"Charge port latch not engaged" only for scheduled charging

[No_petro]

I got the same message on the app for my 2018 M3LR yesterday for the first time when I plugged the charger in. I have a wall charger in my garage. Temp was about 45F. The car still charges ok with the scheduled charging or if I manually start charging. The charge cable does not lock like it used to when the car is locked. I dont have to push the button on the connector anymore to pull it out nor do I hear the lock mechanism engage like I used to. I just got a software update the other day.

I called Tesla support and they had me do a reset with the scroll wheels but still no luck. I can just pull out the cable and it does not lock. They said that they did see alerts on the car about the AC power or something but after I did the reset and plugged the charge cable back in they do not see any alerts anymore.

They said I would need to take it into a service center to have them look at it. I had service done on the car 2 years ago and they replaced the charge port insulator pins at that time on their own, I guess it was a bulletin. I have not had an issue with the charge cable until yesterday. Not sure if its due to the new software update I got but if it was I would have thought that phone support would have known that.

Same year and model with the exact same issue. It started five days ago after arriving home from work. Did the two-button reset but the issue resurfaced.

I park and charge in a non-heated garage. Pass several mornings has been below 32 degrees F (but not in the garage). I tested the charge port (without issue) before dropping the kids off at school. The round trip from home to school is about six miles. I tested the charge port after arriving home and the latch would not engage the charge handle. Same results on Monday and Tuesday mornings. The car sat for about two hours and retested the charge port and the latch worked when the charging handle was inserted into the charge port. Repeated test on Monday and Tuesday with the same results. It must be a temperature thing.

Tesla Service quoted me $560 for repairing the charge port. If this is a software issue, I'll hold off and wait.

 

[Formula1]

Same year and model with the exact same issue. It started five days ago after arriving home from work. Did the two-button reset but the issue resurfaced.

I park and charge in a non-heated garage. Pass several mornings has been below 32 degrees F (but not in the garage). I tested the charge port (without issue) before dropping the kids off at school. The round trip from home to school is about six miles. I tested the charge port after arriving home and the latch would not engage the charge handle. Same results on Monday and Tuesday mornings. The car sat for about two hours and retested the charge port and the latch worked when the charging handle was inserted into the charge port. Repeated test on Monday and Tuesday with the same results. It must be a temperature thing.

Tesla Service quoted me $560 for repairing the charge port. If this is a software issue, I'll hold off and wait.

Yes, I am not rushing to the service center just yet. The car charges fine and the issue started for me with the last software update. I'll see how it goes for the next few days. I did not get the ......latch not engaged message on the app today after driving the car and plugging in the cable. Lets see what happens the next few days.

 

[Flybyglass]

When mine above had this issue yesterday, it was much colder. The indicator was light blue not red or amber like it was normal and the amber caution in the app was just advisory. Charging started normally and the warning did not return. Looking at notifications menu and expanding on the notice it says amongst other things run rear window defog for 35-45 minutes to heat port.

 

[Flybyglass]

My manual mentions below 41F the charge port wont latch on certain models until charging starts. So basically if the indicator is not amber or red when the cable in inserted then it's normal. On mine, to defrost the port, run rear window defog 30-45 minutes (or selecting defrost car from mobile app will turn on rear window defog.

 

[MJB-CO]

I had this problem starting on 11/18 on my 2018 3. As others have mentioned it is triggered below 41F by design on my model year if charging doesn't start immediately, i.e. scheduled charging.

However, I noticed other error messages in my Notifications - UMC-a012, CP_a139, and CP-a046. All are charging equipment errors. When the charger was plugged in there was the indicator had a brief amber flash. These occurred whether charging immediately or scheduled. I then went to a version 3 Supercharger and received a charger not inserted correctly error message that reduced my charging level to about 50kw even though it was latched.

Just had a mobile service today - swapped out the charge port - no more error messages. It seems there was a problem with the latching mechanism.

I mentioned to the technician that it would be helpful if the original "Charge port latch not engaged" message said it was due to low temperature and not to worry about it.

 

[hari_seldon]

I've been seeing this intermittently (every few weeks) since this summer, and frequently (2-3x week) for the last month or so.

