Is this frunk going to cost me?

[Durzel]

1. Pull emergency cable (while car unlocked, leave drivers door open or something)
2. Partially dismantle wheel arch trim, reach in and try and cut the harness cable to the cinch motor (see linked thread above)
3. Get Tesla to dismantle your frunk from below (likely expensive in labour)

As I understand it those are basically your options in order of difficulty.

Any update @kuruma ?

 

[kuruma]

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. We rarely need the frunk unless we are off camping which is only a summer activity. And seeing as the cable is more likely to snap in colder weather, I've decided to hold off until the weather is warmer. We can live without it for now. I'll wait for the spring.

 

[WllXM]

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. We rarely need the frunk unless we are off camping which is only a summer activity. And seeing as the cable is more likely to snap in colder weather, I've decided to hold off until the weather is warmer. We can live without it for now. I'll wait for the spring.

Hopefully you've topped-up your windscreen washer fluid not long ago...

 

[kuruma]

Oh yeah good point. I have actually recently topped up, but yes I'd forgotten that's in there so appreciate that reminder. Sunny today and milder than it has been so i might give it a go.

 

[kuruma]

so, pulling the emergency release cable was successful using the method with two pliers shared in the video earlier. Thanks for that.

Here's a pic of our mechanism (with emergency release string installed!) Looks fine to me nearly four years after install.

However, the frunk closed quite clumsily the first time I tried to close it with the button. After that, it closed normally and now closes and opens fine it seems. There is a long motor noise though once the frunk closes so here's a video illustrating that. Any ideas?

I also topped up the washer fluid

 

[Gawan]

1. Pull emergency cable (while car unlocked, leave drivers door open or something)
2. Partially dismantle wheel arch trim, reach in and try and cut the harness cable to the cinch motor (see linked thread above)
3. Get Tesla to dismantle your frunk from below (likely expensive in labour)

As I understand it those are basically your options in order of difficulty.

Any update @kuruma ?

the emergency cable does not work in my case - unfortunately

how about "
2.Partially dismantle wheel arch trim, reach in and try and cut the harness cable to the cinch motor (see linked thread above)
"
does that mean so simply cut the EVoffer motor from power supply and it will release the hood ?

 

[Andywil]

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. We rarely need the frunk unless we are off camping which is only a summer activity. And seeing as the cable is more likely to snap in colder weather, I've decided to hold off until the weather is warmer. We can live without it for now. I'll wait for the spring.

You may need screen wash this time of year!

 

[Durzel]

the emergency cable does not work in my case - unfortunately

how about "
2.Partially dismantle wheel arch trim, reach in and try and cut the harness cable to the cinch motor (see linked thread above)
"
does that mean so simply cut the EVoffer motor from power supply and it will release the hood ?

Did you pull hard on it? You have to pull pretty hard, from what I gather, which can result in it snapping. There is a video in the thread linked above that shows Ray @ EVOffer doing it with pliers. Looks like it might even be a sacrificial thing.

As for cutting the harness going into the cinch motor. The logic I believe is that the motor seizes shut, and cutting the harness removes powef from it and therefore its ability to hold the hood shut. I've never done it though, just read that it works from the linked thread.

EDIT: I was wrong about which cable you need to cut, it's not the electrical one, apparently it's the "smooth black cable", i.e. not the one that houses the emergency tow hook cable, but the other one that goes to the latch.

 

[Durzel]

so, pulling the emergency release cable was successful using the method with two pliers shared in the video earlier. Thanks for that.

Here's a pic of our mechanism (with emergency release string installed!) Looks fine to me nearly four years after install.

View attachment 996956

However, the frunk closed quite clumsily the first time I tried to close it with the button. After that, it closed normally and now closes and opens fine it seems. There is a long motor noise though once the frunk closes so here's a video illustrating that. Any ideas?

I also topped up the washer fluid

Nice one, well done. I'm surprised your cinch motor is still working given it must have failed in some way for it to stop opening in the first place. Would have assumed it was terminal.

I'm not surprised the mechanism all looks fine, it's mostly sealed by that plastic cover that goes over it. It's the cinch motor that just sits somewhere in the frunk bay which suffers from the elements, sadly.

In terms of the noise - hard to say really.. could be something has broken inside of the cinch motor, it sounds knackered. I'd be wary of removing your makeshift emergency release cable!

 

[Gawan]

Did you pull hard on it? You have to pull pretty hard, from what I gather, which can result in it snapping. There is a video in the thread linked above that shows Ray @ EVOffer doing it with pliers. Looks like it might even be a sacrificial thing.

As for cutting the harness going into the cinch motor. The logic I believe is that the motor seizes shut, and cutting the harness removes powef from it and therefore its ability to hold the hood shut. I've never done it though, just read that it works from the linked thread.

EDIT: I was wrong about which cable you need to cut, it's not the electrical one, apparently it's the "smooth black cable", i.e. not the one that houses the emergency tow hook cable, but the other one that goes to the latch.

I tried it several times and it snapped three times - meanwhile it has half the length it had initially

Is is this one that has to be cut ?
The one that covers the closing mechanism pulling cable ?

 

[kuruma]

so... having attached the string suggested in the video on p1 of this thread, I wanted to get into the frunk yesterday. The frunk didn't open from the screen but, no worries, I thought, I've got the string, right?

Wrong.

So, the string pulls (I can feel it moving the lever back) but it doesn't release the frunk.

