my secondary to primary(old primary is in the secondary position non-functional) when they diagnosed a bad charger, my primary was still working despite a can not charge error, they told me it dropped a phase, I never tried charging above 24mps so I never saw any reduction in charging speed

Based on my reading so far, they likely programmed the car for one charger so fixing the charger alone wont give me ability to charge at 72amps, would have to pay for a reflash if they would be willing?
Anyone know if this is likely the fuse issue or if dropping a phase but still functioning is something else?

Will they void the battery warranty if the owner messes with the chargers?

I am very mechanically inclined but less so electrically, If I am not risking battery warranty I might be willing to get an electrical expert to give me a hand, or if there is a fellow Tesla enthusiast in the state open to it go visit them. I don't "need" the dual chargers but if I can fix it without warranty compromise for a reasonable amount I will

I bought from a Ford dealer used lot with 65K on it, and had the error the first time I plugged in, since it still actually charged I just thought it might have been corrosion on the port or cable from sitting at the dealer for 8 months, in hindsight I bet this is why it was traded in at a non-Tesla dealer. I am happy with the car but 4 weeks in on my 2014 P85 I am in $1100 or so on maintenance/repairs and that was with reducing the charge speed potential, had it been a single charger car I would be in $3k on a car the cult tells us costs nothing to own.......

Love the car, no regrets but don't like how often I see people claim how cheap ownership is. It is a machine, parts fail, maintenance is necessary. Plan to enjoy the car for what it is, not try to rationalize buying a car that used cost more than I spent on my last car that was new.

If you can change a valve cover gasket you can replace the fuse in the onboard charger. It's one of the simpler things I've done to cars. Hardest part is removing the seat. There's no danger to the battery pack. If it was something bad enough to damage the pack then it would just blow the fuse again and instead of 1 fuse being blown both would be blown (which still doesnt mean its not fixable, sometimes replacing both fuses still fixes it.)

I've come to believe 98% of onboard charger problems is one of the two redundant fuses.

I bet the newer onboard chargers wont have this problem but unfortunately can't easily upgrade to the gen 2+ chargers from what I understand.

 

[SSedan]

Thank you.
My skill level is well beyond valve cover gasket swaps. Ring and pinion, and valvetrain work are skills I have.
I will plan on changing both fuses first time in based on your comment that changing both sometimes helps.

Do the fuses present as various issues? They told me it had dropped a phase. Not the "unable to charge" issue that seems more common.
Since this is easy I can give it a shot but I don't yet have access to a place to charge that will activate the second charger. Based on the discussion here I was considering a HCWC set over 40amps to split the load, overkill for my needs but I want one for convenience anyway.

 

[Timothy Meredith]

Thank you.
My skill level is well beyond valve cover gasket swaps. Ring and pinion, and valvetrain work are skills I have.
I will plan on changing both fuses first time in based on your comment that changing both sometimes helps.

Do the fuses present as various issues? They told me it had dropped a phase. Not the "unable to charge" issue that seems more common.
Since this is easy I can give it a shot but I don't yet have access to a place to charge that will activate the second charger. Based on the discussion here I was considering a HCWC set over 40amps to split the load, overkill for my needs but I want one for convenience anyway.

I'm not sure about the phase issue, if the fuse was blown it would not be able to charge at all and/or would drop to 40amps from 80amps max. (If it worked at all depending if it was master or slave charger) But I'm not sure about dual charger set up's.

 

[Zorg]

Turns out that I just got the same message tonight. 2014 S85 single charger. Will pass by the SC. Good thing it is a CPO.

 

[scaesare]

Turns out that I just got the same message tonight. 2014 S85 single charger. Will pass by the SC. Good thing it is a CPO.

Sorry to hear. Let us know how it goes...

 

[Zorg]

Sorry to hear. Let us know how it goes...

Managed to get an appointment for Friday. Hopefully the charger will last that long.

 

[scaesare]

Oh, is it working intermittently??

 

[Zorg]

Oh, is it working intermittently??

Working so far at 32A, but giving me the same error as you.

 

[Zorg]

Not sure what there is to disagree about with my post... Car charged at 40A last night with no error message. We will see.

 

[Zorg]

Turns out that the SC was not able to reproduce the error, so no issue for now. At least got to drive a P85 for a few days. Good times.

 

[Zorg]

Issue came back and new charger is in, along with new glass to fix the leaky panoramic roof.

 

[scaesare]

I woke up this morning and the car hadn’t charged… the charge port had a red-ring when plugged in to my home HPWC. I had thought perhaps I had just not plugged in fully.


I also tried with my UMC once I got to work, and got an “Unable to charge, please close charge port, press brake pedal, and try again”, message. That didn’t solve it.