Tesla sent a service person out who condescendingly explained how to plug in the car. Because that's apparently going to fix buggy software or a wonky latch.

 

[SilverUnicorn]

Seeing the same in last 1-2 months. I had mobile service come out and they swapped the ECU charge port (see pic) and no difference. I have a SC appt this Friday to replace latch actuator (see pic) and was told my mobile service this is a task and a half since it’s a very involved replacement. I’m hoping this resolves the issue. I’ll report back a few days post. I live in NY area so it’s below freezing but I’ve seen this occur above freezing.

 

[vmale]

I have a 2017 Model 3 LR showing the same behavior. If I turn the defrost on through the Tesla app for about 1 minute (then back off), the charge port will latch.

 

[SilverUnicorn]

Seeing the same in last 1-2 months. I had mobile service come out and they swapped the ECU charge port (see pic) and no difference. I have a SC appt this Friday to replace latch actuator (see pic) and was told my mobile service this is a task and a half since it’s a very involved replacement. I’m hoping this resolves the issue. I’ll report back a few days post. I live in NY area so it’s below freezing but I’ve seen this occur above freezing.

I posted this in the other thread. Adding it here. This is a known problem per SC Mount Kisco. I had an appt this past Friday to fix this for my M3 after mobile service swapped the charger ECU. They cancelled my appt when I arrived. They told me they had 4 in the shop for this same issue and they escalated this up the chain. It’s a software issue.

 

[seanoneill]

Is this the message we are talking about on this thread? I have noticed this the past couple weeks. I'm on 2022.40.4. I was afraid something was wrong with my charging port, but hopefully this is now normal behavior in cold weather when plugged in and charging is scheduled to begin later.

This just appeared to me for the first time today. I just downloaded the latest update 2022.40.4 this morning. Same behavior as others are reporting

 

[M3DS]

I set an appointment for this, and when they reached out to me the SC tells me it is an app issue, and an update will come someday to fix it.

 

[lascavarian]

I just had mobile service replace my 2018 M3 charge receptacle latch assy related to error CP_a054.

I could charge at a reduced rate with the faulty latch. I tried a LOT of things to restore the latch operation but no joy.

The new assy seemed a bit more beefy. The old assy was inop so a confirmed HW fault. New latch seems to have fixed the fault.

Service did the rear hatch camera cable recall at the same time. Out of warranty cost was about $225 with part being about $75.

 

[lascavarian]

I just had mobile service replace my 2018 M3 charge receptacle latch assy related to error CP_a054.

I could charge at a reduced rate with the faulty latch. I tried a LOT of things to restore the latch operation but no joy.

The new assy seemed a bit more beefy. The old assy was inop so a confirmed HW fault. New latch seems to have fixed the fault.

Service did the rear hatch camera cable recall at the same time. Out of warranty cost was about $225 with part being about $75.

Follow up:

New latch does not work correctly. It latches correctly. It does not unlatch correctly IMO. It does a cycle of unlatch and then immediately latches again making it a challenge to remove the plug for the few milliseconds it is unlatched. Going into the shop this time. Seems like a SW setting to me.

 

[lascavarian]

Follow up:

New latch does not work correctly. It latches correctly. It does not unlatch correctly IMO. It does a cycle of unlatch and then immediately latches again making it a challenge to remove the plug for the few milliseconds it is unlatched. Going into the shop this time. Seems like a SW setting to me.

Follow-up 2:

was not SW. Turned out to be a misroute of some wiring that impeded the movement of the latch mechanism. Zero cost quick fix at the shop.

 

[rspray2000]

So is the consensus is this requires a $250-$300 hardware replacement at service center to fix? Just got a 2018 M3P and it started the day after I took delivery, using the J1772 adapter with my L2 home charger. 40 deg F, no precipitation.

 

[lascavarian]

So is the consensus is this requires a $250-$300 hardware replacement at service center to fix? Just got a 2018 M3P and it started the day after I took delivery, using the J1772 adapter with my L2 home charger. 40 deg F, no precipitation.

Mobile service did mine as well as the rear camera cable recall. You may not need the camera recall.

I only went into the Service Center to correct a wire out of place that the mobile service seems to have got wrong. It is a tight spot and hard to see clearly.

I just went on a six state trip with no charging problems whatsoever