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Front Collision TESLA P85. Repair and Troubleshooting Help Needed.
- Thread starter Yauheni
- Start date
mikes_fsd
Banned
That is awesome news!
This entire project -- with successful result -- makes me really happy!
Given that one does not have physical damage to the bat or drive-unit(s) one can get the car back on the road on their own!
Thank you for this thread Yauheni!
This entire project -- with successful result -- makes me really happy!
Given that one does not have physical damage to the bat or drive-unit(s) one can get the car back on the road on their own!
Thank you for this thread Yauheni!
Too bad he never followed-up on this, it would have been great for the community
I helped him get the car going again, and I believe he sold it.
My tally now of restored Tesla S/X cars back on the road is over 300. 95% of the cars I have never laid hands on or seen in person, all work was done remotely. This is because the diagnostic capability of these cars is so far above anything else I've ever worked on, including FADEC systems for Jet Engines. There have been only a few out of the lot that were never put back on the road, as it was determined there was something major wrong with the pack. In those cases, the car is usually parted out, and many of the parts live again in another car.
Sorry to be a bit OT here, fair warning:
<RANT ON>
The sad thing is last year Tesla's president of North American Sales/Service, Jon McNeill, directly promised me that Tesla was going to open up service access to the secondary market and stop preventing us from buying parts. So far this has not happened, and it looks like Model 3 is even more locked down then the S/X.
Tesla continues to work hard to lock us out of our own cars. It's only through hundreds of hours of intense study of these systems we are able to get in to perform normal service and get a salvage car back on the road. So far only a few people around the world have the time and expertise to accomplish this. I don't believe Tesla should do it this way. This is being reflected in the cost of insuring Model S/X because almost all are totaled after a relatively minor accident. The salvage value continues to be low because most competent professionals that can fix any other car simply can't do anything on a Tesla. (at least not without the help of someone like me) This means the insurance underwriter doesn't recoup much value from a salvage sale and they are now passing this cost on to the customer. Tesla's response to this is just to try and offer their own branded insurance though a partnership with Liberty Mutual. So far this is not working, and the cost of a policy with them is still higher than comparable ICE cars on the free market.
I love Tesla's Engineering and their cars. I want them to succeed, but I think they have gotten so big they are becoming a mired bureaucracy and are not seeing this big picture. How can they become mass market with $35k cars when it will cost about that much again to insure the car for 10 years?!? My only hope is future "right to repair" legislation. I am generally a believer in small government and less regulation, that the free market will fix this, but in this one case, it may not happen soon enough and it can jeopardize Tesla's mission. If just a few states force Tesla to open up parts/service, then this may cause Tesla to release it for everyone. So far they are not adhering to the spirit of the Massachusetts Right to Repair system, but nobody has yet taken them to task.
I think a separate thread is in order for discussing this though. I just am pretty unhappy with how Tesla is treating it's customers and wanted to vent a little. I'm not sure Elon's dream of privatized service is any better then the traditional dealer franchise system.
</RANT OFF>
The one positive of Tesla's policy is that it's making it possible for Tesla fans to have low-cost cars if they are adventurous and willing to take on an orphan with no official source of parts and service info. Go get them while the getting is good! I'll do what I can to help.
My tally now of restored Tesla S/X cars back on the road is over 300. 95% of the cars I have never laid hands on or seen in person, all work was done remotely. This is because the diagnostic capability of these cars is so far above anything else I've ever worked on, including FADEC systems for Jet Engines. There have been only a few out of the lot that were never put back on the road, as it was determined there was something major wrong with the pack. In those cases, the car is usually parted out, and many of the parts live again in another car.
Sorry to be a bit OT here, fair warning:
<RANT ON>
The sad thing is last year Tesla's president of North American Sales/Service, Jon McNeill, directly promised me that Tesla was going to open up service access to the secondary market and stop preventing us from buying parts. So far this has not happened, and it looks like Model 3 is even more locked down then the S/X.
Tesla continues to work hard to lock us out of our own cars. It's only through hundreds of hours of intense study of these systems we are able to get in to perform normal service and get a salvage car back on the road. So far only a few people around the world have the time and expertise to accomplish this. I don't believe Tesla should do it this way. This is being reflected in the cost of insuring Model S/X because almost all are totaled after a relatively minor accident. The salvage value continues to be low because most competent professionals that can fix any other car simply can't do anything on a Tesla. (at least not without the help of someone like me) This means the insurance underwriter doesn't recoup much value from a salvage sale and they are now passing this cost on to the customer. Tesla's response to this is just to try and offer their own branded insurance though a partnership with Liberty Mutual. So far this is not working, and the cost of a policy with them is still higher than comparable ICE cars on the free market.
I love Tesla's Engineering and their cars. I want them to succeed, but I think they have gotten so big they are becoming a mired bureaucracy and are not seeing this big picture. How can they become mass market with $35k cars when it will cost about that much again to insure the car for 10 years?!? My only hope is future "right to repair" legislation. I am generally a believer in small government and less regulation, that the free market will fix this, but in this one case, it may not happen soon enough and it can jeopardize Tesla's mission. If just a few states force Tesla to open up parts/service, then this may cause Tesla to release it for everyone. So far they are not adhering to the spirit of the Massachusetts Right to Repair system, but nobody has yet taken them to task.
