MCU fails for the second time

[Sudre]

I think Tesla staff tells you it's impossible to save because they want it back at the factory to repair it and resell it refurbished. I don't really have an interest in repairing Tesla's but I have fixed my own Android tablets and phones simply by purchasing cracked screen product on eBay and swapping part. I understand the MCU is a lot more complicated so I am really not interested in fixing it myself.

I have informed Tesla service that I want the old parts for everything they repair from now on. I can sell this on eBay and basically get some kind of core deposit out of it. Heck if it's not a major problem and just a bad part (cap,or fuse) on the board it will sell for quite a bit. The touch screen and display were in imperfect condition. That's at least $200 right there.

Tesla service informed me they are replacing the entire thing, touch, LCD, and MCU. I don't even know if the three can be separated on Tesla's product. They are replacing it with a refurbished part. That actually has me a little pissed since I don't know what on this unit was fixed. If it is a bubble screen that they just swapped out the LCD only then there is a good chance I'll be buying another one in a few years.

I am thinking I will escalate this up and try to get a new product if they make them still. Refurbished or new..... I wonder if there is even a price difference. If they want to comp the part cost I'll be happy with refurbished.

 

[demundus]

I think Tesla staff tells you it's impossible to save because they want it back at the factory to repair it and resell it refurbished. I don't really have an interest in repairing Tesla's but I have fixed my own Android tablets and phones simply by purchasing cracked screen product on eBay and swapping part. I understand the MCU is a lot more complicated so I am really not interested in fixing it myself.

I have informed Tesla service that I want the old parts for everything they repair from now on. I can sell this on eBay and basically get some kind of core deposit out of it. Heck if it's not a major problem and just a bad part (cap,or fuse) on the board it will sell for quite a bit. The touch screen and display were in imperfect condition. That's at least $200 right there.

Tesla service informed me they are replacing the entire thing, touch, LCD, and MCU. I don't even know if the three can be separated on Tesla's product. They are replacing it with a refurbished part. That actually has me a little pissed since I don't know what on this unit was fixed. If it is a bubble screen that they just swapped out the LCD only then there is a good chance I'll be buying another one in a few years.

I am thinking I will escalate this up and try to get a new product if they make them still. Refurbished or new..... I wonder if there is even a price difference. If they want to comp the part cost I'll be happy with refurbished.

Why are they replacing yours?

Tesla didn't tell me it was impossible, someone who works on these things whom I trust as an authority told me it was very difficult and not worth it. So I'm in a grey space right now.

 

[MP3Mike]

Tesla service informed me they are replacing the entire thing, touch, LCD, and MCU. I don't even know if the three can be separated on Tesla's product. They are replacing it with a refurbished part. That actually has me a little pissed since I don't know what on this unit was fixed. If it is a bubble screen that they just swapped out the LCD only then there is a good chance I'll be buying another one in a few years.

They do replace the screen for the bubbling issue separate. So the whole MCU doesn't have to be replaced...

 

[Sudre]

The "imperfect" was an Iphone auto correct error. The screen is in perfect condition.

They are not telling me what is wrong with my MCU. It's just a black screen to me until I look at it. There are lots of bubbled screens out there that would love my non-bubbled screen. Heck I saw a couple of bubbled screens on ebay (not selling) for $156.

 

[Sudre]

Update. I just got off the phone and I am getting a new unit. So I am quite a bit revealed. With any luck this will get me another 3-4 years. What an expensive service part.

 

[MP3Mike]

Update. I just got off the phone and I am getting a new unit. So I am quite a bit revealed. With any luck this will get me another 3-4 years. What an expensive service part.

How much extra is it going to cost to get a new one vs. a refurb?

 

[Dr. Smoke]

I went ahead and called out the important part of your post.

The eMMC is not coming off the board, and a new one ain't going on. Unless @Ingineer knows something several of us do not. Please let me know before I go swap another MCU onto my screen, since as of a couple weeks ago, I'm not allowing my MCU to reboot since it gets stuck in an error loop and may fail completely.

