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

[dark cloud]

They did a remote diagnosis of my car, and told me that they noted the eMMC in my system had been replaced with an aftermarket component and the configurations modified from factory settings. They claim there were no logs available since the beginning of this year (I had Tony repair my board last summer) and would need to restore the vehicle to factory specs and replace the eMMC unit in order to move forward.

I'm surprised others haven't commented on this yet, but my car has been in service 3 times since my eMMC repair by Ev-Fixme and service has not mentioned a thing about it. One service appointment was removal of the MCU1 and installing the LTE from the 3G modem.

There may be some other reason why your vehicle is not logging?

 

[tomas]

Ok misunderstood warranty status. Nonetheless, $100 to make your car repairable seems a no brainer. How it relates to purported refund for 3rd party EMMC replacements is interesting to watch, but to me that has seemed more of an argument of principle than material cost.

 

[BigNick]

Im having an issue where my door handles stopped presenting when I approached the vehicle. Its been this way for a few months now, and Ive tried all the settings/reboots/2032 button cell swap/etc one can do for this. Anyway, after months of just dealing with it, I decided to schedule an appointment.

They did a remote diagnosis of my car, and told me that they noted the eMMC in my system had been replaced with an aftermarket component and the configurations modified from factory settings. They claim there were no logs available since the beginning of this year (I had Tony repair my board last summer) and would need to restore the vehicle to factory specs and replace the eMMC unit in order to move forward.

They initially were trying to then sell me on a MCU2 upgrade along with the eMMC replacement to possibly fix the issue with the door handles. Ive already been denied the recall reimbursement like so many others on here, and this just sort of added insult to injury to possibly have to pay for the repair twice.

They finally agreed to do the daughterboard replacement under the recall and restore the car to "factory specs" if I paid a $100 core charge as the original chip is missing. Anybody else having similar issues when requesting service? It feels stupid to replace a good working chip with a Tesla one just because they consider Tony's chip to be "aftermarket"

I'm pretty sure the aftermarket eMMC chips from EV-FixMe and others meet or exceed Tesla's standards and would have no impact on vehicle functionality, but it seems like Tesla wants as few hardware variations as possible?

Hence the BS of trying to sell you a $2K upgrade and a core charge of $100 for your "aftermarket" daughterboard swap.

The crappy 8GB eMMC Tesla used sure didn't cost $100 each, and those 8GB chips are just going in the recycle bin anyway.

Just more evidence Tesla doesn't want third parties to offer any sort of repairs to their vehicles, it borders on criminal (and in some jurisdictions with right-to-repair laws, might actually be illegal.) But it's just a symptom of a larger problem in general, Tesla isn't the only violator.

 

[Captainsin]

Ok misunderstood warranty status. Nonetheless, $100 to make your car repairable seems a no brainer. How it relates to purported refund for 3rd party EMMC replacements is interesting to watch, but to me that has seemed more of an argument of principle than material cost.

Yes it’s definitely more of an argument of principle at this point. Hundred dollars is not a big deal, i’m planning on paying it.

I mainly just wanted to make a data point to the group that Tesla was able to see what they considered to be an aftermarket chip, and that they couldn’t move forward until it was removed and put back to factory status. I hadn’t seen any other mention of something like this, so I was also wondering if anybody else was having or had this issue.

 

[tomas]

It’s truly a weird issue where I can see both sides. On one hand, an emmc chip is an emmc chip… empty, they are a commodity. But OTOH how it is installed and how the system files are loaded onto it could impact how it performs the required functions. Yes, most 3rd parties will install properly… but manufacturer has little way to know who is or isn’t competent. As computer takes over more and more functions in the modern car, I suspect this issue of right to repair car’s computer(s) will grow. Nobody’s likely to have issues with 3rd party repair of brakes and other ‘commodity’ mechanical components. But repairs to computer that require a soldering gun and a precise sequence of software loads? 21st century stuff.

 

[Chopr147]

I didn't know there was an aftermarket fix. I'm waiting on Tesla to advise me they have the part........Emmc chip. Out of stock everywhere apparently. I'm on "the list" to be called ( 2nd in line according to Syosset service center). The problems though are really starting to annoy the hell out of me. Slow start-ups, constant resets etc..... I'm glad they are doing the recall but man, get it soon!

 

[Aggmeister2010]

My car was experiencing a strange GPS issue where the MCU shows the car driving in the wrong direction. Service center thinks the eMMC upgrade will fix it.....