I rebooted the MCU and tried again. No dice. I can hear the MCU contactors close, and the voltage on the IC starts to ramp up, and then 2 seconds later the contacts open again and the voltage drops to zero. It tries this 3 times and then gives up.


Seeing as how it happens with both my HPWC and UMC on different circuits, I suspect the issue is in the car, not with the external equipment.

Well crap. The red ring is back.

This is on my slave charger that I had reconfigured to be the sole charger on my car.

My first failure was right at about 3 years of ownership. It's now about 32 months later, and the second charger (which had barely been used), is exhibiting the same behavior, so I assume it's the fuse again.

I thus deduce the fuses that came with Gen 1 chargers may not be good for than about 3 years of daily charging.

That, or something completely unrelated is in play.


Double crap: the price of that fuse on Amazon has gone form $17 to $50....

 

[scaesare]

Well crap. The red ring is back.

This is on my slave charger that I had reconfigured to be the sole charger on my car.

My first failure was right at about 3 years of ownership. It's now about 32 months later, and the second charger (which had barely been used), is exhibiting the same behavior, so I assume it's the fuse again.

I thus deduce the fuses that came with Gen 1 chargers may not be good for than about 3 years of daily charging.

That, or something completely unrelated is in play.


Double crap: the price of that fuse on Amazon has gone form $17 to $50....

I just found a box of 5 new fuses on Ebay with free shipping... so I hereby rescind that second "crap".

 

[SSedan]

I haven't messed with mine since my primary swapped to secondary is wounded not dead. Car will charge at 72amps and in winter I have been leaving it set to 50-60amps.

Maybe I should be trying to replace fuses in my secondary just to see if it will go back to a full 40amps. Having fuses on hand incade the current primary acts up would be good too.

 

[vickh]

Definitely agree, Model 3 owners definitely will not tolerate these kinds of repair quotes. Granted they have some time for those to go out of warranty, but even many CPO owners wont tolerate these kinds of repair quotes. The real issue is they need to offer "Core" discounts for parts if they won't repair them on the local level..

I agree as a future CPO owner. But my sales rep swore that the CPO warranty covers almost everything 4yrs/50K miles. What're the big $$ things excluded? thx

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

Well crap. The red ring is back.

This is on my slave charger that I had reconfigured to be the sole charger on my car.

My first failure was right at about 3 years of ownership. It's now about 32 months later, and the second charger (which had barely been used), is exhibiting the same behavior, so I assume it's the fuse again.

I thus deduce the fuses that came with Gen 1 chargers may not be good for than about 3 years of daily charging.

That, or something completely unrelated is in play.


Double crap: the price of that fuse on Amazon has gone form $17 to $50....

The hard part is replacing the fuse. You would need to remove the charger and then replace the fuse and then hope that was the only thing wrong. I am not sure how difficult it is to remove, but if you do, I am sure everyone will appreciate how you did it.

 

[scaesare]

Well, As you can see upthread, I've already dismantled a charger to replace a fuse, but that was with my now spare charger on my bench.

I re-watched Nick S.'s video and it also describes how to get the clearance to do this in car.

I'll take some additional pics and notes...

 

[scaesare]

Tackled this today...figured it would take me 3-4 hours... so of course it took 5-1/2. Most of the extra time was dealing with the non-electrical part of the project, especially things that weren't covered in the video. I suspect I could do it in under 3 next time...

The @Nick S youtube video really provides the essentials. A few notes that might help others doing this on an early gen car:

- In order to get to the HV cut loop connector and the 12v battery negative terminal, you have to remove the fresh air filter box. Remove shroud above the frunk and passenger front wheel-well. Lift the passenger side portion of the plastic skirt that mates to the bottom of the windshield. This has 3 push-button anchors, with the left-most one under the rubber atop the shock tower. The upper edge just presses in a groove below the windshield and can be gently pulled out. Once this is loose you can lift it and remove 2 bolts on the sides of the air box, and undo two clips on top to remove it. You know have access to the loop and battery.

- The negative lead to the battery had zero slack in it. I couldn't get it off the stud, and instead just removed the entire connector on the negative battery terminal. (Don't drop the negative lug nut here... unless you feel like disassembling the frunk to find it)

- You don't need to remove the rear seat backs. This avoids having to try and remove the side padded trim pieces which I spent 20 mins trying unsuccessfully to do. Instead, after removing all the bolts, yank up on the front edge of the seat cushion frame, and it will pivot upwards on the point where it attaches to the backs. Bungie cord it up out of your way. Mediocre pic of this:

- You don't need to remove the two screws holding the connector in to the charger shell on the fuse-end of the charger, despite the youtube video suggesting you do so.


I lost the lower fuse. I replaced them both while I was there. I may consider reinstalling my second charger if I can figure out how to get it reprogrammed and updated firmware redeployed to it... although it appears the service center didn't return the small harnesses I assume should be there....