I think a separate thread is in order for discussing this though. I just am pretty unhappy with how Tesla is treating it's customers and wanted to vent a little. I'm not sure Elon's dream of privatized service is any better then the traditional dealer franchise system.
</RANT OFF>
The one positive of Tesla's policy is that it's making it possible for Tesla fans to have low-cost cars if they are adventurous and willing to take on an orphan with no official source of parts and service info. Go get them while the getting is good! I'll do what I can to help.
Can you elaborate on this part? Are you referring to the fact that there isn't an easily accessible live Ethernet cable?
Sorry, I can't get into this yet in a public forum. But it's nowhere near the same architecture as S/X.
@Ingineer, thank you for sharing your thoughts, which I believe are right !
Could you please elaborate more of what he needed from you and what you could do remote to help him.
I would have been interested from him to share his experience on the body shop work and on your side if you can share more on what was his challenges that you have been able to overcome.
thanks again !
Could you please elaborate more of what he needed from you and what you could do remote to help him.
I would have been interested from him to share his experience on the body shop work and on your side if you can share more on what was his challenges that you have been able to overcome.
thanks again !
This I think is going to be the biggest issue with Tesla going forward. Not the 3 ramp or AP stuff, the fact that you can't get your car repaired outside of the Tesla network and their outrageous rates. The service monopoly is fine when you're only selling $100k cars and they are all under warranty. Its going to be a major issue as cars come off warranty, and as Model 3 owners aren't willing to tolerate the obscene annual service fees.
@Ingineer I think it would be great if you moved/copied it to its own thread as its to important to be buried in this thread.
It would also be awesome if @JonMc Followed up with his prior promise.
bkp_duke
Well-Known Member
Sorry guys, I missed this message.
For the record, I bought this car from the OP and have had it for about 15 months now.
I don't regret the purchase, and the car has served us well to date. There have been a few small issues, but they have helped me learn more about the car.
Items tackled so far:
1) Car did not have homelink module. Bought that and installed it.
2) MCU in car started to have the dreaded bubble problem. Replaced the screen on the MCU. While the MCU was out, I did the LTE upgrade.
Current issues to be tackled:
1) Contactors in battery pack are going bad (known defect in these early VINs). A friend is going to help me out by swapping these out in about a month. Fortunately Tesla's software has improved considerably and you get advanced warning of the failure and time to plan (this is our second P85 for which this has happened).
2) The SD card on the MCU has gone bad and died. I have to pull the dash to get the MCU out and replace it, just haven't had time.
bkp_duke
Well-Known Member
As a follow up to my list above:
1) Performed a battery "drop" from the car with a good friend and we replaced the contactors. Full power restored. He in his 2015 85D and me in this 2013 P85 raced. The P85 at a similar state of charge is a faster car than the 85D (for those that still had doubts).
2) SD card in the MCU was actually fine.
Right now the only outstanding problem that I want to address is WATER that seeps into the rear trunk hatchback. After talking to several people, this is definitively a set of bad seals on the rear taillights (another known issue in these early VIN cars). I'll probably wait till winter to tackle this one, as the process is a bit extensive and we're now hitting the dry season here in San Diego (although this past week certainly could fool anyone).
1) Performed a battery "drop" from the car with a good friend and we replaced the contactors. Full power restored. He in his 2015 85D and me in this 2013 P85 raced. The P85 at a similar state of charge is a faster car than the 85D (for those that still had doubts).
2) SD card in the MCU was actually fine.
Right now the only outstanding problem that I want to address is WATER that seeps into the rear trunk hatchback. After talking to several people, this is definitively a set of bad seals on the rear taillights (another known issue in these early VIN cars). I'll probably wait till winter to tackle this one, as the process is a bit extensive and we're now hitting the dry season here in San Diego (although this past week certainly could fool anyone).
Hello! Thanks for following up, as I also own a 13’ P85 thats out of warranty. How did you know that the contactors were going bad? Does it give a warning? I have about 65K miles and have a feeling theyll go bad on me soon. How hard was replacing them and where did you get new ones? Sorry for all the questions but i jsut want to have as much information i can as I do not habe tesla support.
bkp_duke
Well-Known Member
The car will give you a reduced power warning and say contact tesla at first convenience.
Replacing them . . . . absolute BEAR. You must drop the battery pack (you need a lift, and something sturdy to hold the pack up while you raise the car off the pack). Then you have to pull the main fuse inside the pack (near the front). That is in an enclosure with (typical) torx bolts. After that, then you can start pealing up the back of the pack like a sardine can to get to the contactors. Once that is done then you can reach the contactors and start unbolting them. All of this while being properly insulated (HEAVY insulation electrical gloves). This is something you should probably not do if you have never opened a pack. I had a friend with experience help me out, I would not have attempted it myself.
Then of course there was re-assembly, and having access to the Tesla Toolbox to be able to clear our the errors on the car (they DO NOT auto-clear).
A straight up pack swap is a lot easier than a contactor swap, but getting someone to buy your old pack or swap out with you can be challenging. All told, took us 6-7 hours to complete the work.
If you go the contactor route, you want to REALLY try to get a pair of contactors out of a Tesla that are GIGAVAC (AVOID TYCO!!!) because they have the proper pigtail and can be just dropped in. Without the pigtail, you just get ones with bare wires and have to splice on the pigtail from the set you are removing.
