Little black "piece" fell out of my charge port?

[PJFW8]

Mine fell off in August. I cleaned the area, wiped with isopropyl alcohol and attached it with GE 100% silicone sealant. I figured the flexibility and all temperature, all weather performance would help. I applied a small amount and wiped off the excess. I held it on with a piece of painter's tape for 24 hours. So far so good. Firmly attached.The Tesla tech who replaced my headlight thought it was a good solution.

 

[TresLA]

Resurrecting this post because it just happened to our 22,xxx (1.5 years after delivery), and hadn’t heard about it yet. Got LR RWD 3 back from detailer and noticed the charge port door not flush (I’ve asked them before to not bother cleaning in there after I saw them open the door and wash once, had trouble charging afterwards for a few hours until it dried). Pushed on door to open and investigate: nothing. Opened port from in-car display and black plastic parallelogram piece fell to the ground. Freaked out and checked display, which said port door was open so all seemed fine. Open closing door from in-car display, heard a faint clicking and whirring sound as if the door was trying to close again even though it was closed. After maybe 3 times, sound stopped and in car display reflected correctly that port door was closed. Weird. That’s when I tried to open by pushing the door and nothing happened. Crap.

I can see on the piece it looks like the glue is pretty much gone. It doesn’t stick to its space where it seems it should go, so it’s now sitting in my door pocket. A couple questions:

I don’t know anything about any of these glues previous comments have mentioned except superglue. So does superglue do the trick or should I find something else? If something else, which glue is best for someone that doesn’t know anything about this stuff and where can I buy it? We do drive it pretty much everyday, but don’t charge everyday (the Tesla/apartment life). So the less time it needs to sit still the better. I don’t have clamps, but figure painters tape is easy enough to buy and use.

Secondly, anyone know whether this design was changed/fixed and if so, how is it different on newer models? Thanks!

 

[C141medic]

Mine fell out shortly after purchase last year. Mobile tech was able to replace it. I believe he used double sided tape and it hasn’t fallen out again, yet. Can’t see why superglue wouldn’t also work. Can’t say for sure if that particular area was redesigned.

 

[nvx1977]

consumer-grade double-sided scotch tape has kept mine in place for 1.5 yrs now. if it ever comes out again, I have some heavier-duty 3M double-sided adhesive.

 

[Nexus7]

There's a recall on it. If you go into Tesla for other service, they'll replace it.

 

[Vintre]

Picked my M3 on June 9, 2018.

The chip just fell out today!

Calling Service to see what they say to do.

Vin

 

[Blue 2012 S 85]

VIN 14,1XX 2018 Model 3 LR RWD. Charge port door not working. Diamond RFID (?) piece is missing, don't know how long it's been gone. Live in Washington state where it rains a ton, car kept outdoors 100% of the time. The main screen MCU control does not open or close the door. I have to manually open and close door, and it makes an unhappy clicking sound when I do so. Car was just serviced for front bushings wearing out at 73,000 miles. No idea whether it just happened to fall off or whether they attempted to replace proactively and the new one fell off. Only reason that the latter option is mentioned is due to a previous post on this thread suggesting an open recall bulletin.

 

[sduck]

If the main screen button isn't opening the door than you've got additional issues besides the missing piece. Make a service appointment.

 

[ranss12]

I used RTV to glue mine back in a year ago - that should be a permanent fix.

 

[kirkl]

My experience with this part is a bit different than what is described in previous replies. I lost this piece a week or so ago (I'm assuming on the road somewhere, because I can't find it on my driveway). Since then I can't open the charge door by ANY of the normal means, push, phone app, display. I have to pry it open every time. It closes normally. I have taped a steel washer in it's place and now everything is working normally. Anyone know if we can purchase these parts? My M3 is (slightly) out of warranty. Or does anyone have a good feel for how Tesla is about offering to cover these sort of items just out of the warranty period?

 

[ARKEBUS]

Tesla recently replaced the charge port on my Apr 2018 M3 , no charge. YMMV. Ask Tesla.

 

[nvx1977]

Even if you had to pay for it at the SC, I can't imagine it being more than a couple $. If you don't want them to install it, then use some 2-sided tape and fasten it back in. Mine fell out in 2018 and I used standard weaksauce 2x tape. it's never fallen back out. Feel free to go with the heavy duty stuff, or epoxy.

 

[McFlurri]

My experience with this part is a bit different than what is described in previous replies. I lost this piece a week or so ago (I'm assuming on the road somewhere, because I can't find it on my driveway). Since then I can't open the charge door by ANY of the normal means, push, phone app, display. I have to pry it open every time. It closes normally. I have taped a steel washer in it's place and now everything is working normally. Anyone know if we can purchase these parts? My M3 is (slightly) out of warranty. Or does anyone have a good feel for how Tesla is about offering to cover these sort of items just out of the warranty period?

They will replace it for free

 

[RayK]

Mine fell out about two weeks ago. Haven't found it in the places I remember being during the period. I might try to tape something inside and see if I can get the door to open like normal. Barring that, I'll mention it as an item that needs fixing the next time I call service.