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Caution - Annual Service - Car power-down - GPS issue

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jfischer

jfischer

Member
Feb 6, 2014
192
254
Houston
#1
Evening... Out in the backwoods of Vietnam, but just got this from my SC in regards to the GPS units that are in ALL roadsters.

It seems the GPS week Rollover is causing an issue with the VDS when you power down the car for service. Its not like they DIDNT know about it. DHS had issued this alert.

https://www.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Memorandum_on_GPS_2019.pdf


There is a FIRMWARE fix for the Garmin ( version 4.20) but its NOT covered under the Annual firmware update which I find perplexing and infuriating.

I've argued with SC as much as I can at my present location, but to no avail, it NOT as of YET covered under the annual service so they are changing me $550.00 to update this software.

So expect when you have your Annual Service for $600.00 and your VDS Date and Time doesn't work, be asked to shell out ANOTHER $550.00 or more for this "service"



If I was there, I'd just make the rig and do it myself.

Here is the info in case anyone is interested. The unit itself is a Garmin GPS 18x LVC - 5M

Can be ordered with just stock leads for about $70.00 off Amazon. You'll need to make the connector to fit the front Harness connector FHC95

sam_2435-jpg.394386



To update the garmin, you will need to create a RS232 to TESLA's Front Harness Connector #95

upload_2019-8-20_11-8-49.png



PIN out Connectors are as follows

1 - Ground (black)
2 - 12V Power + (RED Wire)

3 - Data Ground (black )
4 - Receive Data ( Green)
5 - Transmit Data ( White)


You'll need to map this male connector to RS232 jack and use a RS232 to USB adapter as well.

The connector based on what I see is

upload_2019-8-20_11-34-3.png



I'll update this when I get home with how to build the rig and parts required.
How to update the firmware and the software update guide via RS232/USB adapter and the parts / software required.

Again Just wanted to alert everyone on this as it TOTALLY miff's me they wont do this as part of the Annual service.

Guess it time to escalate this to Corporate.
 
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#2
If the GPS unit is "factory" it should be done at Telsa expense. If it's a one of a kind issue and other roadsters won't have this issue, then it could be argued it is the owner responsibility, but that doesn't seem the case here. All roadsters with this factory GPS will have the issue.

It was working when you took it in. They powered down for service, now it isn't working. Tesla issue.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll warn my body shop when they fix my damage to be aware of power-down issues like this...hopefully this can be ironed out before they start work. Not positive they will power down, but I thought I saw something in the repair list.

Thanks for the warning.
 
#5
Interesting...

Based on what Garmin told me. Unless your unit has the 4.20 software ( released march 29th 2019), the week rollover bug is in there.

Wonder why your VMS didn't have the same issue.

Mines a 2.5, so different versions might act differently or Maybe mine is just Isolated and I jumped the gun on this alert... Sorry!

@PGruber - Any of your roadsters in your shop have the issue? You seem to be powering them down and up.
 
#6
Yeah, a puzzle. My OVMSv3 did go dark for a bit during the service, so I presume that power must have been pulled.

To be clear, I checked the time/date by going to the setup screen on the VDS (normal user mode) and looked at the time under the Clock menu. The JVC head unit also had the right time, though the date and year do not display.

Perhaps related, the JVC unit had not reset itself (all the presets still intact), so maybe the 12v battery kept things alive?
 
#9
@supersnoop... sounds like you have the problem.

It was the older firmware in the garmin GPS. This is the stand alone garmin OEM GPS system housed under the left front headlight. NOT the dash radio one.

https://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/GPS_18x_Tech_Specs.pdf

Due to a power-down of the car, the week rollover caused havoc with the VMS and VDS. Car showed altitude and direction fine, but time/date were off. Firmware 4.20 was released on 3/29 in advance of 4/6/2019 week rollover. Seems not all cars are having this issue, so just beware when you reset or power down the car...this might be an issue.

You will need to re flash the GPS yourself or pay to have the SC do it. Its annoying as all the alert messages logged to the VMS had the wrong date until it was fixed.

When I get back into the states, I'll try to do a write up of the parts needed and the procedure.
 
#10
gregd said:
Yeah, a puzzle. My OVMSv3 did go dark for a bit during the service, so I presume that power must have been pulled.

To be clear, I checked the time/date by going to the setup screen on the VDS (normal user mode) and looked at the time under the Clock menu. The JVC head unit also had the right time, though the date and year do not display.

Perhaps related, the JVC unit had not reset itself (all the presets still intact), so maybe the 12v battery kept things alive?
Click to expand...


To be clear, its not the JVC or dash unit Radio / GPS. There is a SEPARATE Garmin OEM GPS unit under the drivers headlight. There is a pic of it earlier in this thread

This is the unit that feeds the VDS and VMS time, date, direction and altitude.

This unit will need the most current firmware ( 4.20 as of now) to fix the week number rollover issue.
 
#11
#12
jfischer said:
To be clear, its not the JVC or dash unit Radio / GPS. There is a SEPARATE Garmin OEM GPS unit under the drivers headlight. There is a pic of it earlier in this thread

This is the unit that feeds the VDS and VMS time, date, direction and altitude.

This unit will need the most current firmware ( 4.20 as of now) to fix the week number rollover issue.
Click to expand...
Right, I was just confirming that looking at the Clock tab on the VDS (normal user mode) is sufficient to confirm its proper operation. If not, is there a better place to look? Mine still looks right.
 
#15
petergrub said:
Actually, that may explain why @csummers' Roadster clock suddenly stopped working while I was working on it back in April..

I will take a look into whether the cables could be built here for connecting to and upgrading the Garmin modules.
Click to expand...

Yes a harness can be built to upgrade it. You'll need the connector for the GPS unit itself and mate it to a rs232 plus 5V power. Then a USB to RS232 so you can run the software on most computers WITHOUT a RS232 jack.

I'll make a harness and parts needed when I get back next week. Post everything needed or just ship it around to whoever needs it to the group since its only a one time fix.
 
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#17
bring a JACK as you need to remove the driver's front tire. Its under the headlight. Kind of a PIA to get to....


Wonder if you could get to it from the VMS connector?

might be easier from there as it has to feed it RS232 to VMS....

Need to look at the schematics and see where its wired and how on that VMS connector...
 
#19
EXACTLY!

Since VMS gets its time and date stamps from this GPS device.

All my logs had a date of 2026 and I you couldn't reconcile any of the records.

You had to short them by the sequence ID number that is also part of the record that ISN'T time stamped.

If the SC is going to be doing the firmware upgrade, figure $550.00 USD or so.

Which is a total CROCK as its a Tesla provided GPS so they should be providing the firmware upgrade just like the do on the VMS for free as part of the annual service.
 
#20
jfischer said:
if the clock VDS shows proper time, date, etc... then your's doesn't have the issue.

Based on your VDS showing "proper" time, looks like yours is not effected by the week rollover issue for some reason.
Click to expand...

I just want to confirm how to check if my Roadster is affected by this issue. Based on what I read in this thread, I think the following statements are true. Can someone please confirm?
1. If your VDS has not been powered off since the week rollover issue started, you won't see the symptoms.
2. You need to pull the power on your VDS and plug it back in to test if you have this issue.
3. If the date/time is wrong on your VDS after power cycle, then you have this issue.
 
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