TMC is an independent, primarily volunteer organization that relies on ad revenue to cover its operating costs. Please consider whitelisting TMC on your ad blocker and becoming a Supporting Member. For more info: Support TMC
  1. TMC is currently READ ONLY.
    Click here for more info.

Consolidated eMMC Thread (MCU repair) (Black Center Screen)

Discussion in 'Model S' started by Wiki, Jan 8, 2020.

Thread Status:
The first post in this thread is a WikiPost, and can be edited by anyone with the appropriate permissions.
  1. mrjedistud

    mrjedistud Member

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2015
    Messages:
    237
    Location:
    New York
    Hi. My understanding was that it was the whole MCU especially since they did the cellular upgrade to LTE at the time. I think they just swapped out the whole MCU.
     
  2. Claude274

    Claude274 Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2016
    Messages:
    35
    Location:
    Canada
    So yesterday morning I got in the car and saw a warning about park brake not being engaged. It was impossible to get car in speed. Then after 1 minute I was able to do it. Then got messages about traction control, stability control and regenaration being off. Car was free rolling. Before coming back from work I did a hard reset and everything was fine but after 15 minutes, it all came back. I did a second reset while driving and MCU went black for 20 minutes. Same messages again this morning with no power steering. Is it MCU or something else? 2014 S85 with 235 000 km (146 000 miles).
     
  3. tomas

    tomas Out of warranty...

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2012
    Messages:
    4,227
    Location:
    Chicago/Montecito
    Those warnings all relate to drivetrain so I’d bet it is not MCU. Photograph warnings and open service request. Attach photos and exact time of occurrence.
     
    • Like x 2
  4. slimymonkey

    slimymonkey New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2020
    Messages:
    3
    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Hey all, I am now going to try an get my money back after the repair. Yeah, I don't think the service people are are up to date with the warranty and I think you need to keep going up the chain of command. I was so busy at work that and I really didn't have time to dig through this. Now I am a little pissed about the whole situation.
     
    • Like x 1
  5. tomas

    tomas Out of warranty...

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2012
    Messages:
    4,227
    Location:
    Chicago/Montecito
    Just under the wire: Picked up 2012 P85 today from final pre-paid service and final extended warranty service (suspension fix). Asked them to replace EMMC, and cited the several symptoms I've had, including - in a touch of irony - a black screen on the morning I brought car in to service.

    EMMC daughterboard replaced for $0 under new program (they did not replace entire MCU, so it CAN be done on a 2012 MCU1). I neglected to ask them to retain saved settings, but it appears that just about everything is there, including lifetime trip meter B. The only thing I've noticed I had to reset so far is homelink. Saved homelink locations were there, but I had to re-pair with my garage door opener. If any other lost settings crop up, I'll post it. I lost all settings on my 2018 3P during a service last year, and it is astounding how many there are! Would be a great wiki on this forum (if we still had them) to list all of the settings so people could make a checklist before any service that might disrupt.

    So, in a couple of weeks I'm on my own. Probably should have traded a couple of years ago, but I have <60k miles, car still charges to ~245, looks and drives like new. So the <$30k I could get for it in trade a while ago was not enough for me to part with it. Onward into the self-paid and unknown!

    PS, as usual with MY experience (not discounting others' issues), service experience was exemplary. They did not text me with status during the 3 days they had car, but in the 2 events I called I was able to reach a live person in service on the first try and get prompt information.
     
    • Informative x 1
    • Like x 1
  6. tga

    tga Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2014
    Messages:
    3,864
    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Not necessarily. In Sept, I paid for the LTE upgrade and Tegra daughterboard (the card with the eMMC) replacement at the same time. I was charged a $500 flat fee for the new LTE modem card (parts and labor) and $120 for the Tegra daughterboard (parts only, no labor, since the MCU was already out of the car). They did not replace the MCU.
     
  7. dark cloud

    dark cloud Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2018
    Messages:
    1,886
    Location:
    BC
    Mathematically the same number, but it was probably $500 for the Tegra and $120 for the LTE.
     
  8. Claude274

    Claude274 Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2016
    Messages:
    35
    Location:
    Canada
    That's what I did. What do you think it is? This morning I had no power steering but everything came back to normal after a while.
     
  9. tga

    tga Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2014
    Messages:
    3,864
    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Nope, $500 flat fee for the LTE upgrade (parts and labor), $120 parts only for the Tegra. See invoice:
    Screenshot 2020-11-25 081759.jpg
    Screenshot 2020-11-25 081457.jpg
     
    • Informative x 1
  10. tomas

    tomas Out of warranty...

