Charge Port Door Broke Off!

[SPACE_EX]

Charged this morning and door closed fine. I was wiping down the car and when I wiped over the cap, instead of opening, it just fell off.

Has anyone had their cap break off? Looks like it would have required force, but honestly there was none and hasn't had any that I know of.

Delivered 12/2021.

Not seeing any other threads in this issue.. Soonest Tesla service appt is DTLA in a week.

 

[davewill]

Oh, just slap some JB Weld on it, and it'll be fine!

It's obviously not a very strong part, and I'm always a little careful with it. Hopefully they will accept your assurance that you didn't do anything that should have broken it.

 

[SPACE_EX]

Oh, just slap some JB Weld on it, and it'll be fine!

It's obviously not a very strong part, and I'm always a little careful with it. Hopefully they will accept your assurance that you didn't do anything that should have broken it.

I thought about gluing it back on but don't want to lose the door driving on the highway. Not to mention the corner chipped when hitting the ground.

From what I've read, the door AND motor will likely need replaced.

 

[davewill]

I thought about gluing it back on but don't want to lose the door driving on the highway. Not to mention the corner chipped when hitting the ground.

From what I've read, the door AND motor will likely need replaced.

Yeah, I wasn't serious there, @SPACE_EX.

 

[smatthew]

This is hilarious. "Fell off while wiping over it"
I'm betting OP did something foolish and doesn't want to own up to it or pay for the repair.

 

[SPACE_EX]

This is hilarious. "Fell off while wiping over it"
I'm betting OP did something foolish and doesn't want to own up to it or pay for the repair.

Glad you find it funny. If something had happened, I'd have no problem owning it. I'm sure I'll be paying for it regardless, unless warranty for a car almost 6 months old covers whatever the heck happened. Didn't hear any cracking and haven't manually opened or shut the door once. Haven't even manually opened the trunk either but it only wants to open a quarter of the way on first request.

Good news is it looks like mobile service will be able to handle both issues.

 

[N54TT]

I had a charge port door fail and had to manually open close it a bunch before service was able to replace it. It would definitely take some force to break it there.

 

[BigNick]

What is that mark "southwest" of the socket? It looks like the plastic has a bit of a gouge in it.

Could someone have jammed a lever/tool in there and been trying to pry your charge port door open, maybe?

 

[Apprunner]

Sorry to hear. Its actually surprising that we don't see more threads on this as the door does seem very breakable but it doesn't seem to be a point of failure for the car. Sadly, I would put masking tape over the access port so crap doesn't get in there. I would also take the broken cover and put it on the car whenever I got to a location so it wouldn't look broken and people wouldn't screw with the port.

Good luck.

 

[Resist]

Never heard of this happening when just wiping over it. More likely there was some sort of previous stress on it that caused cracks. If the OP or a family member didn't purposely or accidentally mess with it, then it's possible someone at a Supercharger may have yanked it around.

 

[Vetman]

I had a charge port door fail and had to manually open close it a bunch before service was able to replace it. It would definitely take some force to break it there.

I am new to the forum and I just had my charging port door break off. Right at the door like in the photos posted above.
The door was open and I went to open the trunk and thought it might hit. I applied the smallest force to give it a nudge to close and it broke off in my hand.
The question is if the entire piece has to be replaced why not trying to crazy glue it back on? I was supposed to take a trip this weekend so I guess a piece of gaffers tape over the port will keep the rain out.

 

[N54TT]

I am new to the forum and I just had my charging port door break off. Right at the door like in the photos posted above.
The door was open and I went to open the trunk and thought it might hit. I applied the smallest force to give it a nudge to close and it broke off in my hand.
The question is if the entire piece has to be replaced why not trying to crazy glue it back on? I was supposed to take a trip this weekend so I guess a piece of gaffers tape over the port will keep the rain out.

@SPACE_EX hasn’t posted back.….if the service tech said anything. Are they seeing this recently, often etc…. I wonder If there’s some manufacturing defect? I haven‘t searched but I haven’t seen anyone else complain about the doors breaking like that on any of the forums since I’ve been on from 2018. I don’t think superglue will be secure enough If it broke in the first place. I would tape the port and the opening to where the arm swings out...to keep rain out.

 

[Vetman]

@SPACE_EX hasn’t posted back.….if the service tech said anything. Are they seeing this recently, often etc…. I wonder If there’s some manufacturing defect? I haven‘t searched but I haven’t seen anyone else complain about the doors breaking like that on any of the forums since I’ve been on from 2018. I don’t think superglue will be secure enough If it broke in the first place. I would tape the port and the opening to where the arm swings out...to keep rain out.

Thanks I hadn’t taped the arm opening.

 

[Vetman]

This is a photo of my broken door. The pattern of the break is almost exactly the same as yours leading me to believe this is a manufacturing defect. I’m at Tesla service as a walk in in Brooklyn NY waiting for a “tech” to diagnose the problem. My question was what has to be replaced? Door arm and motor or something else.
The soonest service appointment I could get was in August but maybe I can outlast them today.

 

[Vetman]

They have agreed to take me in without an appointment. $260. Ish for entire assembly installed. I asked for old parts to repair for next time. They’re not sure they can release them. That I find ridiculous.

 

[davewill]

They have agreed to take me in without an appointment. $260. Ish for entire assembly installed. I asked for old parts to repair for next time. They’re not sure they can release them. That I find ridiculous.

New York State DMV: Know Your Rights in Auto Repair

You are entitled to the return of all replaced parts, except warranty and exchange parts, but you must ask for them in writing before any work is done. If you authorize work by phone, the shop must keep any replaced parts, and make them available when you pick up the vehicle.

 

[Vetman]

New York State DMV: Know Your Rights in Auto Repair

Thank you.

 

[ODWms]

Like others, I’ve never heard of this. But I find it shocking it doesn’t happen all the time. Seems pretty flimsy.

 

[RayK]

From my Jan. 2018 review:

- Charging port cover. The several times that I was charging the car, I thought about the cover that was sitting up in the air, exposed. It's on the end of a curved plastic (?) arm that swings up from the tail light and it just seems to be an invitation for knocking it off the car.

 

[RG129]

I initially thought that people might be messing with the door (hitting/twisting) while it is open and charging, but then I figured Sentry would probably catch any culprits

For the people that apply force to close the door (and not let it close automatically), where do you apply force to engage the closure? Do you press on the hinge/arm/fulcrum, or the tip/edge of the door exerting the most stress? I wonder how many cycles and at what stress it's designed to withstand.