Door opens itself after closing, door handle also wonky

[einnocent]

My 2019 MS Performance has an issue with the driver's door where after closing the door, it opens itself. I close the door firmly but not hard, the door latches, and the window raises slightly. Then after a beat, the door opens itself. This is a problem, because I need the door to be closed so I can drive the car. Luckily, if I hold the door closed (pushing hard from the outside or pulling hard from the inside), often it will stay closed.

Also the door handle started acting up at the same time. Sometimes it partially extends, sometimes it doesn't extend at all, and sometimes it fully extends normally. When it extends at all, sometimes the handle quickly pops closed. If I press on the handle, the door opens, so this is less of a problem, but I suspect the two issues (door opening uncommanded, and door handle being wonky) are connected because they both began at the same time.

Any thoughts on what might be causing this? I've watched some videos on door handle shenanigans, but none of the typical issues (broken gear; bad switch; broken wire) seemed to lead to behavior like this. In particular, there are no weird sounds, and the handle sometimes fully extends, so I'm not suspecting a broken gear. Any thoughts? I appreciate any feedback.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Why not just contact Tesla to have them fix it? If it needs replacement, there's a newer version 3 handle that's much less expensive & far more reliable they'll likely replace it with for $250-$300.

 

[einnocent]

If it only costs that much then I'd do it, but I thought the cost was a lot more.

 

[Ostrichsak]

If it only costs that much then I'd do it, but I thought the cost was a lot more.

It used to be far more expensive with the previous two versions but the newest version represented a significantly more simplified and thus, less expensive version. I'd contact them before I did anything else.

If they want to fix your existing handle assembly for like $100 or more though I'd request a full replacement for not much more as there was plenty of weak points on that previous handle. More than likely if you invested to repair it one of the other issues would fail again. I know that Tesla was still repairing the older ones due to supply line issues on that newest version but you should be good now.

I'd schedule a service appt with Tesla and go from there with what their quote tells you.

 

[einnocent]

I was just quoted $429. Definitely more than I had hoped, but still low enough that it probably still makes sense to have them do it.

 

[einnocent]

I got the repair today via mobile service. Pretty easy. The technician said that based on the handle's behavior, it could have been the handle module ("the brains"), and he tried replacing that first since it was a quicker and cheaper fix, but no dice, and he ended up replacing the whole handle as planned.

Afterward I asked if the original handle was a gen 3 and he said he thought so but wasn't 100% sure. He said it's usually the driver's handle that fails so I shouldn't be seeing him three more times, though we shall see.

 

[McElectric]

I have the same behavior. Mine (Oct 2018) has the V3 door handle, so a new one wouldn't be an upgrade (aside from working correctly). I've read elsewhere that the moving part of the handle can drag on the rubber surround and trick the sensor into thinking that the handle is being pushed or pulled. The handle does touch the rubber, and my other handles don't seem to touch. Not clear how to fix that alignment.

 

[McElectric]

Eliminating the stiction did not fix the handle. It did make the behavior consistent though. Back to the drawing board.

 

[einnocent]

Thanks for checking this out, if you discover anything else I'd be interested to hear about it.

The door handles are dumb. All they do to open the door is detect whether you've pulled on them (i.e., the act of pulling does nothing to open the door itself), but they also detect when you've touched them in order to extend them. Why not have an option such they stay retracted, and when you touch them they open the door instead of extending the handle? Madness.

 

[beatle]

You need to buy a Model X for doors that open like that.

 

[Rossta0825]

For the DIY folks out of warranty that might need to fix this, I thought I'd share what I learned fixing mine today.
If you have a grinding sound, then you probably have the broken paddle gear problem that connects the motor to the handle. There are other posts about that. That wasn't my problem. The motor on my handle was trying to fully extend the handle to the point where the door would automatically open sometimes.
Other posts and videos will show you how to remove the handle assembly and open it up, but none of them provide information about what is going on inside. There are 3 microswitches. Two are on one side and there is one on the other. I was working on a left-side door so the single switch was on the left with most of the wires on the right side. When the handle extends, that single switch is supposed to click closed when the handle is not quite fully extended. There is another switch on the right side in about the same location, next to the handle, which clicks closed when the handle is pulled to activate the door to open. The third switch is also on the right side and slightly below the handle near the paddle gear and clicks closed when the paddle gear retracts the handle fully.
The problem area is that the two switches next to the handle move with that handle and the wires attached to them get pushed and pulled every time. This can cause them to break loose from the microswitches.
For me, it was that single switch by itself that had a wire break loose. This meant the handle didn't know when to stop extending the handle so it would go too far. Although I had thought I'd figured out that switch was the problem, I got lucky and while trying to test it by actuating it before fully extended, the wire came fully disconnected so I could see it.
To repair it, I cut lengthwise through the black rubber covering the wires so I could expose the terminals. I then re-soldered the wire to the terminal. Finally, I re-insulated the wires using hot-melt glue which I extended a little bit down the wires to serve as strain relief.
I connected the handle assembly wires back together along with the inside handle to allow me to test it before re-installing. You do have to "fake" the door closing using a screwdriver on the body side to get the handle to move to the "relaxed" position with the window up. Then pulling the handle you'll hear that door latch reset and the window drop.
Good luck!