MCU died out of warranty. Heres info on my experience

[Merrill]

Yesterday I had my 2016 model S MCU crash after trying to open the owners manual. The screen went black and it refused to restart; stuck in a loop of the logo screen popping up. A 30 min call to support was a waste of my time and theirs. They just told me to hold the steering wheel buttons for 60 sec. They said within 10 days advanced tech support would attempt to fix it over the air, otherwise I would have to go to the dealer and perhaps they would install a new MCU.

I fixed it after getting off the phone it thanks to a web search on Tesla forum. I read to remove my thumb drive from the USB. That worked,! No MCU needed.

Maybe some day they will make my web browser work again.

I was told that my thumb drive with all my music is causing my MCU to go dark on occasion, what is the fix for that.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Another option for those of outside of warranty
Consolidated eMMC Thread (MCU repair)

 

[aaron0k]

That $1300.00 MCU has the word "REMAN" in the description. It most likely is a re-manufactured (refurbished) unit, thus the lower than usual price.

I believe after Tesla ran out of new MCU1's they started using re-manufactured units and charging customers the same cost as new units ($2100-$2700).

Looks like they finally did the right thing and lowered the cost on units with cooties.

Tesla has known about the wear logging issue for years; they caused it... and didn't do much about it until late 2019.

While the lower cost on refurb units takes a bit of the sting out of this inevitable (and likely out of warranty) repair, they're still placing the burden on owners to pay for their mistake. When comparing repair costs/experience with other manufacturers, this isn't quite the same circumstance... welcome to the world of "Software Defined Destruction"

 

[scaesare]

@scaesare Reading over my reply, it sounds like I am questioning your correction. I would like to make clear that is not what I meant. I’m the first to admit this area is not my speciality. Although the video seems to say one thing, it is vague. So I am very happy to say I am far from sure about what is stored where, and readers who are seeking this information should not not take my word as gospel. I think there is a very good chance I have this wrong.

I have just suffered from eMMC failure and my MS is not yet 4 years old, so it’s an area of interest. At the risk of confusing things further, another video that owners of any Model S or X pre March 18 should watch. ( Looks like your screen might be next.)

@dark cloud thank you also for your explanation. Always keen to learn.

Yeah, no worries... there's some nuance to understanding what's being described. I have replaced my own eMMC chip, and have access to the filesystem(s) that were on it... I've seen first hand what the configuration is.

It's the Linux OS logging that is killing the eMMC flash chip. If you listen to Ingineer's discussion on the video clip you mentioned earlier, he actually does say this. These are separate from car logs (that can contain information about configuration, sensor values, location, emergency events, etc...).

I've modified the configuration of mine (amongst other things) to reduce this OS logging load on my replacement chip.

 

[JV - S2013 dec]

Recently there was an interesting post on this subject in dutch newsletter. The MCU is very bad designed, it can only handle about 3000 rewrites, than it often fails. there is in the Netherlands a guy who can fix this, and replaces the MCU than can run over 25.000 rewrites. total costs about 500 euro's, instead of the redicolous Tesla price of towards 3000 euro in Netherlands.

With a broken eMMC, the dashboard screen no longer works, which is a huge problem! Tesla will charge you an enormous amount of money (3000 euros!) to replace the screen. Luckily, I have some bonus videos where you can see how to fix it by yourself, in English

 

[Ferrycraigs]

Yeah, no worries... there's some nuance to understanding what's being described. I have replaced my own eMMC chip, and have access to the filesystem(s) that were on it... I've seen first hand what the configuration is.

It's the Linux OS logging that is killing the eMMC flash chip. If you listen to Ingineer's discussion on the video clip you mentioned earlier, he actually does say this. These are separate from car logs (that can contain information about configuration, sensor values, location, emergency events, etc...).

I've modified the configuration of mine (amongst other things) to reduce this OS logging load on my replacement chip.

