Loud pop, Model 3 died?

[C141medic]

How’d you find this out?

Reduced Range - Tesla Issued a Service Bulletin for possible fix

 

[CaptMhack]

No, SR+ single rear-motor only.

I dont want to come off entitled or special, because this can happen to anyone and it obviously already has...It just my confidence is shaken...I can't help but think if this can happen to a brand new motor, it can happen to the brand new motor they use to replace it.

What if I'm on the freeway next time going 70mph? I can't shake the loss of confidence in my Tesla now..

Is it worth raising a concern to someone higher up, or just accept the repairs and move on?

This sucks! It supposed to be a million mile motor.. You should definitely speak with Tesla..
BTW, what is your build date?

 

[brkaus]

These (esp electronics) things fail early or late in life. It’s called a bathtub curve.

did they diagnose it? Or is motor failure based on speculation?

 

[mlkmade]

The service advisor I was working with said they need more time to diagnosis but early testing points to rear motor failure. Thats all the info I got. I made a thread on reddit and done some research throughout the day and the few people who've had this happen said they had the loud pop and power failure.

Pyro Fuse/HV fuse keeps being brought up.


Build date first week of August 2019

 

[Evoforce]

Good news is, motor is a quick fix and you're driving a model X in the meantime. The best news is that it's all covered by warranty.

 

[camalaio]

Understandable feelings, but this issue could happen in any car regardless of powertrain. *sugar* happens.

Not really though? Normally the failure mode isn't to lock up the drivetrain on a gas car. And towing is certainly a lot less complicated. And you very often have warning signs (e.g bad shifts, knocking). Failure mode of these things is to very suddenly stop without any warning.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

The service advisor I was working with said they need more time to diagnosis but early testing points to rear motor failure. Thats all the info I got. I made a thread on reddit and done some research throughout the day and the few people who've had this happen said they had the loud pop and power failure.

Pyro Fuse/HV fuse keeps being brought up.


Build date first week of August 2019

Interesting. There were quite a few of these failures reported last year from 2018 builds (anecdotally, I do not have spreadsheet data - just my general impression...). This is the first I remember from a relatively new, late 2019, build.

 

[focher]

Wish the Tesla employees were a little more helpful. Anyway, could be useful information if you run into a similar situation in the future LOL

Instructions for Transporters starts on page 199 of the owner's manual. Has all that information and more.

 

[TheChafing]

Is it worth raising a concern to someone higher up, or just accept the repairs and move on?

I think the question you need to ask yourself is, what corrective action do you want them to take, beyond fixing your car?
Is this an "I see an opportunity to demand some freebies for my trouble" kind of thing you're planning? Do you just want them to buy the car back so you don't have to deal with it? Do you want them to make some sort of fundamental design change to the car?

I think I'd probably raise hell if they tried to stick me with a huge towing bill as a result of this, but if they're going to fix your car at no cost to you, I'm not really sure what else you can reasonably ask for here. It's not like it should come as a shock to you that cars occasionally break down, even when they're "new."

Sorry to hear about your issue. I just found out my particular build date may be one of the vehicles that may need a new HV battery according to a technical service bulletin (not a recall-only a limited number of vehicles affected). I won’t know for sure until I bring in to SC for them to check my VIN. Unfortunately, not much can be done at this point but to accept repairs and move on and be thankful it’s all under warranty.

They can't just... look at your VIN in the computer?

 

[Restrected]

Little "explosive" fuse connecting the HV battery to the rest of the car. They pop if theres a short or something tries to pull too much current from the battery.

Correct that it does explode on request from the restraint control module to disconnect 12v power to the contactors. Contactors engage high volt battery and if there is no constant power (12v) to them they open and practically disconnect the high voltage battery.

but it doenst happen when you have a short. There is other fuses in sub lines that blow because of short and overloads. Pyro fuse only blows in case of accident or perceived accident. Just clarifying. So if it happen out of the blue on this model 3, i would love to know why and if indeed it was the pyro.

 

[Terryaki]

No, SR+ single rear-motor only.

I dont want to come off entitled or special, because this can happen to anyone and it obviously already has...It just my confidence is shaken...I can't help but think if this can happen to a brand new motor, it can happen to the brand new motor they use to replace it.

What if I'm on the freeway next time going 70mph? I can't shake the loss of confidence in my Tesla now..

