Center Console Screen Black

[julianyates]

Hello All,

I recently purchased a Tesla Model X 75D (Mid 2017), and I have had it for the past several months. The temperature outside has for the first time dropped below 25 degrees. It appears that the car's central computer will not power on due to the low temperature. I would expect there to be some protection system that would prevent this from being an issue. I have read many posts that suggest the same basic steps for troubleshooting the issue, which I have tried and failed. I am reaching out to see if anyone know of anything I can do to resolve the issue. Tesla service center was not very helpful in providing a solution. They want me to drive the car to their location which is approximately 30-40 miles away in less than 25-degree weather or pay $3.00 per mile to tow the car.
1. I tried holding the two scroll buttons on the steering for different intervals of seconds, 10, 15, 20, 30, 90.
2. I tried pressing the two scroll buttons while pressing the break for various ranges of seconds, 10, 15, 30, and 90.
Short of trying to heat up my garage, I do not know what else to try.

Respectfully,
Julian

 

[Tam]

...different intervals...

When I reboot mine, I just push in the 2 scroll wheels down until a big "T" icon show up regardless of how long that would take and then I would release them.


Did you just do an update prior to this? It could be because of a failed firmware update.

 

[julianyates]

Hello Tam,

Thank you for your response. No, I haven't seen any updates in the past two months. The cell signal is almost always around one bar. I do not have very good AT&T coverage. And the wifi almost never wants to work. I will need to try again and see how long I can hold those buttons to see if I can get the computer to come back up.

I tried driving around for about 10 minutes to see if it would come back after a bit of time. But the cold and my patience got to me.

But, I will try once more holding the buttons and waiting for the "T" to appear.

Thanks,

Julian

 

[sjj45]

Do you mean +25F or -25F? I also have a Tesla Model X 75D from September 2017 and have driven it no problem at -26C (-15F). Only thing I could notice was the screen being slower to refresh.

I would think something else is at play. Are you able to drive the car at all? Are you able to warm up the battery pack via charging maybe? or trigger the HVAC from the mobile app (though unlikely if the central screen is down).

 

[harry]

One of our Signatures did the exact same thing at -18C. The overnight temps have been in that range for about a week, and each morning we have to warm up the car before the screen will become active. Our SC said to unplug the external HD from the USB. We're waiting to see if that makes a difference in the next few days.

 

[julianyates]

Do you mean +25F or -25F? I also have a Tesla Model X 75D from September 2017 and have driven it no problem at -26C (-15F). Only thing I could notice was the screen being slower to refresh.
View attachment 271083

I would think something else is at play. Are you able to drive the car at all? Are you able to warm up the battery pack via charging maybe? or trigger the HVAC from the mobile app (though unlikely if the central screen is down).

Thank you for your response. I left the car plugged in last night and it did not charge. I have it scheduled to start charging at 1 AM and I checked on it at 1:15 AM and it was still idling with the blue light. I unplugged and plugged in again and it went back to blue.

When I unplug the car and sit inside I can hear something that sounds like a heater? I imagine this is for the batteries?

Last night it was around 10-15 F. It was not in the negatives. I tried to connect to the car via the mobile app, but it just continuously attempts to connect. Seems like the whole system is dead. At most I can drive the car, but it is very cold.

Julian

 

[vandacca]

I assume when you press the brake, it does not wake the car? Does the Instrument Cluster (IC) power up? Could be a loose connection to the main screen. Warmer temperatures may fix it, or a trip to the SC. If you can get the heater going to raise the cabin temperature, it may help it along. If that doesn't work, you could try to put an external heater in the vehicle (closely monitor it though) to see if that helps.

 

[julianyates]

Thank you all for your responses! Tesla finally agreed to service the vehicle. They are saying they will not be able to start looking at the issue until sometime Monday (tomorrow). The car has been dead just about a week now.

I miss my car!

V/r

Julian

 

[julianyates]

Thank you all for your responses! Tesla finally agreed to service the vehicle. They are saying they will not be able to start looking at the issue until sometime Monday (tomorrow). The car has been dead just about a week now.

I miss my car!

V/r

Julian

When they let me know what the issue is I will post it.

J

 

[Malbrough]

Thank you all for your responses! Tesla finally agreed to service the vehicle. They are saying they will not be able to start looking at the issue until sometime Monday (tomorrow). The car has been dead just about a week now.

I miss my car!

V/r

Julian

Had same thing happen to us, but ours would charge at least. Mobile tech just replaced ECU tonight. Took about 6 hours to complete the job. Only problem now is our reverse camera is unavailable. They're looking into it. I just happy to have heat, music, nav, etc. again!!!