Got it now, I think. Not only does it store the car logs (important) but also the Linus OS logging (unimportant). I was Interested to hear at 20:00 that the eMMC Chip sits on a small separate standard NVidia Circuit Board. I did wonder why just replacing that Board wasn’t an easier option than de-soldering the Chip and all that goes with it. Was that something you considered or is more complicated than it sounds?

 

[Cavell219]

Where is it $1300?? Tempe AZ just quoted me $2800!!

Chicago quoted me the same for reman. No mention of core credit style either.

 

[scaesare]

Got it now, I think. Not only does it store the car logs (important) but also the Linus OS logging (unimportant). I was Interested to hear at 20:00 that the eMMC Chip sits on a small separate standard NVidia Circuit Board. I did wonder why just replacing that Board wasn’t an easier option than de-soldering the Chip and all that goes with it. Was that something you considered or is more complicated than it sounds?

That would be a great option if Tesla offered the part (or you could otherwise source one), rather than replacing the entire MCU, as Tesla does. The real trick is getting the critical car-unique data (encryption keys to tie back to the mother ship, hardware configuration files, boot partitions, etc...). Tesla service has all of that info and reprovisions the new MCU with the correct data tied to your car VIN that you need.

The rest of us just attempting to repair need to get that data, and Tesla won't release it to an end-customer. So if your MCU is toasted enough to not boot, the only way to attempt to extract that data is to de-solder the chip to try and read it. Once you do that, you might just as well repair the daughter-card you already own.

If you are doing this proactively before the eMMC dies, there are ways to extract the data you need without de-soldering, and you could get a working MCU or card from a salvage car (they aren't standard Nvidia boards you can buy from them) to write that data to. However that's more complicated, in that in addition to the Linux partitions on the card, there's a separate "gateway" processor/storage that you'd also need to configure, and that's a bit trickier.

All in all, the easiest/least-expensive route is typically:

1 - Extract your data proactively, while the eMMC is still healthy
2 - Write to new high-quality chip
3 - Swap chips on the daughter card you already own.

There is some small risk in damaging your daughtercard during the soldering steps, so you can wait until it actually fails if you want, but then you need to regularly do step #1 in order to makes sure you have the current data (keys, boot partitions, etc...)

 

[Ferrycraigs]

That would be a great option if Tesla offered the part (or you could otherwise source one), rather than replacing the entire MCU, as Tesla does. The real trick is getting the critical car-unique data (encryption keys to tie back to the mother ship, hardware configuration files, boot partitions, etc...). Tesla service has all of that info and reprovisions the new MCU with the correct data tied to your car VIN that you need.

The rest of us just attempting to repair need to get that data, and Tesla won't release it to an end-customer. So if your MCU is toasted enough to not boot, the only way to attempt to extract that data is to de-solder the chip to try and read it. Once you do that, you might just as well repair the daughter-card you already own.

If you are doing this proactively before the eMMC dies, there are ways to extract the data you need without de-soldering, and you could get a working MCU or card from a salvage car (they aren't standard Nvidia boards you can buy from them) to write that data to. However that's more complicated, in that in addition to the Linux partitions on the card, there's a separate "gateway" processor/storage that you'd also need to configure, and that's a bit trickier.

All in all, the easiest/least-expensive route is typically:

1 - Extract your data proactively, while the eMMC is still healthy
2 - Write to new high-quality chip
3 - Swap chips on the daughter card you already own.

There is some small risk in damaging your daughtercard during the soldering steps, so you can wait until it actually fails if you want, but then you need to regularly do step #1 in order to makes sure you have the current data (keys, boot partitions, etc...)

All very clear. But you would think Tesla, at least, would be able to source the daughter board and make for an easier fix.

One final question. Is there a specific benefit in soldering the chip to the board?

 

[T.R.T.e.s.l.a.]

Recently there was an interesting post on this subject in dutch newsletter. The MCU is very bad designed, it can only handle about 3000 rewrites, than it often fails. there is in the Netherlands a guy who can fix this, and replaces the MCU than can run over 25.000 rewrites. total costs about 500 euro's, instead of the redicolous Tesla price of towards 3000 euro in Netherlands.