Is it worth raising a concern to someone higher up, or just accept the repairs and move on?

Don't let the single experience throw you. Look at the overall numbers & how rare problems like this occur. Most of the time your experience will be like mine has thus far ... 18k miles, zero issues. The odds are heavily on your side.

 

[Handerso]

Little "explosive" fuse connecting the HV battery to the rest of the car. They pop if theres a short or something tries to pull too much current from the battery.

This sounds like what happened to me which resulted in a new motor.

 

[hmgolds]

Interesting. There were quite a few of these failures reported last year from 2018 builds (anecdotally, I do not have spreadsheet data - just my general impression...). This is the first I remember from a relatively new, late 2019, build.

Motor in my 2018 build M3 failed prior to delivery. 10 day delay. Fine since.

Instructions for Transporters starts on page 199 of the owner's manual. Has all that information and more.

I have these printed out and in the glove compartment. Easier than trying to find on phone. Or M3 screen.

 

[Eric.B]

They said they still don't know and need more time but initial diagnosis points to rear motor.

I've had this car for 7 months and just barely put 7000 miles on it. And my rear motor blows. So much for that million miles.. Very troubling.

The motor only blows up if there was a defect in the wiring, probably insulation was damaged and caused an internal short.

 

[Weflyem]

Motor in my 2018 build M3 failed prior to delivery. 10 day delay. Fine since.



I have these printed out and in the glove compartment. Easier than trying to find on phone. Or M3 screen.

Is there a way to get the manual on my phone? I don’t see it in the app... Also, if you have no power how would you open the glovebox? Thanks for any info, I’m a new owner & this thread is making me think I need to be better prepared than I am.

 

[slave0418]

Loud pop was the pyrotechnic fuse connecting the main battery to the car. Why it blew is something Tesla will have to tell you.

Right now the main screen and all of electronics in the car are running off of the 12v battery which you can find in the frunk if you remove the cowling that covers the area closest to the dash. It's just a normal lead acid car battery and it will run out of juice pretty quickly.

When I was rear-ended, I had it towed to Tesla because I wasn't sure where else to take it. The next day they told me they don't do body work and that I needed to take it to an autobody shop. When I went to go assist the tow truck driver with loading it back on the flat bed, it was completely dead. Couldn't open the doors, couldn't even unlock it.

I told the service center adviser and he said "hm yeah you need power to unlock it and to put it into tow mode; they probably have 12v support power at the repair place. Maybe use some skids to get it on the truck" and then went on his way. Well that wasn't working very well and another Tesla employee came by and said that we could charge it via a couple of cables that are tucked into the tow hook compartment. So we hook it up to the tow truck's battery and the hood pops open. We wait for 10 minutes and there's no charge. Something doesn't seem right so I went online on my phone and found out that the connectors in the tow hook compartment ONLY pop the frunk open to get you access to the 12v battery-- they cannot be used to jump the 12v system.

That's when I discovered the traditional battery in the frunk. Hooked the charger up to it, 10 minutes later we had enough power to put it into tow mode and away we went.

Wish the Tesla employees were a little more helpful. Anyway, could be useful information if you run into a similar situation in the future LOL

I am just curious, why Tesla gives us Owner Manual ? I did read it before I put my foot on brake pedal...

 

[matosa]

I do "love" the note at the bottom recommending to schedule a service appointment through the app. Seems incongruous with situation based on the errors. Maybe they should have certain more critical errors just post the roadside assistance number.

Would be great if Tesla sees the problem and initiates remedial action. The display should advise that response is on the way. Too much too soon?

 

[MobileClimate]

Oh please if this was Mercedes thread on engine failures and tow bills it would be 3000 page post of complaints ..yesterday at the local dealer i saw 5 tow trucks dropping off vehicles at the dealer .this is a nothing burger

 

[C141medic]

They can't just... look at your VIN in the computer?

They can. I have to bring it to SC anyway for my HW3 upgrade so I’ll see if it’s an issue at that point.

 

[MP3Mike]

Is there a way to get the manual on my phone? I don’t see it in the app... Also, if you have no power how would you open the glovebox? Thanks for any info, I’m a new owner & this thread is making me think I need to be better prepared than I am.

Here is a link to the Model 3 manual PDF: https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/model_3_owners_manual_north_america_en.pdf