Door Handles Failed

[scottm]

You can pry open the driver handle and put a piece of string behind it. It will be able to retract and you can use the string to open the door/handle. This is what I did when my driver door handle failed.

Funny... me too. I did this exact thing when it was the driver's door that went. I had to open passenger, pull the cord, then go back to driver side.

 

[mknox]

Unbelievably my door handles just failed again. Hard failure. Both left-hand handles fail to present and you can't open the door except from inside.

This time the window and mirror controls on the left-hand side of the car are also dead, both front and back.

The passenger side is unaffected.

Wondering if this is a hardware failure? By that I mean a possibly corroded wiring harness that feeds these systems on the left-hand side of the car?

 

[scottm]

Car had a stroke on the left hand side.

 

[Doug_G]

Wondering if this is a hardware failure? By that I mean a possibly corroded wiring harness that feeds these systems on the left-hand side of the car?

I'm kinda guessing a cabling issue, but I suspect that's not what they're going to try and fix...

 

[mrElbe]

The drivers door handle on my rental car would not retract yesterday and I could only open the door from the inside. Called Tesla and they could not help. The handle was extended too far out. After several forceful pushes and pulls while locking and unlocking the car with the key fob suddenly restored normal operation.

 

[Doug_G]

LOL that's funny. Pretty sure no amount of mechanical forcing is going to do anything. There's no power on the whole side of the car. Even the little lights inside the armrest buttons don't illuminate.

Ranger is coming this afternoon.

 

[Cyclone]

LOL that's funny. Pretty sure no amount of mechanical forcing is going to do anything. There's no power on the whole side of the car. Even the little lights inside the armrest buttons don't illuminate.

So this is Tesla's solution for those who abuse Superchargers locally!

 

[Electroman]

I think Tesla should motorize the few remaining things: Visors, glove box doors, movement of hand rest above cup holders. (can't think of anything else that is manual), so that they can get more cheesy things that can break.

 

[Doug_G]

So this is Tesla's solution for those who abuse Superchargers locally!

LOL if we had one.

So it turned out that the rear left door handle had its wires pinched, and that shorted out the local control bus. The Ranger replaced the door handle and all is well again.

 

[tinanbran]

The drivers door handle on my rental car would not retract yesterday and I could only open the door from the inside. Called Tesla and they could not help. The handle was extended too far out. After several forceful pushes and pulls while locking and unlocking the car with the key fob suddenly restored normal operation.

Interesting same thing happed today to us with the passenger side. The handle extended to far and then would retract again after a few seconds.

 

[evp]

I think Tesla should motorize the few remaining things: Visors, glove box doors, movement of hand rest above cup holders. (can't think of anything else that is manual), so that they can get more cheesy things that can break.

Don't forget center rear-view mirror.

 

[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.

Unbelievably my door handles just failed again. Hard failure. Both left-hand handles fail to present and you can't open the door except from inside.

Would you believe... my driver's door handle just failed AGAIN! That's the third time this year, and if I'm counting correctly the sixth time since I got the car (not counting other doors... just this one). The thing is cursed!

Walked out to the car. Nice and cold again - the first -20C evening of the season - and it wouldn't present. Had to crawl in from the other side to open the door.

Fortunately it is going in for annual service on Monday.

 

[SmartElectric]

Sorry to hear. At least the timing of the service visit is helpful. Our early Vin S85 has been reliable. I wonder what is contributing to your issues.

 

[Doug_G]

Well it's a Signature so early production, they had only built ~1500 cars before mine. I expected issues early on but I would have figured they'd have settled out by now. Can't complain about the service, though, they've always been very good to me.

 

[RAM_Eh]

Mine is going in tomorrow for a handle that presents but does not unlach. It can open from the inside.

 

[Cyclone]

Mine is going in tomorrow for a handle that presents but does not unlach. It can open from the inside.

My driver door switch was replaced last week for the same reason. The third time now in 16 months.

 

[Falkirk]

As a model 3 future owner I must say I'm happy this won't be an issue with the car (I hope right!?).

Good luck to all the S's out there.

 

[Doug_G]

After sitting overnight in a warm-ish (0C) garage the handle started working again. I think it has a temperature sensitivity.

 

[scottm]

After sitting overnight in a warm-ish (0C) garage the handle started working again. I think it has a temperature sensitivity.

Hmmm... functional handle ..sometimes. Cold sensitivity. Could be poor electrical contact of a connector, maybe the door handle harness plug on the car side if replacing handles (as many times as you've had) has not gotten to the problem yet. With plug-n-play modular replacement the module works for awhile .. because it sufficiently disturbed the connector back into working condition for a while.

It could be a poor wire crimp on a pin, a dirty pin, or a stretched open pin not providing enough contact.. It could be wire flex fracture at the crimp on the pin.

What I sometimes do in cases like this is try to get at the failing part while leaving everything in its place in the failing condition, then wiggle, flex, move, hold at funny angles, warm the connectors .. (hair dryer) see if the thing becomes suddenly operable again if you hit some sweet spot. In hot environments, I spray canned air on points to freeze them.

Take the connector apart on both sides look for cleanliness, tarnish, corrosion on any pin. Bright light, jeweler's loupe, or other strong magnification helps. Gently tug wires from the back of the connector. Did one just break and pull out with ease?

Take a properly sized mating spare male pin (meant for the connector) and insert it into each hole of the connector side with female pins, using just fingertips to feeling for loose or weak insertion / removal forces. (You can sometimes find extra unused male pin in a similar connector on the car or the same connector ... extract it as a probing donor.) Any weak holding female pin might be improved with a gentle squeeze of needle nose pliers when extracted.

Using a contact cleaner and electrical contact lube can mean the difference when putting it back together.

A non-responsive handle (won't present) is not getting the message. Power or data. Can at least test that power is getting through the connector using your VOM testing the power carrying wires with an insulation displacement piercing probe (fancy name for needle).

An intermittent wire problem might be mid-harness anywhere it is overly flexed (going into the door from the hinged pillar side) ... or any connector along the way backward to the commander and supplier of life.

Mechanics can really rack up the hours diagnosing these things. Sometimes in frustration will start cutting out connectors and hardwiring (solder and tape) each wire pair... to make sure they never see that problem again.

 

[hingisfan]

In the summer, my drivers handle would extend, but wouldn't open the door without repeated jiggling and pulling. Somehow it's now fixed itself.