Likely MCU Failure (MCU1 eMMC)

[Congo Line]

It's not 'bricking', it's just that the screen doesn't work (and thus any associated functions). Just happened to me this past weekend; my car's flash memory seems to have died right after overnight downloading of V10 update (2014 Model S).

The software won't boot up, screen just perpetually shows the T logo. I can still drive, but can't control the heat or AC, music, etc. Some of the scroll wheel functions (like sunroof) will work one day, and then it won't the next. Taking it to the service center next week, but I'm pretty sure it's the eMMC. Wife won't let me download new software to her MX because she's afraid it will happen to hers as well.

 

[hpartsch]

There are companies out there that fix this problem. A lot cheaper than Tesla does if out of warranty.
UPDATE: Tesla Cars Have A Memory Problem That May Cost You A Lot To Repair

Good luck getting your car to one of these 2 companies in the USA (1 in Canada) with a non-working MCU (or even with a working MCU).

 

[demundus]

Good luck getting your car to one of these 2 companies in the USA (1 in Canada) with a non-working MCU (or even with a working MCU).

My dude... you just take the part out of the MCU. Its like 6x6 inches. I mailed mine to @tedsk and he mailed it back.

Tadaaaaaa

 

[Vinc]

It's not 'bricking', it's just that the screen doesn't work (and thus any associated functions). Just happened to me this past weekend; my car's flash memory seems to have died right after overnight downloading of V10 update (2014 Model S).

The software won't boot up, screen just perpetually shows the T logo. I can still drive, but can't control the heat or AC, music, etc. Some of the scroll wheel functions (like sunroof) will work one day, and then it won't the next. Taking it to the service center next week, but I'm pretty sure it's the eMMC. Wife won't let me download new software to her MX because she's afraid it will happen to hers as well.

Interesting. They say that the affected cars won’t charge either. Wondering if that is just miscommunication/telephone game...

 

[aerodyne]

I read the same article today.

Short answer is NO.

After the unofficial spanking the MS with plaid mode gave to the Taycon today, the media is desperate to portray a "balanced" viewpoint ..

 

[BPeter]

Yes, lots of older Model S cars have this issue and it seems that unless something gets changed all of them will experience the issue. It's $2000 fix from Tesla, or a $400ish fix from third parties, but unless you live near one of the few third parties that know how to do the fix you'll have to get comfortable taking your dash apart to get at the MCU.

Elon tweeted that it should be "better from now on" but wk057 (one of the people that knows how to fix this) says it hasn't been fixed on any public firmwares yet.

 

[Ludalicious]

Let's face it some of these cars cost upwards of 215k CDN brand new 4 years ago. Yes vehicles of this caliber price will require a large wallet to maintain after its 4-5 years old. Let's be honest. 1,200 US for a screen or 150 for a door handle assembly. Lots of used parts available online. Allot of DYI you tube videos on how to replace them with simple hand tools and a few hours... Jalopnik write ups are for trolls.

Let's look at a 5 yr old Mercedes diesel engine.... 35k CDN later...

 

[David29]

It's not 'bricking', it's just that the screen doesn't work (and thus any associated functions). Just happened to me this past weekend; my car's flash memory seems to have died right after overnight downloading of V10 update (2014 Model S).

The software won't boot up, screen just perpetually shows the T logo. I can still drive, but can't control the heat or AC, music, etc. Some of the scroll wheel functions (like sunroof) will work one day, and then it won't the next. Taking it to the service center next week, but I'm pretty sure it's the eMMC. Wife won't let me download new software to her MX because she's afraid it will happen to hers as well.

Ahh! I posted in another thread just this morning that my Model S had a hiccup of some sort when trying to install V10 (2019.32.12.1). The installation got to 60% and stalled there. Like you, I was able to drive the car, with no functions of the center screen. I posted, hoping that someone would have some experience with a software installation that stalled, but so far I have just one or two suggestions that it might be a failure of the flash memory, a failure I had not heard about until today.

