Do your FWD seals touch the spine when fully open?

[sorka]

My MXP right FWD pinched the top glass window seal against the spine at the very rear when I first got it. The FWD alignments are pretty good now but the front of the seals of both FWD now pinch the spine when opened. The drivers side FWD pinches because the glass center spine is not level and rises 4 mm higher on the left side while the right front of the spine is lower and perfectly flush with the glass applique that sits between the spine and the windshield.

The right FWD front seal pinches the spine even though the spine is flush because the front of the roof door is lower when fully open.

So both pinch at the front of the seals but for different reasons.

 

[Wilbo]

Mine also pinches on one of the corners. Took it to service and it sounds like a very messy fix as they have to hack off the spine panel which is glued on and then adjust the pads underneath and then re-apply so it sits lower, thus removing the pinch. I resolved to wait a few months and see how the rubber seal holds up. Can address at that time. Apparently that seal doesn't really prevent much water entry and is mainly for aesthetics.

 

[sorka]

Mine also pinches on one of the corners. Took it to service and it sounds like a very messy fix as they have to hack off the spine panel which is glued on and then adjust the pads underneath and then re-apply so it sits lower, thus removing the pinch. I resolved to wait a few months and see how the rubber seal holds up. Can address at that time. Apparently that seal doesn't really prevent much water entry and is mainly for aesthetics.

If it's because the spine is actually not seated properly, then yes, replacing the spine is the fix. But if the spine is flush already, then can move the roof further out from the spine.

In my case, seals on both sides were pinching. Drivers side because spine was popped up on the drivers side. Passenger side because the roof was too close to the spine.

The replaced the spine which fixed the drivers side and declined to fix the passenger side. I fixed it myself and moved the roof away from the spine about 4 mm.

The spine is not glued in. It has clips but has a rubberized sealant that they have to cut through with a string. They also have to remove at least one glass roof. The bigger issue is that the headliner, according to the FSM, needs to come out because that's the only way to get to the sensor connector in the spine. The headliner removal is a 250+ step process taking hours of labor time.

 

[Wilbo]

I saw your other post where you fixed it. Very cool. Thinking of trying this myself but worried about breaking/bending the clips holding the garnishes in place. Did you use any special prying tools or just give it a yank?

 

[offah]

Also interested in this too...

 

[bayareaever]

Mine is touching on back corner on the passenger side. I just discovered yesterday and SC says it may be ‘in spec’ - will be determined during upcoming appt. I sure hope not, the seal will definitely get damaged over time- car is three months old. The spine looks perfect- I think the door is very slightly too low in the back. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[sorka]

Mine is touching on back corner on the passenger side. I just discovered yesterday and SC says it may be ‘in spec’ - will be determined during upcoming appt. I sure hope not, the seal will definitely get damaged over time- car is three months old. The spine looks perfect- I think the door is very slightly too low in the back. Any advice is appreciated.

Ask them to show you the spec. Yours is way more severe than the side that Tesla did fix for me. The one that I fixed myself was barely touching. They claimed it was in spec. I asked them to show me the spec. They couldn't because there isn't one.

 

[bayareaever]

Ask them to show you the spec. Yours is way more severe than the side that Tesla did fix for me. The one that I fixed myself was barely touching. They claimed it was in spec. I asked them to show me the spec. They couldn't because there isn't one.

Great, thanks. Hopefully they can just raise the back of the door very slightly. From looking at the alignment when it’s closed, I think that would also improve proportionally.

When you look closely at how many places these doors need to line up, they are quite mind boggling!

 

[sorka]

Great, thanks. Hopefully they can just raise the back of the door very slightly. From looking at the alignment when it’s closed, I think that would also improve proportionally.

When you look closely at how many places these doors need to line up, they are quite mind boggling!

There are two ways to raise the door when open. One is really easy and the other is a massive pain.

The first way is to move the roof glass itself. There are 10 bolts that hold the roof in the metal roof frame. The bolt holes in the metal roof have a lot of free play. If the roof happens to be all the way in one direction in the holes, then you have a lot of adjustment in the opposite direction. Adjustment is as simple as removing the garnishes and garnish brackets, loosing the bolts, and moving the glass.

If there's not enough adjustment in the glass roof bolts, then you have to move the roof frame itself which means propping up the entire door with a support beam, removing the garnishes, brackets, and all 4 struts. Then you have to loosen the bolts that hold the metal roof to the primary hinges and slide out.

But then the door has moved out too so now you need to loosen the roof on the secondary hinges and move back in the same amount. Might as well fine toon the roof mounted door stops stops at that point too.

