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Fix your door that won't open

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#61
OK, Tesla has corrected an assumption I made re the slit in the soft mechanism cover. I'm told that is not a result of the window clamp cutting the cover but is provided to facilitate adjustment. I hope that false fact I provided does not blossom into a new false truth.

I'm happy to accept the blame for the following incorrect statement "That clamp had made a vertical incision on the soft black plastic mech cover (it had gone all the way through but had not done any wire cutting)." but I would like it excised from the comment I made on Sunday 23rd October 2016 (Australia time) if possible to avoid misleading others. So if a moderator can cut that line out or extend editing privileges to me at this late stage so I can remove it that would be peachy.
 
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#64
You are probably wondering what happened to me :)

Since the car was not really drivable while the door was in pieces, that sort of held me back from working on it. I could never really find the error on the part, even though I became proficient at getting it in and out of the door.

So I gave up and booked an appointment to get it fixed by Tesla. They sent me a quote ahead of time, it was like $800 including labour, so I wasn't looking forward to that much.

However, when they finally got hold of it and removed the part, they realised they could repair it themselves and only charged me $169 for parts and labour. Phew!
 
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#65
Ya, they used to just replace the whole handle assembly.... they'd quote you the full $ cha-ching for that.. roughly $1000 job per door

But then started stocking switch kits for R&R just the switches (a la this thread!) and put the original repaired ass'y back in. I mean, why not... better use of resources.

The switches themselves are like $4 a piece, so the per-door kit of 2 switches, wires, and a plug would cost about $10 - $15 at a retail level. $169 for the part from Tesla and the JOB ... is reasonable, and a whole lot better than $1000, right?
 
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#69
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#71
scottm said:
..You asked the same question in July in this thread... !! Get on it :)
Click to expand...

Lol the door had started working again so I put it off....can't believe it's been 6 months wow. Definitely ordering the parts now and fixing those doors. Kansas City called me back about it and they do sell a repair kit. Not sure what all is included but the microswitch is one of the items. $99 dollars though. Thanks again for everyones help.
 
#72
#74
wcfinvader said:
Lol the door had started working again so I put it off....can't believe it's been 6 months wow. Definitely ordering the parts now and fixing those doors. Kansas City called me back about it and they do sell a repair kit. Not sure what all is included but the microswitch is one of the items. $99 dollars though. Thanks again for everyones help.
Click to expand...

Let us know what they sell as a kit.. probably two switches and the plug all connected together as a unit. HANDY!
 
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#75
In my case the switch was just fine, but the white wire was broken near the switch. It came off when I tugged on not very hard. I removed the rubber seal and there is good access to solder it back on. Then I covered that with hot glue to seal it again and to provide better strain relief. I also tacked down the wires as suggested in this thread so there is less flexing in the future. I did it all with the handle out of the car but it might be possible without removing it, if you're able to remove and put back the plastic water shield.
 
#76
Dithermaster said:
In my case the switch was just fine, but the white wire was broken near the switch. It came off when I tugged on not very hard. I removed the rubber seal and there is good access to solder it back on. Then I covered that with hot glue to seal it again and to provide better strain relief. I also tacked down the wires as suggested in this thread so there is less flexing in the future. I did it all with the handle out of the car but it might be possible without removing it, if you're able to remove and put back the plastic water shield.
Click to expand...

I'm going to open up the doors Monday and work on it to see if I can have the same luck just soldering it back together. Is there a good box store to buy wire for it?

I also enclosed a picture of the parts in the repair kit. One is for the going in and out of the door handle and the other wire is for the actual opening and closing of the door.

tmp_5219-20161231_084014-1388231382.jpg
 
#77
Finally got the driver's door handle fixed but ran into a small issue when reassembling. The layer on the backside of the door handle that is just held on by some kind of sticky stuff is all dried out. Anyone have a suggestion as to what to use to get it to stick and stay on? By the way it's very cold here ~10°F so I'd need something that would work in this cold. Without it on cords get caught when the window goes up or down and with it on but not firmly sticking the protective layer gets caught.
 
#78
3M makes a huge assortment of caulking and sealants for automotives...

Drop by a body shop and ask what would be best for holding plastic covers on interior door panels, and maybe buy a tube off them... heck, they probably throw away mostly-empty tubes after jobs that have enough for doing your one handle
 
#79
A few items:

1. The backside shield could be held on with something like 3m weatherstripping adhesive. Get it in black (I never understood why some places only carry the yellow version). It works like contact cement...you put a thin layer on each side, let it dry for 3 or 4 minutes and thrn press and hold together for a minute or so. It can be easily removed. I picked up my last tube from a local auto parts store. Example:
Amazon.com: 3M 08008 Black Super Weatherstrip Adhesive Tube - 5 oz.: Automotive

2. The backside shield isn't that great. It is open at the bottom to let the wire connectors in and thus outside air comes in to the inside of the door anyway which leads me to number 3...

3. Ranger came out to my house for this repair and said the newer Teslas are getting a different door handle assembly where the backside is sealed (i.e the front and back sides will look the same). He indicated it would likely address the noise and air leak issues the current design has, BUT we both wondered if there would be any serviceable parts in the new design!!! I don' know if the two halves will bolt together OR if the clamshell will be a sealed assembly. If the latter, hopefully the design of the microswitch has been changed so the moving part doesn't flex the wires over and over.

4. When the ranger re-installed the door handle, he used a little template on the outside (taped in place) to align the handle in the opening. He indicated they used to just use credit cards or whatever before they had the template.

5. The ranger showed me how the microswitch wire broke off at the switch the second he touched it (same as many of you). I had already perused this thread (one of the few "repair" DIYs here on TMC since so many are still under warranty I suppose), so I was already familiar with the nature of the issue.
 
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#80
cab said:
A few items:

1. The backside shield could be held on with something like 3m weatherstripping adhesive. Get it in black (I never understood why some places only carry the yellow version). It works like contact cement...you put a thin layer on each side, let it dry for 3 or 4 minutes and thrn press and hold together for a minute or so. It can be easily removed. I picked up my last tube from a local auto parts store. Example:
Amazon.com: 3M 08008 Black Super Weatherstrip Adhesive Tube - 5 oz.: Automotive

2. The backside shield isn't that great. It is open at the bottom to let the wire connectors in and thus outside air comes in to the inside of the door anyway which leads me to number 3...

3. Ranger came out to my house for this repair and said the newer Teslas are getting a different door handle assembly where the backside is sealed (i.e the front and back sides will look the same). He indicated it would likely address the noise and air leak issues the current design has, BUT we both wondered if there would be any serviceable parts in the new design!!! I don' know if the two halves will bolt together OR if the clamshell will be a sealed assembly. If the latter, hopefully the design of the microswitch has been changed so the moving part doesn't flex the wires over and over.

4. When the ranger re-installed the door handle, he used a little template on the outside (taped in place) to align the handle in the opening. He indicated they used to just use credit cards or whatever before they had the template.

5. The ranger showed me how the microswitch wire broke off at the switch the second he touched it (same as many of you). I had already perused this thread (one of the few "repair" DIYs here on TMC since so many are still under warranty I suppose), so I was already familiar with the nature of the issue.
Click to expand...

Thans for your input. We ended up just using a hot glue gun to seal it. I got it back on and now the handle won't even come out so I suppose we will have the ranger fix it. Hopefully it don't cost the $1k per handle to fix but I'll find out tomorrow.
 
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