What to do when a software update stalls or fails?

The phone still says "installing" tonight and shows status of 60%, some 20 hours or so after it began the install. I plan to go to the service center tomorrow to ask what i should do. Sadly, my car is 3 weeks out of warranty...!

 

[Ludalicious]

Ahh! I posted in another thread just this morning that my Model S had a hiccup of some sort when trying to install V10 (2019.32.12.1). The installation got to 60% and stalled there. Like you, I was able to drive the car, with no functions of the center screen. I posted, hoping that someone would have some experience with a software installation that stalled, but so far I have just one or two suggestions that it might be a failure of the flash memory, a failure I had not heard about until today.

What to do when a software update stalls or fails?

The phone still says "installing" tonight and shows status of 60%, some 20 hours or so after it began the install. I plan to go to the service center tomorrow to ask what i should do. Sadly, my car is 3 weeks out of warranty...!

Sometimes if it's only a few weeks out of warranty they will still honor it.

 

[hpartsch]

My dude... you just take the part out of the MCU. Its like 6x6 inches. I mailed mine to @tedsk and he mailed it back.

Tadaaaaaa

How long did it take to fix it?

 

[hpartsch]

I just saw this piece about the Model S having an issue with the flash memory after 4 years and pretty much shutting down completely. They paint it as a major, widespread issue. But I believe that if this was the case, we would have more people talking about it here, like with the yellow screen or faulty door handles.

Anybody experiencing this?

Worst Case Scenario For Older Teslas Coming To Fruition As Some Won't Charge And Screen Stops Working: Report

Mine just died in Sept. The car is a 2013 w/ 64.5k miles at the time.

 

[scottlawson]

More specific info about the problem here from Rich Rebuilds YouTube in May:

(about 9 minutes in)

 

[P100D_Me]

After the unofficial spanking the MS with plaid mode gave to the Taycon today

It did? Any links?

 

[bob_p]

Our 2012 S P85 had almost 100K miles when it was traded in last year in June 2018 - and we didn't see that issue.

However, because of the screen bubbling issue with the early MCU1 displays, the MCU/display had been replaced around 50K miles - so we may have been lucky not to encounter the flash memory problem because we didn't have an MCU1 long enough to encounter the problem.

 

[dark cloud]

It did? Any links?

Here

 

[Barry]

Sometimes if it's only a few weeks out of warranty they will still honor it.

That was the old Tesla. Goodwill repairs have pretty much stopped.

 

[realvvk]

It's not 'bricking', it's just that the screen doesn't work (and thus any associated functions). Just happened to me this past weekend; my car's flash memory seems to have died right after overnight downloading of V10 update (2014 Model S).

The software won't boot up, screen just perpetually shows the T logo. I can still drive, but can't control the heat or AC, music, etc. Some of the scroll wheel functions (like sunroof) will work one day, and then it won't the next. Taking it to the service center next week, but I'm pretty sure it's the eMMC. Wife won't let me download new software to her MX because she's afraid it will happen to hers as well.

My MS was seemingly dead after V10 upgrade, too. Both screens off, then instrument cluster booted up but the center screen was dark and unresponsive. I immediately thought eMMC failure after it did not seem to respond to a two wheel reboot. It came back after a while.

 

[aerodyne]

That was the old Tesla. Goodwill repairs have pretty much stopped.

Perhaps...depends on the SC and your attitude. If you document the problem with them before the warranty runs out that helps too...

 

[StarLog]

I posted this same thing yesterday,

MCUv1 eMMC

 

[ajdelange]

Flash RAM starts failing after a certain number of write cycles. The average driver drives an average number of miles per year and the RAM logs as average number of events so there is an average number of write cycles per year to the RAM and a MTTF but the TTF is random. It can happen earlier than 4 years or later than 4 years depending on how much you drive and how much logging was actually done.