What do you mean "important part of your post"? You think this is alien electronics from Outer Space which aren't amenable to Earthling intervention?

What is your authority?

Don't worry, I won't be barging in to do anything to your MCU. This place always makes me regret that I've provided new information.

 

[Sudre]

How much extra is it going to cost to get a new one vs. a refurb?

My new MCU is installed and everything seems to be working fine. They did manage to damage my old one. The screen now has bubbles under the glass that were definitely not there. That probably greatly reduces my resale value of the old one.

The new one has a free 4G modem since that's what it came with.

The cost including labor for this repair was around $3100.

Now I have to decide if I want to sell the old one or did into it and see what actually broke.

 

[demundus]

My new MCU is installed and everything seems to be working fine. They did manage to damage my old one. The screen now has bubbles under the glass that were definitely not there. That probably greatly reduces my resale value of the old one.

The new one has a free 4G modem since that's what it came with.

The cost including labor for this repair was around $3100.

Now I have to decide if I want to sell the old one or did into it and see what actually broke.

I don't think they did that, its just a thing that happens on pre 2014 MCUs. Where are the bubbles exactly. Depending on what went wrong, you can sell the MCU for maybe 1200 or so aftermarket. If the screen bubbles are bad, maybe 500ish for that.

 

[tedsk]

I assume that Tegra is dead if screen went black: "It's just a black screen to me until I look at it".
Now it is also bubbled so almost zero value for the LCD as well.
It is basically old 3G modem, main board and casing which do not fail usually last time I checked.

P.S.: I wouldn't wonder if they indeed swapped the screen assuming it is a broken item anyway, why not scavenge it? I myself had a very nasty experience of bringing my car to SC for PAID! annual service and they still took my car for some kind of joyride/errand and dropped food in it which was squeezed into air duct below passenger seat and I ended up with terrible foul smell in my car.

 

[demundus]

I assume that Tegra is dead if screen went black: "It's just a black screen to me until I look at it".
Now it is also bubbled so almost zero value for the LCD as well.
It is basically old 3G modem, main board and casing which do not fail usually last time I checked.

Yeah I agree, I can't find the ebay seller, but there was a guy selling dozens of bubbled screens for 500 a pop. Now I see some mostly for 200, so near worthless. And without a tegra, its just a bench setup

 

[tedsk]

And without a tegra, its just a bench setup

What do you mean? What kind of bench it is without LCD screen and Tegra?
The only thing you could do with it - look at it, repair or part it out.
GW is not accessible from IC port and DIAG port is locked from start and there is nothing to unlock it.
This thing is a brick.

 

[Sudre]

Well at the moment I have decided to do a little testing before selling or shipping it off as parts. Starting with the LED short circuit indicators. It appears at least three of the LEDs are burnt and now just shorts. I bet there are no currently limiting resistors in the circuits. I am wondering what cause that. I can see Tesla not adding the current limiting resistors because the supply power should never go above what the LED was designed for.

Since only the Media, USB and CAN (I am assuming can buss) are lost there is hope the CPU might be fine. Still if there was a back feed into the 5 volt buss from somewhere outside the system I wonder what all that could have fried.... or did the voltage regulator fail and send an over-voltage thru the board.

Jim Martin

 

[tedsk]

If something fried on MB then it is a very bad sign. Without schematics it could be very hard to fix and there is a question - why fix at all unless you want a bench.

I suspect SC swapped the screen, not damaged. I installed and removed my bench's screen like a hundred of times literally, but can't imagine how that procedure could push bubbles into the screen.

 

[geometro]

My new MCU is installed and everything seems to be working fine. They did manage to damage my old one. The screen now has bubbles under the glass that were definitely not there. That probably greatly reduces my resale value of the old one.

The new one has a free 4G modem since that's what it came with.

The cost including labor for this repair was around $3100.

Now I have to decide if I want to sell the old one or did into it and see what actually broke.

Glad to hear, but if this is considered normal wear they need to make these more durable (ie, last 8 years or more).