 

[stetsoninc]

Our 2013 (January) MS has had the black screen problem 2X. The first time (a couple of months ago) the SC was able to restart the MCU (maybe remove a fuse not sure) and the center screen came back. This time no luck. They offered to do the replacement at $2,100 and no labor. I asked them to try a bit harder and they came back with $1,900. They need to order the part. The new MCU comes with new 4G connectivity board (we had the old 3G) and new screen. I will report back once we get the car back. We did NOT buy the extended warranty and this is the first major repair since our warranty lapsed and so far it was the right decision to not spend $2,600 - 2 yr/ $4,750 - 4 year.

 

[stetsoninc]

Our 2013 (January) MS has had the black screen problem 2X. The first time (a couple of months ago) the SC was able to restart the MCU (maybe remove a fuse not sure) and the center screen came back. This time no luck. They offered to do the replacement at $2,100 and no labor. I asked them to try a bit harder and they came back with $1,900. They need to order the part. The new MCU comes with new 4G connectivity board (we had the old 3G) and new screen. I will report back once we get the car back. We did NOT buy the extended warranty and this is the first major repair since our warranty lapsed and so far it was the right decision to not spend $2,600 - 2 yr/ $4,750 - 4 year.

We just got our car back. All is good plus now we have LTE.

 

[Dr. John]

Recently, 3/10/20, noticed that my Tesla app on iphone would not connect to my July 2016 MX 90D with 39500 miles. I decided to reboot with holding both scroll wheels down for several seconds. Screen went black but never turned back on. I could drive but later on the turn signals quit. I could recharge but the cabin heater was on constantly at 72 degrees even when car was turned off with key fob. Ranger came and affirmed the MCU1 was not working and would need service center appt. to replace. Scheduled for 10 days later at Clarkston, Mi, a new SC for Michigan near Pontiac. I realized the cabin heater might fail or damage battery on this course so quit charging and opened frunk. Advised by ranger to disconnect negative wire from 12 v battery first and then the fireman's plug connector. Both are on passenger side up near windshield wipers under plastic trim inside frunk. This shuts all electricity off and heater stopped. I reattached batteries (negative to 12v last - off first and on last). Car turned on but still black screen and now would not charge but cabin heater was off. Could still drive but only had 102 miles and it is 156 miles to Clarkston SC. Five more days til SC appt so I disconnected batteries again. To tidy up my garage, I lowered the frunk hood and it unfortunately caught the first detent while still partially open. I immediately realized I was locked out of the frunk and could not reconnect batteries. On blogs here for MX I found I could get into frunk mechanically using the tow hook opening on driver's side grill area. Opened it up and pulled the red strips and the hood popped free.
I contacted mobile service by app and was able to talk to a person (found phone #) and they dispatched a tow truck to flatbed my X to Clarkston (initially it indicated to go to Toledo but talking to person, they switched to Clarkston). Pickup without problem and good texting from SC indicated they would get to it the next day (one day early). Texted it was done a few hours later and I could pick it up anytime. Easy pickup up even with Coronavirus precautions. Working fine on return trip but now I needed to put back in all profiles (garage door, seats, navigation sites, internet, bluetooth, music). All in all a time consuming experience but Tesla did all I could ask of them. Warranty covered everything including the tow of 156 miles. Hopefully we will get an SC on the west side of Michigan sometime. Here's a shout out to my ranger, James Carter, and the Clarkston SC.

 

[Hawk]

I acknowledge that this is an old thread. My 2013 Model S has started to have similar problems this winter where it has not displayed similar issues in the past four winters.

After sitting on charge for the night and especially when the night's low reached below ~35F/32F (it's a bit inconsistent), the following issues arise:
* Center console screen is black
* App is unable to connect
* Car may have lost 4-8 miles since receiving peak charge
* Dashboard display boots up slowly
* 30-90s delay between pressing brake and ability to shift into drive
* While driving: screen takes approx. 15-30 mins to reboot with double steering wheel button press for 5s, no blinker sound, 5 min after shifted into drive until previously set cabin heat turns on, no audio, and a number of other minor inconveniences

Side note: Sometimes, while the center console screen is still black, high beams cannot be turned on.
Side note: The corresponding fuse is in good condition.
Side note: I got the EMMC replaced and updated to 4G/LTE ~3 years ago.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue? Has anyone successfully remedied this issue, especially on such an old car? What was the successful remedy?