With a broken eMMC, the dashboard screen no longer works, which is a huge problem! Tesla will charge you an enormous amount of money (3000 euros!) to replace the screen. Luckily, I have some bonus videos where you can see how to fix it by yourself, in English

Great to see Wido being recognized for his effort and being a pioneer regarding the MCU1 emmc issue.

 

[scaesare]

All very clear. But you would think Tesla, at least, would be able to source the daughter board and make for an easier fix.

One final question. Is there a specific benefit in soldering the chip to the board?

It's typically how embedded flash storage in installed. It's not intended to be end-user replacable, so it's the most durable/compact method of doing it.

The idea of retrofitting a socket instead has been discussed here, but no real viable method I have seen has been presented.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I believe after Tesla ran out of new MCU1's they started using re-manufactured units and charging customers the same cost as new units ($2100-$2700).

Looks like they finally did the right thing and lowered the cost on units with cooties.

Tesla has known about the wear logging issue for years; they caused it... and didn't do much about it until late 2019.

While the lower cost on refurb units takes a bit of the sting out of this inevitable (and likely out of warranty) repair, they're still placing the burden on owners to pay for their mistake. When comparing repair costs/experience with other manufacturers, this isn't quite the same circumstance... welcome to the world of "Software Defined Destruction"

aaron0k:
I couldn't agree more:
"While the lower cost on refurb units takes a bit of the sting out of this inevitable (and likely out of warranty) repair, they're still placing the burden on owners to pay for their mistake."

When is Elon and Co. going to take ownership of this know issue! I can only imagine the amount of $ that we Mdl S owners have spent on their mistake.

 

[KalJoMoS]

Maybe some day they will make my web browser work again.

In another discussion someone found out this to help to get it working, photo attached. Was it this or something else, my recent upgrade to the latest SW was the smoothest I’ve seen

 

[EVie'sDad]

I recently encountered the black center screen issue which a warm reboot would not solve. I feared my MCU had failed, but it still charged and could be driven, but no controls from center screen or sensor array. However with Customer Services help I figured it out, power cycle the car. Had to close all the doors and then holding my foot on the brake and hold down both scroll wheels on the steering wheel. Set a timer for 2 mins. After that the car rebooted the center screen. When the driver door is open the car would not perform the reboot. I advised service to update their instructions. I am sharing this just in case anyone else encounters this issue.

 

[dark cloud]

... I feared my MCU had failed,

Not yet, it lives today, but your days are numbered. You need to read this

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I recently encountered the black center screen issue which a warm reboot would not solve. I feared my MCU had failed, but it still charged and could be driven, but no controls from center screen or sensor array. However with Customer Services help I figured it out, power cycle the car. Had to close all the doors and then holding my foot on the brake and hold down both scroll wheels on the steering wheel. Set a timer for 2 mins. After that the car rebooted the center screen. When the driver door is open the car would not perform the reboot. I advised service to update their instructions. I am sharing this just in case anyone else encounters this issue.

You are experiencing the early stages of MCU failure. I went through that.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

The NHTSA has opened an investigation into the MCU failures:
2013 TESLA MODEL S 5 HB RWD
The investigation is happening because of the safety element - Loss of rear camera.
That is the key to put in your complaint - explained below.

The NHTSA opened the investigation because they have received 11 complaint in the last 13 months.
Well, I gotta believe there are a whole lot more than that, as mine was not registered.

Here is where you go to register your MCU complaint:
File a Vehicle Safety Complaint | Safercar.gov | NHTSA

Enter Your VIN
What part of your car was affected? OTHER
What Happened? Loss of rear view camera
Then fill out the rest of the online form which is self-explanatory.
You will receive a Complaint Number, and can also print out a copy of the report.
You will then receive an email from the NHTSA to confirm your email address.

Here is an press article written about it:
Tesla under investigation for Model S touchscreen failures