So, I'm getting my eMMC upgrade on Tuesday! We'll see how it goes.

 

[tomas]

It’s like CBD, it cures EVERYtHING.

 

[TessP100D]

Good luck. I had mine replaced several weeks ago but haven’t driven it much yet. I have some planned trips coming soon so hopefully I won’t have any more problems either.

 

[tomas]

Ok, here’s a weird one. Had EMMC replaced in November. This am, black center screen and this message on IC “center display unavailable driver and user settings could not be restored”. Would not reboot. Left car, came back and upon opening door, there was MCU lit up with all my settings etc. has worked perfectly since then, except error message is still on IC. I have Wednesday service appt, but being out of warranty I don’t want to pay for diagnosis if nothing is wrong. I know this sounds like emmc… but that is a few months old! Anyone seen this? Tempted to drive a week or two and see what happens.

 

[wolfpv]

I apologize in advance for asking rather than reading 91 pages of forum entries - but here goes:

In October, 2020 by console died - black screen, unbootable, no radio, no heat, etc. I scheduled an appointment and brought the car in to the Palo alto service center. They diagnosed the problem as the dead memory but gave me only two options: replace the console with an identical (old style) at approx $1500 (verbal, I don't recall the exact amount) or upgrade at $2500. unfortunately, the old style wasn't available in the US at the time - in other words, no option but the upgrade. I was told I'd lose AM radio, but not FM as well. Given that I had no choice, I went ahead. The bill came to $2920 (copy attached). The invoice says:

Concern: Touchscreen - customer states: Main screen blank, even after all reboot attempts (including full restart with buttons and brake). Customer requested diagnosis and advised of needs. Verified customer concern is service. Performed diagnostic inspection as requested. Found non serviceable internal MCU fault. Recommend MCU replacement

Shortly thereafter I heard about the recall, and have been attempting to contact them ever since, with no response. I finally received and email today; they're offering $320. Given that I was offered no option BUT the full MCU upgrade, it seems that the reimbursement offer is lame.

I purchased my first Tesla in early 2013 - this is my second. As a very loyal Tesla owner I'm pretty disappointed in this interaction.

Has anyone else found themselves in this situation? What is the appeal process, if any?

 

[tomas]

I apologize in advance for asking rather than reading 91 pages of forum entries - but here goes:

In October, 2020 by console died - black screen, unbootable, no radio, no heat, etc. I scheduled an appointment and brought the car in to the Palo alto service center. They diagnosed the problem as the dead memory but gave me only two options: replace the console with an identical (old style) at approx $1500 (verbal, I don't recall the exact amount) or upgrade at $2500. unfortunately, the old style wasn't available in the US at the time - in other words, no option but the upgrade. I was told I'd lose AM radio, but not FM as well. Given that I had no choice, I went ahead. The bill came to $2920 (copy attached). The invoice says:

Concern: Touchscreen - customer states: Main screen blank, even after all reboot attempts (including full restart with buttons and brake). Customer requested diagnosis and advised of needs. Verified customer concern is service. Performed diagnostic inspection as requested. Found non serviceable internal MCU fault. Recommend MCU replacement

Shortly thereafter I heard about the recall, and have been attempting to contact them ever since, with no response. I finally received and email today; they're offering $320. Given that I was offered no option BUT the full MCU upgrade, it seems that the reimbursement offer is lame.

I purchased my first Tesla in early 2013 - this is my second. As a very loyal Tesla owner I'm pretty disappointed in this interaction.

Has anyone else found themselves in this situation? What is the appeal process, if any?

Not every MCU failure is an EMMC failure. At the time you mention, they were doing emmc daughterboard replacements for $500. So if they diagnosed your issue correctly and determined emmc was not the issue, then your problem was not part of recall and they don’t owe you anything and the $320 is a nice gesture. OTOH if they misdiagnosed and your problem was emmc… then…. But you’ll never know. I suspect from your out of the blue total MCU failure, it was not emmc. Most of us who have had that problem had progressive symptoms for months.

 

[tomas]

Ok, here’s a weird one. Had EMMC replaced in November. This am, black center screen and this message on IC “center display unavailable driver and user settings could not be restored”. Would not reboot. Left car, came back and upon opening door, there was MCU lit up with all my settings etc. has worked perfectly since then, except error message is still on IC. I have Wednesday service appt, but being out of warranty I don’t want to pay for diagnosis if nothing is wrong. I know this sounds like emmc… but that is a few months old! Anyone seen this? Tempted to drive a week or two and see what happens.

