Homelink very flaky

[RDoc]

After well over a year of the Homelink system in our Tesla working perfectly, it's been very flaky for the last few months. I only have a single entry and it's set for auto close and open. The problem is that it occasionally doesn't do the auto part, usually close, but occasionally open.

When I pull out of the garage, about 1 out of 3 times, the homelink dropdown appears, but the message about auto close in 20 ft doesn't. Apparently it knows about the location, but has forgotten that the auto is set.

I've reset the console, deleted the entry and reset it up, deleted the entry and created a new entry and the behavior is the same. Most of the time it works, but in a significant number of cases it doesn't do the auto close/open. I also mentioned it to the SC on my last visit and they checked out the hardware and it was fine, which isn't surprising since when I activate it manually it always works. It's just forgetting the auto setting. We're on 17.27.76.

This seems really weird to me.

 

[sku100]

After well over a year of the Homelink system in our Tesla working perfectly, it's been very flaky for the last few months. I only have a single entry and it's set for auto close and open. The problem is that it occasionally doesn't do the auto part, usually close, but occasionally open.

When I pull out of the garage, about 1 out of 3 times, the homelink dropdown appears, but the message about auto close in 20 ft doesn't. Apparently it knows about the location, but has forgotten that the auto is set.

I've reset the console, deleted the entry and reset it up, deleted the entry and created a new entry and the behavior is the same. Most of the time it works, but in a significant number of cases it doesn't do the auto close/open. I also mentioned it to the SC on my last visit and they checked out the hardware and it was fine, which isn't surprising since when I activate it manually it always works. It's just forgetting the auto setting. We're on 17.27.76.

This seems really weird to me.

I have noticed the same problem but with this last, not "silky smooth", update it doesn't always operate the door even when I push the button. My garage door opener transmitter works without a glitch. I suspect something has changed with the transmitter software. I hope they fix it soon!

 

[richardl007]

I have the same problem...

 

[flyeyes]

I have the same problem...

Yeah me too

 

[bob_p]

The issue isn't Homelink - it's with the GPS positioning.

Since the Homelink requires accurate GPS location to trigger the auto-close/open signal, if the GPS location is off even a little, it may not trigger the opener - even when the Homelink icon is displayed in green (indicating the software believes it is close to the door).

Plus, GPS location can be difficult to achieve inside structures.

To check this - if Homelink isn't auto-triggering, look at the console map display - and zoom in to your current location. It's likely your position may be off a little.

What's interesting is that the map software seems to sometimes realize the GPS location isn't correct, because the car icon would be displayed off road - so it will try to artificially adjust the car's location and place it on the nearest road - which can make it look like GPS is working correctly - at least until you turn onto a new road, then it has to make another adjustment.

Usually when this happens, after driving a while, the GPS software will get enough location data to fix the issue.

But, if it doesn't - and you continue to see this problem, report it to the nearest Service Center to have them check your GPS.

And, don't turn off the Homelink sound for auto-opening. We've had this problem at least once. Pulling out of the garage, the auto-close didn't trigger, so we manually closed the door. Then as we pulled out of the driveway and started pulling away, Homelink thought it was now at the auto-trigger location, and sent a signal to the door, which caused it to open. If we hadn't noticed the "ding", we wouldn't have realized this was happening (since we don't look at the map display when we are backing onto the street and pulling away).

Another issue we've found, now that we have two Model S cars parked in the same garage... If we both arrive home or leave home at about the same time. The first car sends the opener command - and shortly after that the second car does the same. This causes the door to reverse direction - which can have it start closing on the second car - or when leaving, opening the door when we've left the garage.

What Tesla should do to fix this... Many newer garage door openers also support a WiFi interface - so you can open and close the door using a smartphone interface. The Homelink garage door openers are dumb devices, they only send out signals, and don't receive any status information back. So the Tesla software has no idea if it is opening or closing the door. The WiFi interface gets status information - it knows if the door is open or closed. If the Tesla software used this interface, it would send an open command only when the door was closed or a close command only when open. Plus, when you're away from the house, you could check the status of the door - and possibly even issue open/close commands from the car (perhaps after entering a PIN).

