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It's too late, my MCU1 Died....

Discussion in 'Model S' started by Muzzman1, Oct 20, 2019.

  1. Muzzman1

    Muzzman1 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2014
    Messages:
    552
    Location:
    Los Angeles
    It started with garbled words about a week ago. I did a typical reboot. This time though every time the MCU got to the point where it needed to draw the map tiles, boom, black screen and reboot.
    This cycled for about 5 days. I contacted a mobile tech I happen to know, he pulled logs and confirmed the eMMC was failed/failing.
    2 days ago I decided to do a deep boot with foot on the pedal. That was the final straw. The MCU would never light up again.
    No more charging at either of my HPWC's. No more A/C. and worst of all. 7/10 times the car wont start without a 10 min message "please wait while systems power up"

    Good times Elon.

    Now Im stuck with paying tesla whatever they charge, I hear $1800-3800 for a refurbished POS, or, I am opting for a junk yard unit and my mobile service guy coming over to get the "new" one up and running on his time.

    Planning to send my old one out to @wk057 to have it fixed, so I have a spare when my wife's 2016 MX comes up on 4 yrs and her MCU croaks too.

    I am a HUGE believer in the car/the mission and all, but this one really leaves a bitter taste in my mouth knowing it is fully avoidable, plus the constant teasing by elon that MCU2 will be available to us MCU 1 owners, just adds salt to the wounds. Service has NO clue that they will ever offer such a thing (at this point)

    /rant over
     
    • Like x 19
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  2. kavyboy

    kavyboy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2016
    Messages:
    1,172
    Location:
    Spring, TX
    I'm in the exact same boat. I have a service appointment on Tuesday. I'm expecting the downgrade from V8 to V10 and hoping that I'm not hit by batterygate and/or chargegate. I'm fortunately within warranty by just a few weeks.

    The warning on startup will go away a lot faster if you keep pressing the brake every 5 seconds or so. No AC, no sunroof, but the windows still work.

    Good luck to you!
     
    • Informative x 5
  3. Lectric_Agent

    Lectric_Agent 2015 S85 AP1

    Joined:
    May 25, 2019
    Messages:
    94
    Location:
    Orange County
    what year is your car and how many miles, and did you stay current with software updates?
     
  4. Muzzman1

    Muzzman1 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2014
    Messages:
    552
    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Wow, thank for that tip going to go try it now. I thought I was going to have to Uber around until it was fixed.
    (this worked!! thanks!)

    The car is a April/2015 production 85D. about 70k on the clock.
    Yes I keep updates going. Had not yet installed V10.
     
    • Informative x 4
  5. whitex

    whitex Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2015
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    Location:
    Seattle area, WA
    Ugh, I got a car which will very likely experience this soon. :( Is this another one of Elon's genius revenue generation ideas - build a car where everything depends on one very expensive part which dies shortly after warranty? Or does it simply show how naive and inexperienced Elon is when it comes to building cars, to design such an expensive single point of failure into a car?
     
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  6. Ken7

    Ken7 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 11, 2017
    Messages:
    880
    Location:
    New York
    Or does it simply show that Elon may not have been involved in the hand selection and durability testing of every part. That’s what he has automotive engineers on staff for. Does anyone believe that he designed this car, picked all the parts and did all the life cycle testing in a room by himself?

    Look, I’m waiting nearly a year to have my yellowing screen replaced, so I’m not an apologist for Musk. But to blame him for a conscious effort to design a car where certain parts fail for the sole purpose of revenue generation, is, IMO, a bit over the top.
     
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  7. Skateboardgolf

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2014
    Messages:
    207
    Location:
    Durham, NC
    Oh no! I remember how excited you were when you bought your 85D.
    My MCU1 has already failed and been replaced under warranty.
    I plan to keep mine until the Roadster comes out, even though I drool at the new models every day..

    Please keep us updated on the process. I live an hour away from @wk057, and might use his services.
     
  8. BrownOuttaSpec

    Joined:
    May 13, 2019
    Messages:
    431
    Location:
    Raleigh, NC
    How long have you seen the "garbled words" issue? Just wondering if there is some correlation between how long that has been going on for and how soon the eMMC fails completely.
     
    • Like x 1
  9. viper2ko

    viper2ko Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2017
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    USA
    How many miles and how old is your car
     
  10. BulldogsRus

    BulldogsRus Member

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2018
    Messages:
    608
    Location:
    Boston
    Actually what's sad is that Elon hasn't really responded to this inevitable issue for literally every S and X (not sure about the 3), other than that they are working on an improvement for newer models. I can only imagine this getting worse with FSD fully implemented, what with all of the logs it will be writing.
     
  11. scaesare

    scaesare Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2013
    Messages:
    8,178
    Location:
    NoVA
    FYI, garbled fonts are not necessarily an indicator of a failing MCU... there's a memory leak issue that can cause that.

    The map tiles certainly are an indicator, as well as the other things mentioned.

    But, if you are a DIY'er, it's not necessarily too late
     
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  12. Chaserr

    Chaserr Hyperactive Hyperdrive

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Logan
    This is a management decision, not a durability issue. Hackers fixed this problem years ago by changing logging to a "tmpfs" ram drive so it doesn't constantly write to the actual chip. Tesla knows about this by now - and if they don't it means they aren't paying attention to their own cars.
     
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  13. glide

    glide Active Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Well we know Musk was involved in selecting parts for the MCU since he was quoted discussing it. So there’s that.

    Tesla's Screen Saga Shows Why Automotive Grade Matters
     
  14. Zextraterrestrial

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2010
    Messages:
    4,492
    Location:
    Humboldt/Los Altos
    I've had garbled words for more than a year & probably 20k miles now!!!
    I thought it was crappy feature of V8
    My screen lost most of the goo a while ago too, hoping it's done with that :rolleyes:
     
  15. Muzzman1

    Muzzman1 Member

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    Not blaming him, but he knows about it and has yet to step up and get is resolved for all parties involved. That is his responsibility as CEO.
     
    • Like x 3
  16. Muzzman1

    Muzzman1 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2014
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    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Manufactured April 2015 has about 70k on the clock.
     
  17. MarcusMaximus

    MarcusMaximus Active Member

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    Location:
    Los Gatos
    For what it’s worth, mine’s still working fine and I’ve seen garbled words on and off for many months(at least 6, probably closer to a year).
     
  18. JMG

    JMG Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2015
    Messages:
    386
    Location:
    NE Texas
    Ugh. Another April 2015 85D here with 119k miles, just waiting........
     
  19. David29

    David29 Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2015
    Messages:
    2,147
    Location:
    DEDHAM, MA
    I was advised this AM that my MCU will also be replaced. I assume it is the memory issue, based upon symptoms and what i have read, but the SC has not actually said that. My car is a 2015 70D with about 45-46,000 miles on it. It is just 3 weeks past the end of the 4-year warranty period (but I expect the repair to be covered by the ESA).
     
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  20. kavyboy

    kavyboy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2016
    Messages:
    1,172
    Location:
    Spring, TX
    November 2105 70S here. Seems like the 2015's are starting to fail. I've only got about 30,000 miles on mine.
     

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