 

[Sudre]

If something fried on MB then it is a very bad sign. Without schematics it could be very hard to fix and there is a question - why fix at all unless you want a bench.

If the short circuit LEDs fried, which they did, that shows bad design. Without the current limiting resistors that means one of two things. The voltage regulator went bad and there was a short and the LED burnt out, or there was a back feed of more than 5 volts on one of the outputs. Either one should have been protected against. I noticed yesterday looking at the screen at night while the car was charging and it seemed to dimmed in and out a bit.

I tested my USB flash drive and it works just fine. So nothing I have done caused the problem. I am still not going to plug it back in.

If the memory in the old unit and the CPU are fine, I do not want to sell it to someone and have them get it booted up because it might then log onto the Tesla server and screw things up for me since it will use my VIN and data. Currently that's my only concern with selling it. I don't know how that works and what it can do. With the screen damaged I just don't see getting any money worth selling it for either. The serial communications chip could be fried and that might be why they can talk to it. They said it does power up.

I am also waiting for someone higher up the food chain at Tesla to get back to me. I filed a complaint and got a short call back last week but that was just acknowledgement of my message.

 

[demundus]

I do not want to sell it to someone and have them get it booted up because it might then log onto the Tesla server and screw things up for me since it will use my VIN and data. Currently that's my only concern with selling it. I

There's already an active MCU with your VIN in your car. I personally don't think there is a concern here. You should be fine to sell it. I have someone else's MCU in my car, for example

 

[tedsk]

I have someone else's MCU in my car

It is fully yours now!

If done properly it has no traces of previous life in it.

 

[Dzsink]

Hi There,
My MCU failed today while driving and using navigation. Navigation froze while driving and all other functions. I rebooted the screen while driving but did not come back. Attempted to reworked it with Tesla Road side assistance but they could not detect connection between screen and hardware. I took it to Tesla Paramus NJ. This is where I have purchased my MS as a Co car. I have little bit over 36k on the clock. Waiting for the fix.

The MCU (the main 17" touch screen and computer unit) on my 2013 Model S has failed for the second time, this time out of warranty. The first time Tesla replaced it under warranty, but this time it's costing me more than $3,000 ($2726 plus tax) - about as much as the top of the line MacBook Pro. The service center told me that the "processor" had failed inside the MCU. I live in Seattle, where temperatures are not extremely hot (in general), though I have driven it around the country and to hot places (not often). I bring this up to the group because I certainly hope this won't become a regular failure every 2-3 years for everyone. And while my car is out of warranty, it just feels wrong (as it does when other car companies cite the warranty in similar cases) to have to pay to fix something that seems like an intrinsic defect. The MCU is innovative - not a standard automotive computer, but a Linux-based system of Tesla's creation (though I think Foxconn makes it for them). It should be robust to many years of driving, not subject to regular very expensive failures. Am I wrong?

The MCU (the main 17" touch screen and computer unit) on my 2013 Model S has failed for the second time, this time out of warranty. The first time Tesla replaced it under warranty, but this time it's costing me more than $3,000 ($2726 plus tax) - about as much as the top of the line MacBook Pro. The service center told me that the "processor" had failed inside the MCU. I live in Seattle, where temperatures are not extremely hot (in general), though I have driven it around the country and to hot places (not often). I bring this up to the group because I certainly hope this won't become a regular failure every 2-3 years for everyone. And while my car is out of warranty, it just feels wrong (as it does when other car companies cite the warranty in similar cases) to have to pay to fix something that seems like an intrinsic defect. The MCU is innovative - not a standard automotive computer, but a Linux-based system of Tesla's creation (though I think Foxconn makes it for them). It should be robust to many years of driving, not subject to regular very expensive failures. Am I wrong?

 

[Sudre]

Hi There,
My MCU failed today while driving and using navigation. Navigation froze while driving .....

What year is your car?

I have been hoping the issues are just on older cars, 2013,2014.

The MCU failing in my opinion has little to do with mileage and more to do with years. I think mine lasted so long because I was keeping it in power saving mode so the MCU was not as active.