 

[RDoc]

If they really are relying on good GPS reception inside garages, their software group is even dumber than even I think they are, and that's pretty bad. If that were the case, people with below grade garages would really be SOL.

The car knows where it was when it last stopped, and barring some kind of towing operation, it's still there when it starts next. That's all it need for positioning information.

 

[bob_p]

If they really are relying on good GPS reception inside garages, their software group is even dumber than even I think they are, and that's pretty bad. If that were the case, people with below grade garages would really be SOL.

The car knows where it was when it last stopped, and barring some kind of towing operation, it's still there when it starts next. That's all it need for positioning information.

Yes, the car should know where it was when it stopped.

However... Tesla now forces all cars to go into sleep mode overnight - and when that happens, if the software doesn't properly save the previous state (which has been a problem for the media player), when the software wakes up, it may forget where the car was when it went to sleep.

I'm guessing that about 25% of the time when I pull out of my garage, the auto-close doesn't trigger, and it's most likely that the GPS positioning is off just enough so it doesn't believe I'm near the trigger point.

 

[sku100]

Mine fails 50% of the time, leaving and arriving back home. It is not predictable.
It certainly may be a GPS problem, but this only started in the last month. Before that it worked flawlessly. Something changed in the code.

 

[steve841]

Its something since 8.0 .... and I dont think Tesla will acknowledge it.

 

[idealsol]

Since 17.28 I am also having homelink issues. Mine is different than the above issues. Door now seems to close all the way sometimes, but maybe 80-90% other times. Pretty annoying as you have to watch for a full close before leaving
I have rebooted the console without luck
Should I try resetting the location?
I believe the current location was set with the car parked in the garage

 

[GaryREM]

Unfortunate the way this works (or doesn't).

Chamberlain has nice system (which can be retrofit to most openers) that allows remote control and monitoring and alerts me if door left open.

 

[DrivingRockies]

Mine shows that it should be triggering, and then doesn't. On occasion I have tried to do it manually, it still doesn't work. Later that day it works fine.

 

[Silverstreak]

Unfortunate the way this works (or doesn't).

Chamberlain has nice system (which can be retrofit to most openers) that allows remote control and monitoring and alerts me if door left open.

Yep, I use it in conjunction to Homelink. My Homelink only has issues if I get it out of sequence, and usually resolves itself the next cycle.

 

[mspohr]

Also, check to make sure that you do NOT have LED bulbs in the door opener.
Apparently, these cause interference with the receiver.

 

[simonog]

A problem I ran across was the length of the pulse that the car sends to the door. My door had a detector which triggered on the edge i.e. the start of the signal. If, however, the signal went on too long, it did not respond because it decided it hadn't had a pulse.

I had to build a simple RC circuit to turn a long pulse into an edge.

Shortening the pulse from the car would not be sensible because then for many people e car might be slightly out of position and would fail to get the signal to the door (e.g. if arriving too slowly)

 

[idealsol]

Since 17.28 I am also having homelink issues. Mine is different than the above issues. Door now seems to close all the way sometimes, but maybe 80-90% other times. Pretty annoying as you have to watch for a full close before leaving
I have rebooted the console without luck
Should I try resetting the location?
I believe the current location was set with the car parked in the garage

The SC adjusted the "trigger time"
Per the invoice:

Concern: Customer stated that the garage door will start closing but stops half the time.

Corrections: Homelink General Diagnosis

Adjusted trigger time for opening from two seconds to one. Cusotmer: Please advise whether issue is better or worse.

So far, it's working fine

 

[wayner]

Me too - the AutoOpen and AutoClose used to work 99%+ of the time. Over the last few months I would say it is more like about 80%.