PS to this… appears to have healed itself. Worked all Dey every time today and the error alert has cleared.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Got my eMMC replacement today at the Service Center. The whole MCU is noticibly faster now. Not MCU2 fast, but still much faster.

I did have to remove and reset my bluetooth and homelink connections, but everything else carried over.

 

[ParagPA]

So, back in March I tried to file for a reimbursement of my MCU replacement because of eMMC failure. However, the site said my VIN didn't qualify. But, I had the invoice, and the SC gave me the service visit number for Tesla to review - so I applied anyways through their "did you have the repair done somewhere else" option, uploaded my invoice, gave them the visit number, etc. Just got a reply saying I'm getting a reimbursement! I fully expected my email to disappear into the bitbucket...

 

[FlatSix911]

I apologize in advance for asking rather than reading 91 pages of forum entries - but here goes:

In October, 2020 by console died - black screen, unbootable, no radio, no heat, etc. I scheduled an appointment and brought the car in to the Palo alto service center. They diagnosed the problem as the dead memory but gave me only two options: replace the console with an identical (old style) at approx $1500 (verbal, I don't recall the exact amount) or upgrade at $2500. unfortunately, the old style wasn't available in the US at the time - in other words, no option but the upgrade. I was told I'd lose AM radio, but not FM as well. Given that I had no choice, I went ahead. The bill came to $2920 (copy attached). The invoice says:

Concern: Touchscreen - customer states: Main screen blank, even after all reboot attempts (including full restart with buttons and brake). Customer requested diagnosis and advised of needs. Verified customer concern is service. Performed diagnostic inspection as requested. Found non serviceable internal MCU fault. Recommend MCU replacement

Shortly thereafter I heard about the recall, and have been attempting to contact them ever since, with no response. I finally received and email today; they're offering $320. Given that I was offered no option BUT the full MCU upgrade, it seems that the reimbursement offer is lame.

I purchased my first Tesla in early 2013 - this is my second. As a very loyal Tesla owner I'm pretty disappointed in this interaction.
Has anyone else found themselves in this situation? What is the appeal process, if any?

Ask Tesla to explain the $320 offer... based on your experience, you should be able to push for more reimbursement.

 

[wolfpv]

Not every MCU failure is an EMMC failure. At the time you mention, they were doing emmc daughterboard replacements for $500. So if they diagnosed your issue correctly and determined emmc was not the issue, then your problem was not part of recall and they don’t owe you anything and the $320 is a nice gesture. OTOH if they misdiagnosed and your problem was emmc… then…. But you’ll never know. I suspect from your out of the blue total MCU failure, it was not emmc. Most of us who have had that problem had progressive symptoms for months.

My failure was progressive, and had all the symptoms of the emmc failure (in fact, I think the tech mentioned it, but can't say for sure). But the only solution offered, due apparently to lack of the needed parts at the time, was complete replacement - and the only complete replacement available at that time was the upgrade. As you may be able to see from the invoice they provided almost no diagnostic info - just "Found non serviceable internal MCU fault".

 

[MP3Mike]

But the only solution offered, due apparently to lack of the needed parts at the time, was complete replacement - and the only complete replacement available at that time was the upgrade.

So was it really:

• If you want it fixed now: $2,500 for MCU2 upgrade
• If you want it fixed "soonish": $1,500 for full MCU1 replacement
• If you want it fixed "sometime in the future": ~$420 for the eMMC daughtercard replacement

Just like with the recall now, people can't just go in and get it replaced, they have to wait for parts to be available.

 

[wolfpv]

So was it really:

• If you want it fixed now: $2,500 for MCU2 upgrade
• If you want it fixed "soonish": $1,500 for full MCU1 replacement
• If you want it fixed "sometime in the future": ~$420 for the eMMC daughtercard replacement

Just like with the recall now, people can't just go in and get it replaced, they have to wait for parts to be available.

Well yeah... but the car was not realistically drivable with a dead console. And they didn't provide a time-frame for availability of the parts - and they didn't mention a "sometime in the future" option.

Can someone advise what the appeal procedure would be?

-Thanks,

-Steve

 

[KryoPhoenix209]

Does anyone know since the new MCU2 upgrade is $1,500 and if my daughterboard needs to be replaced on my original MCU1 would they just cut me a deal if I request to have the MCU2 upgrade? I.E if they are saying that it costs $420 for the eMMC daughterboard recall would they take that off of the top of the MCU2 upgrade?