Door Handles Failed

[Doug_G]

It's been a couple of years since I had door handle trouble, but it's baaaaack.

Just this week I started having trouble with the driver's door handle in extreme cold. Tonight I basically got locked out of the car. I was freezing my butt in -27C / -42C wind chill.

My wife had to crawl across the seats and console and open it from inside.

They didn't extend when I got out of the car at home, either. Actually the driver's door seems to be out about 1 mm, and the left rear door isn't doing anything. The right side is working normally.

Door is open... but not extended. Nor rear.

 

[Lon12]

With this cold snap I'm reading lots of posts about cold weather issues tonight. I feel sorry for you guys out east. Stay warm.

 

[mibaro2]

Sorry to hear about the problem coming back.
Bitterly cold day today !

 

[glenhurst]

The "handles" on the Model X don't pop out at all; they're just a piece of metal and you push on them which unlatches the door and starts the motor which swings the door open. Kinda cool in California, but I've wondered if they're a good idea for those of us in more northerly climes.

 

[dmd2005]

-42C is cold...I thought it was cold at 10C in the rain with a vest and windbreaker on when I went out to plug into the Burlington WA supercharger today. Feel sorry for you guys out east. Would spraying the door handle down with 50:50 water amd 70% alcohol prevent the handle from sticking? That alcohol and water mix is good for defrosting windshields without an ice scraper.

 

[zax123]

Doug, do you have the "new" door handles on your car or are you still on the original handles?

 

[Doug_G]

No they were all replaced with the newer style after repeated failures.

 

[AMPUP]

One of mine failed tonight, I'm in northern Virginia where it got down to about 15F [emoji944], cold for us.

 

[mikec8]

Sorry to hear that, I guess the colder it gets the less things want to work. Two years ago my ICE car has been in -42C with wind chills of -51C and not much wanted to work, doors didn't want to close at all due to the seals being frozen and of course no block heater = no engine start :/.

I wonder if pre-heating helps a little bit? Or even if the power lift gate works as a backup?

 

[Doug_G]

Car was preheated.

This has never been a problem in previous winters

 

[Jaff]

I wonder if this is a parts longevity issue ...this winter has been remarkably less frigid than the last two...

Car was preheated.

This has never been a problem in previous winters

 

[mrElbe]

I had the driver door not open despite presenting handle last winter. Cause was washing the car at -14C and not retracting the handles before hand. Ice formed around the microswitch. Blasting it next day again at a DIY carwash with hot water fixed the problem.

 

[RiverBrick]

If three door handles fail at once under the extended service contract (or whatever it's called) does it count as three issues so you have to pay $600 + tax, or one for $200 + tax?

 

[Mark Z]

The "handles" on the Model X don't pop out at all; they're just a piece of metal and you push on them which unlatches the door and starts the motor which swings the door open. Kinda cool in California, but I've wondered if they're a good idea for those of us in more northerly climes.

With the Auto Front Door feature, the handle button doesn't need to be touched for the driver door to open. Once inside, the touch screen would allow for opening all doors and hatches.

The key fob can close the front and open/close Falcon Wing Doors. Another option is to use the front door handles inside or the alternate buttons on the FWDs or door pillar to close the FWDs.

As long as excessive snow is removed from the doors and top of the vehicle, Model X seems to be well designed to access if there are icy exterior door buttons.

 

[mibaro2]

If three door handles fail at once under the extended service contract (or whatever it's called) does it count as three issues so you have to pay $600 + tax, or one for $200 + tax?

I had asked my SC about that, and was told it would just be $200. However, I'm sure each SC is interpreting it differently. YMMV.

 

[green1]

I had asked my SC about that, and was told it would just be $200. However, I'm sure each SC is interpreting it differently. YMMV.

Officially unter the Canadian ESA it's $200 per issue, so they'd be within their rights to call it 3 issues and bill accordingly. Likely the service centres will be nicer than that, but no guarantees.
Interestingly though, under the American ESA its $200 per visit, not per issue, so in that case it's guaranteed to be treated properly. Why Canada has worse wording in our contact than in the USA? Who knows, but I'm getting used to being a second class tesla citizen up here.

 

[Doug_G]

Won't find out for another year on that one...

This happened once before recently also in extreme cold. Thought maybe due to recent car wash at the time... but no car wash this time. The common element is extreme cold, so I'm thinking the handles fail below -25C. The car has been in -30C before so this is something new.

The handles made no attempt to extend or turn on LEDs, even when I locked and unlocked, so I think the problem may be electronic rather than mechanical. Also affected both left side handles, but not right side, so maybe another indication of a controller problem.

Hopefully Tesla will download logs and find something.

 

[Aussie Bob]

Sorry to hear the news Doug. We have the opposite problem - hot and very humid and muggy in Singapore at moment heading to Myanmar.

Just a thought would a hot hair dryer blowing hot air help or would it just melt the cold stuff and moisture would them freeze again. Possibly would have to dry off excess moisture if you followed this method.

 

[AudubonB]

Your problem is more than a mere annoyance and I hope it remains a rare occurrence. My suggestion augments Aussie Bob's, above:

a hair dryer-type blown hot air source (if you use an industrial blower, of course use the lowest setting, and still take extreme care) combined with a drying agent to extract the melted water. I suggest rubbing alcohol as the medium least likely to cause other problems.



As an aside for others talking about cold: cars aren't moisture-emanating vessels and as such, unlike humans or other animals, are effectively immune to the sense of "wind chill". For it, -27C was -27C and no amount of wind blowing across its surface chilled its metal to any lower number.

But you can use those numbers if it makes things seem more dramatic.....

 

[green1]

As an aside for others talking about cold: cars aren't moisture-emanating vessels and as such, unlike humans or other animals, are effectively immune to the sense of "wind chill". For it, -27C was -27C and no amount of wind blowing across its surface chilled its metal to any lower number.

But you can use those numbers if it makes things seem more dramatic.....

Wind Chill isn't just about moisture (though that certainly increases the problem for humans) but is about speed of change of temperature. If an object that is 36c is exposed to air that is -27c, it will, over time, become that same -27c unless energy is used to maintain the initial temperature. This time is decreased (or the counteracting energy is increased) as more air flows over that object, we know this effect as wind chill.

On a car you would generally say it doesn't apply, and you'd be right, however there are situations where it is still relevant. For example, if you are heating the car above the exterior temperature, it will take more energy to maintain the same temperature as the wind increases, even as the exterior temperature remains constant (In the Tesla we heat not only the passenger compartment, but also the battery, the same issues apply to both). The second time it matters on a car is if the car is at a certain temperature and we park and walk away. Over time the car will cool to the surrounding temperature, but the more wind, the less time it will take.