Horn honks if I try to drive my M3

[Gardyloo]

Just got my M3 and decided to update to 40.50.1. I had some issues with the update but now the software is installed according to the car and the Tesla app. However, if I try to drive it, while all is fine as long as I don't turn the wheel, if I do, the horn blows as long as I'm turning. The neighbors wonder if I'm being kidnapped and honking for help. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, how did you fix it?
I have talked to technical support and they were very helpful but said that after an update it can take several hours - up to 24 hours - for the software to be completely installed. Apparently in complex systems there is a lot of cross checking that is required to fully validate the software and this takes time. I believe the honking is the car telling me that it's not ready to drive yet. So I'm waiting for time to pass and posting this in case someone can add an insight based on a similar experience.

 

[eye.surgeon]

Never heard of this before, and although I am assuming you have done a hard reset already, if you haven't, do it.

 

[Akikiki]

Temporarily hang a sign on both front doors. "My car is proud to be a Tesla and shouts to the world".

That bus about taking hours to spreading through the system is as silly as my comment above.

 

[Silicon Desert]

wow, just when I thought I heard of every kind of weird quirk, this one comes along.
As for the software taking 24 hours to be completely installed.... I think the tech support person didn't understand or didn't convey the right information. It doesn't take up to 24 hours to completely install, but what he probably means is that "depending on the update features", it might take longer than the original completion for some of the car's systems to update.... usually things involving camera calibration.

As said above, did you hard reset the car?

 

[Gardyloo]

Yes, I did do a hard reset.
I talked to my son who is the head of a games company and one of the programmers and he said that taking a long time for the various systems to crosscheck always surprises him with how long it takes. It is quite different from updating simple systems like a computer OS. The tech person said much the same, said it's a car we are dealing with, a very complex system.

 

[Timbo2]

Probably a coincidence.

In the wheel is a “clockspring”. It is how you can have a wheel that spins and still passes electrical connections for the horn.

My armchair diagnosis is that it broke. It’s a fairly easy fix so mobile can likely do it.

https://www.youcanic.com/wiki/clock-spring

 

[Gardyloo]

Wow! Clever possibility, Timbo2.
But I did not mention that at first, before I re-installed and did a hard reset, the horn would sound if I merely touched the door or the steering wheel, no wheel turning needed. It doesn't do that anymore so I didn't mention it in the OP. I'm guessing a factory reset will be needed but I'm not doing that without Tesla approval.

 

[sduck]

Something is screwed up in your car. Make a service appointment.

Have you done a power off reset?

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

This sounds like a mechanical issue that has nothing to do with software. I’d schedule service.

 

[Gardyloo]

Definitely not a mechanical because the car drove fine when delivered. The problem began immediately after doing a software update. I have talked with 4 or 5 people in tech support, all of whom were excellent BTW, and the end result is that no reset or such fixes the problem. They recommended Mobile Support and I have an appt, Jan 3. Would like an earlier one but this has got to be the worst time of year: Christmas season and lots of end-of-year deliveries. Obviously, I cannot drive to a SC with the horn acting this way, i.e., blaring whenever I turn the wheel 90 deg or more.

 

[iwannam3]

Find the horn and unplug the terminal attache to it. Should be easy to find it, just honk!

 

[Gardyloo]

Thanks for the suggestion.
But I hesitate to drive because the horn's acting up is presumably an indication that something is not right with the software upgrade, which means that I cannot be sure that something else weird, i.e., unsafe, might not happen while driving.

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

The odds something went wrong with your software upgrade that causes the horn to honk when you turn the wheel is absurdly low. I'd call it zero. The car is less complicated than you think. Aside from mechanical failure, the steering wheel always turn the front tires, and the brake pedal always applies the brakes. The airbag assembly is either slightly out of alignment, or the clockspring is screwed.

 

[sduck]

Definitely not a mechanical because the car drove fine when delivered. The problem began immediately after doing a software update. I have talked with 4 or 5 people in tech support, all of whom were excellent BTW, and the end result is that no reset or such fixes the problem. They recommended Mobile Support and I have an appt, Jan 3. Would like an earlier one but this has got to be the worst time of year: Christmas season and lots of end-of-year deliveries. Obviously, I cannot drive to a SC with the horn acting this way, i.e., blaring whenever I turn the wheel 90 deg or more.

I'd wager that's it's definitely a mechanical issue. The timing of the update that happened when this issue started was probably coincidental. It sounds 100% like a common mechanical switch/contact issue from the symptoms as described.

 

[Akikiki]

Fun thread to read.

 

[Gardyloo]

I'd wager that's it's definitely a mechanical issue. The timing of the update that happened when this issue started was probably coincidental. It sounds 100% like a common mechanical switch/contact issue from the symptoms as described.

I believe in coincidences too, but you have a far far greater belief than I do. There is a general rule in systems troubleshooting that if a problem shows up immediately after a change to the system, the number one suspect is whatever you changed. So if your airplane engine stops just after you switch tanks, it's probably not that you have run out of gas even though the symptom is exactly like when you run out of gas. It's because you switched to an empty tank. Solution: switch to a non-empty tank.

 

[Gardyloo]

The odds something went wrong with your software upgrade that causes the horn to honk when you turn the wheel is absurdly low. I'd call it zero. The car is less complicated than you think. Aside from mechanical failure, the steering wheel always turn the front tires, and the brake pedal always applies the brakes. The airbag assembly is either slightly out of alignment, or the clockspring is screwed.

So why did it act perfectly normal when the delivery guy drove it off the truck, along the street and then up our driveway?
After I did the upgrade but before doing a system reset, the horn would blow just by my touching the door from inside, or barely touching the steering wheel, no turning the wheel or squeezing the wheel...just BARELY touching it. After reinstalling the software and some more resets, it improved to the point that I have to turn the wheel 90 deg before the horn blows, touching does nothing.

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

If you need to barely press the wheel to get the horn to honk, that’s all but a guarantee it’s mechanical. The car has a simple switch for the horn like everything else, so it does not detect pressure. It has no way to know the difference between pressing hard or lightly, it just knows if the contacts are closed. The car cant sense axial load any other way.

 

[Gardyloo]

If you need to barely press the wheel to get the horn to honk, that’s all but a guarantee it’s mechanical. The car has a simple switch for the horn like everything else, so it does not detect pressure. It has no way to know the difference between pressing hard or lightly, it just knows if the contacts are closed. The car cant sense axial load any other way.

So what was happening when the horn honked when I touched the door, not the wheel?

 

[SMAlset]

Never heard of this happening either. And yes interesting thread read. I had to laugh at picturing this and at first wondered if someone in your house with a remote key or remote access to the car via phone app was honking your horn.

Feel for you that it didn't correct itself after the update (if that's what caused it). What happens when you actually depress the horn?