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2012
    Messages:
    4,227
    Location:
    Chicago/Montecito
    Well documented to-may-to.
    @dark cloud ’s scenario is a to-mah-to

    important thing IMO is that people who get both of these upgrades done at same time are not being double charged R&R labor. Even the haters have to acknowledge good on Tesla for that ;)
     
    • Like x 1
  11. Kaveman

    Kaveman Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2020
    Messages:
    16
    Location:
    FL
    Cross Post: TonyT/EVFixMe did my Emmc chip recently. Great all around service! Very helpful to get me back up and running. You will need to disassemble your dash/MCU, not that difficult if you have some mechanical skills. Take your time, watch the Y0uTube vids and you can do it! I did the LTE board swap at the same time. Overall a 6 outa 10 for difficulty, Hope to recoup some of the cost as this happened right before the announcement the Tesla is now covering this repair.
    Kaveman
    BTW: Don't worry too much when you pull the dash pads, makes awful noises...
     
    • Like x 1
  12. RuiP

    RuiP Member

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2017
    Messages:
    35
    Location:
    Portugal
    So... asking for a friend: is there an automated task that can be run to stress the usage of the eMMC in a MCU1?
    Like a webpage always refreshing/putting a load on the eMMC?
     
    • Like x 1
  13. possum22

    possum22 Member

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2016
    Messages:
    110
    Location:
    Mt. Isa, Qld
    You could put a old MP3 player/stick with MP3's in the USB port and play it for 4 hours, so it cashes to the chip, I think that what killed my MCU(no radio or internet coverage).
     
  14. RuiP

    RuiP Member

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2017
    Messages:
    35
    Location:
    Portugal
    My friend is playing MP3 from a USB stick for over 1 year and the eMMC is still alive (and slowing :) )

    I would think that the .MP3 data is accessed directly by the MCU's CPU, therefore not putting a load on the eMMC. Altought, like you mention, there maybe some sort of caching to the eMMC... don't know.
     
  15. mspohr

    mspohr Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2014
    Messages:
    8,943
    Location:
    California
    Some other part
     
  16. mspohr

    mspohr Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2014
    Messages:
    8,943
    Location:
    California
    Why are you asking us? We are a collection of random people who are clueless.
    Ask Tesla.
     
    • Funny x 1
  17. mspohr

    mspohr Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2014
    Messages:
    8,943
    Location:
    California
    So you want to kill your car? (And then come here to complain?)
     
    • Disagree x 1
    • Funny x 1
  18. RuiP

    RuiP Member

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2017
    Messages:
    35
    Location:
    Portugal
    OMG no Karen!
    I guess a couple of servo motors connected to an Arduino, operating the "+" and "-" of the map shall do the job. All in the name of science, of course!
     
    • Like x 1
    • Funny x 1
  19. jeremy0916

    jeremy0916 Member

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2020
    Messages:
    75
    Location:
    South Carolina
    Just wanted to update my situation from the other page a few back.

    I was worried from reading prior posts on reddit and here that the service centers are just a money grab. But I can say I arrived with photo+time proof of when my screen has gone totally black and I have faced major issues mid drive with the car. Without any push back or bs they replaced my emmc(daughterboard) for free. In all it takes like 4 hours at the service center to have it done, for me it took a little more because apparently they damaged that silver plastic bezel that goes around the screen so they gave me a new fresh one of those(was a 300 dollar part so they had to get a manager override approval for their goof heh).

    I also wanted to knock out 2 birds with one stone to get standard car work, a tire rotation, too. They only charged $35 for that as well, which is a little more than local shops would charge me in South Carolina but for the $10-15 extra I can't complain saves me making another trip elsewhere(bought my tires on amazon so I don't get free rotations anywhere).

    Will continue to see if I have any problems after the daughterboard swap but I expect the issue to be resolved now. One downside is that you lose your driver profile, homelink and nav maps when you get the swap. I am redownloading nav maps on my wifi and will be configuring everything back home tomorrow probably.

    Overall besides the really long wait to dump the data into the other board the experience was great and it didn't feel like they wanted to side step the issue. I would say it was a positive experience for me, good on you Tesla. Hope the NHTSA investigation leads to all early Model S'es getting this fix free same as I got.

    For reference I have a 2015 Tesla Model S 90D, and I visited the Charlotte Mathews NC Service center.
     
    • Like x 3
    • Informative x 1
  20. mspohr

    mspohr Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2014
    Messages:
    8,943
    Location:
    California
    In spite of the anecdotal whinging we read here, I think your experience is normal for Tesla. I've always had great service.
     
Thread Status:
The first post in this thread is a WikiPost, and can be edited by anyone with the appropriate permissions.

Share This Page

  • About Us

    Formed in 2006, Tesla Motors Club (TMC) was the first independent online Tesla community. Today it remains the largest and most dynamic community of Tesla enthusiasts. Learn more.
  • Do you value your experience at TMC? Consider becoming a Supporting Member of Tesla Motors Club. As a thank you for your contribution, you'll get nearly no ads in the Community and Groups sections. Additional perks are available depending on the level of contribution. Please visit the Account Upgrades page for more details.


    SUPPORT TMC