The easy method is about 30 minutes of work. The hard one is probably a good 4 hours of work and requires multiple manual closings (without the struts) to verify the alignment. All kinds of stuff can go wrong. If your beam support slips, the door will come crashing down and damage the body and the door.

 

[bayareaever]

There are two ways to raise the door when open. One is really easy and the other is a massive pain.

The first way is to move the roof glass itself. There are 10 bolts that hold the roof in the metal roof frame. The bolt holes in the metal roof have a lot of free play. If the roof happens to be all the way in one direction in the holes, then you have a lot of adjustment in the opposite direction. Adjustment is as simple as removing the garnishes and garnish brackets, loosing the bolts, and moving the glass.

If there's not enough adjustment in the glass roof bolts, then you have to move the roof frame itself which means propping up the entire door with a support beam, removing the garnishes, brackets, and all 4 struts. Then you have to loosen the bolts that hold the metal roof to the primary hinges and slide out.

But then the door has moved out too so now you need to loosen the roof on the secondary hinges and move back in the same amount. Might as well fine toon the roof mounted door stops stops at that point too.

The easy method is about 30 minutes of work. The hard one is probably a good 4 hours of work and requires multiple manual closings (without the struts) to verify the alignment. All kinds of stuff can go wrong. If your beam support slips, the door will come crashing down and damage the body and the door.

It certainly sounds like you know your stuff. The roof is already aligned perfectly but the doors are at different heights in the back when I look closely so I assume the more involved option 2 is what would have to be done. I also assume/fear sc would rather not do it and say it’s in spec. I also fear that if they do it, something else will get screwed up, especially with wind/operation noises (that’s already been fixed and is currently quiet) or other alignment issues. Ugh.

 

[sorka]

It certainly sounds like you know your stuff. The roof is already aligned perfectly but the doors are at different heights in the back when I look closely so I assume the more involved option 2 is what would have to be done. I also assume/fear sc would rather not do it and say it’s in spec. I also fear that if they do it, something else will get screwed up, especially with wind/operation noises (that’s already been fixed and is currently quiet) or other alignment issues. Ugh.

Vertical alignment of the doors is done with a combination of secondary hinge adjustments (door side for up and down and roof side for in and out) plus the latch.

A full proper alignment of the doors starts at the spine and works its way out.

1. Heigh of roof at spine when closed is spine side of primary hinge. According to FSM, it requires removal of the headliner which is a 250+ step process. I wouldn't be surprised if you can get access by just partially pulling down the headliner. Regardless, requires removal of all racetracks around door opening including door spine racetrack.
2. In and out of roof from spine is primary hinge roof side.
3. Roof mounted door bumper-stops. They should be adjusted so that the door roof is flush with the rest of the roof without being propped up by the door latch at the bottom. If your inner seal is compressed when the door is open, then the bumper stops are probably good. If the door dives down causing the roof glass seal edge to bend backwards before door being pushed back up by the latch, then the bumper stops are too high and need to be lowered.
4. In and out of door is roof side secondary hinge.
5. Up and down of door is door side of secondary hinge.
6. In and out of door at bottom is the latch strike plate.

Note, if the door is too low and needs to be adjusted up, service centers will often adjust the latch itself and even rotate clockwise our counterclockwise to force one side of the door higher than the other.

This is the quick and WRONG way to adjust the door. It should be done by the bumper stops in the roof and then the door side of the secondary hinges but that is a LOT more work....like many hours of work.

 

[Kristoffer Helle]

One of my doors do this. The same door also doing a little "wiggle" when closing. Looks like it's "lose".

 

[m5james]

Haven't tried yet due to waiting for better weather, but this thread has lots of info and a PDF showing what and where to adjust based on the condition...there's a page alone of adjusting a door that's touching the spine.

DIY Falcon Door Adjustment/Alignment

Hoping someone out there can help me or send me the Service bulletin from toolbox software. When going through the manual there is a note section "If the rear door requires adjustment, refer to TN-16-11-002, "Adjusting the Rear Doors (Falcon Wing Doors) on Model X" for instructions." When I...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[m5james]

Mine is touching on back corner on the passenger side. I just discovered yesterday and SC says it may be ‘in spec’ - will be determined during upcoming appt. I sure hope not, the seal will definitely get damaged over time- car is three months old. The spine looks perfect- I think the door is very slightly too low in the back. Any advice is appreciated.

Jesus, that's the worst I've ever seen w/o it actually breaking that spine panel. Mines barely touching and I've already changed settings on the screen so that the doors don't upon fully until I get the chance to take things apart and see if I can adjust it via the PDF I linked above.

 

[Kristoffer Helle]

Something strange with my car. The seals and windows is different every day. Even if I don't use the doors.