@P3dStealth I do have the OEM spring and struts so I'm going to use the emergency release cable and hope it holds. But I don't think I'm going to attempt that until I'm ready to remove this and revert back to the OEM setup. There's just too much at stake here to have the frunk not open consistently in all weathers for the years we'll have the car. Today the wife got stuck in some mud and for a while it looked like we'd have to get our recovery company to tow her out.... but of course the towing eye is in the frunk! I also need to replace the 12V with the replacement I've got in the garage and do the screen wash and... so it would just be less hassle to have it be simple but working I think.

 

[bhanorthy]

Touchwood mines still working perfectly fine, nearly 3 years now. Everytime you post it does worry me though

 

[Durzel]

I tried it several times and it snapped three times - meanwhile it has half the length it had initially

Is is this one that has to be cut ?
The one that covers the closing mechanism pulling cable ?

View attachment 997044

Sorry I didn’t see this reply.

To answer your question - no. The cable you’re pointing to there is OEM, not part of the kit. The cable you need to cut if the cinch motor is seized or otherwise won’t unlatch is the smooth black cable to the right of your photo. You wouldn’t cut it at the latch mechanism, of course, because you likely wouldn’t be able to reach in far enough to get to that point if you can’t open the bonnet. You would cut it wherever you have mounted the cinch motor.

This assumes of course the cinch motor is preventing the latch from unlatching because it isn’t releasing the tension. Cutting through the cable (the smooth black outer sleeve and the steel wire inside) severs the latch from the motor and stops it from being able to hold it shut.

so... having attached the string suggested in the video on p1 of this thread, I wanted to get into the frunk yesterday. The frunk didn't open from the screen but, no worries, I thought, I've got the string, right?

Wrong.

So, the string pulls (I can feel it moving the lever back) but it doesn't release the frunk.

@P3dStealth I do have the OEM spring and struts so I'm going to use the emergency release cable and hope it holds. But I don't think I'm going to attempt that until I'm ready to remove this and revert back to the OEM setup. There's just too much at stake here to have the frunk not open consistently in all weathers for the years we'll have the car. Today the wife got stuck in some mud and for a while it looked like we'd have to get our recovery company to tow her out.... but of course the towing eye is in the frunk! I also need to replace the 12V with the replacement I've got in the garage and do the screen wash and... so it would just be less hassle to have it be simple but working I think.

Unless i’m mistaken - where you have attached the string is basically the secondary latch (or the primary one, I’m not sure). This would only unlatch the bonnet if the other latch that is attached to the cinch motor - shown in the right of the photo above - is not being held closed by the cinch motor.

 

[Durzel]

Apropos of nothing and I’ve said it before, but I don’t think an automated frunk is worth the aggro when it goes wrong. If I had confidence that the cinch motors were protected from the elements and could only fail due to old age, then I’d feel more comfortable about it, but as it is they are off the shelf things that aren’t made for our cars. From the looks of them they look like they should mount onto (or inside) of something else.

I’ve had two cinch motors die on me due to rust, simply because they are exposed to the elements inside the frunk bay. For whatever reason some people haven’t experienced this, but the parts are fundamentally flawed in that respect. They are not waterproof.

 

[Joe1983]

I had the Hansshow automated frunk thing and mine failed probably about 6 months ago now (fitted for about a year I think) - couldn't open the frunk no matter what I tried. My kit, weirdly, didn't come with an emergency release.

I didn't fancy taking it to Tesla so I managed to jack the car up the car and put it on axle stands, you can then remove the front part of the under tray. Managed to reach up and locate the latch cable attached to the kit and eventually, using various methods of cutting equipment, I managed to cut the cable. This released the bonnet immediately and I was then able to get in.

Hansshow replaced my motor but I won't be fitting it again, far too much hassle. I used to store my cables in the frunk with it too so could have been somewhat catastrophic if it had failed away from home and I needed that access.

 

[Durzel]

My EVOffer one lasted about a year too. Second one less than 6 months.

I was lucky that both failures just stopped the soft close aspect of it working, it didn’t seize whilst shut. Didn’t want to take that gamble again.

 

[kuruma]

So, my relationship with EVOffer's frunk is no more. Having failed on me twice and having got in twice using the emergency release (once when it didn't snap and once after it had done). I removed the connection highlighted green in this photo

and reinstalled the OEM spring for good measure and now the frunk opens and closes manually with no issues.

Seeing as Raymond never reads my messages on Telegram anyway, I messaged telling him what I thought of his product ... and then deleted the app. It felt good to get that off my chest.

I now hope our powered boot lasts considerably longer than the frunk did, but perhaps a similar thread to this one will emerge in years to come. I sincerely hope not.

Thanks to everyone here who chimed in with help. A particular shout out to @Joe1983 who was superb at responding to private messages and guiding me through the process.

 

[Durzel]

I don’t think Raymond does tech support any more. He also stopped replying to my messages and I ended up having to go via their support channel. I guess that’s fair enough but one of the biggest strengths for me picking EVOffer was the perception of responsive support, and now I often have to wait days between replies.

I felt relief when I removed my frunk kit. EVOffer had no answer to my latch motors corroding inside of the frunk bay, but were happy to sell me another one. They even said it was “a better design”, but to my eyes (yes, I believed that) it’s identical to previous ones. Because it’s an off the shelf part there’s no safe place to install it, TeslaOffer just advise cramming it down somewhere in the front. To me it’s only a matter of time before they fail.

I did briefly think about trying to waterproof it, sticking it in a box of its own, or a bag, but reading about all of the issues people have had with their bonnets not opening and how much effort it was to fix that, I decided I couldn’t be bothered.

I too am dreading the time that my trunk kit stops working. At least that kit is sheltered from the elements I guess.