Model S - Door handle presenting, but the door will not open!

[ACS.]

The entire harness pulled apart and out.

Pulled on them. No breaks.

 

[KirkS85]

 

[KirkS85]

Mines were broken in the area I circled

 

[ACS.]

Great video with the door position messing with the actuator! I did pull on each wire and did the door position test. No luck.

 

[ACS.]

KIRK BRO, YOU WERE RIGHT!!!
I went at it again this morning, pulled the driver door cover off disconnected all connectors in the door and in car door jamb frame. Super tight in there. Then moved to that rubber door hinge grommet again but from the door side slide it toward the car side connectors. So tight to slide. And there they were. Two separate wires just sitting there broken apart. Wow man. Thanks for your persistence and video and your certainty. It helped to keep me going at this.
Did the solder joints and 2x heat shrink and then tape. Thanks sooooo much!!

 

[KirkS85]

And there it is…nice man!

 

[Dan McD]

The entire harness pulled apart and out.

Hi, thanks for the post. How did you get to the wires behind the kick panel? Can you pull them out the hole where the grommet is? There are some large wire connectors in the way & I can't see to disconnect the ones you took apart .

 

[ACS.]

Hi, thanks for the post. How did you get to the wires behind the kick panel? Can you pull them out the hole where the grommet is? There are some large wire connectors in the way & I can't see to disconnect the ones you took apart .

Your on the right track. Remove the entire kick panel door sill trim. Then pull the big connector off of the wall and out of the way from the hole in the door jamb. There are 4 white connector inside. You can pull them into the car and disconnect. Also pull the grommet of the car jamb and you can disconnect there as well. There is a 5th small connector as well. It's self explanatory. There is also a spare on mine, I believe for a speaker maybe. After all that and you have all the connectors out side the car and straightened next pull the grommet of of the door and slide it and compress it at the connectors. Then you may see the broken wires. Also look for a RED wire that could be broken. Check them all. After they are soldered and reinsulated reconnect temporary into the car but not through the small hole. Check windows, door latches and mirrors.

 

[Dan McD]

Okay awesome, thanks for the help! I'll give it a try this weekend. You solder your connections did you need to add wire or was there enough length? Soldering joint is not too stiff?
I assume I don't have to power down the car to do this.
Sorry for all the questions, I just want to get this right the first time!
Thanks!

 

[ACS.]

Okay awesome, thanks for the help! I'll give it a try this weekend. You solder your connections did you need to add wire or was there enough length? Soldering joint is not too stiff?
I assume I don't have to power down the car to do this.
Sorry for all the questions, I just want to get this right the first time!
Thanks!

Your undone harness connectors isolate the door harness from the rest of the car. If you so choose then go to Safety on the screen and shutt down the power. And further you can disconnect the 12 volt battery and the high voltage link under the HVAC filter in the left frunk. I did not feel the need to do these on my final repair!
I did not add any wire. When I finished I moved the harness section with my repairs to inside the door so my stiff solder joints are not being abused. It's been only 3 days gone past but so far sooo good. All is working! Days ago when that red wire did come apart inside the insulation it intermittently caused all windows and all doors to not work. I had to enter the car through the trunk hatchback. If I need to do further repairs to this harness I now know how to do them and have options. If you have positive suggestions please let me know.

 

[jonalbert]

Hello..

Tesla model S 2015

Problem: Front right passenger door handle presenting, but the door will not open!

I changed the harness to fix this (Tesla Model S Door Handle Repair Microswitch Harness)

After changing the harness its till not working. I even tested both the new and the old harness, and both of them are working as they are supposed to.

Does anyone know what could be wrong? Already searched all over, but no luck. Normally people change the harness with the 2 small microswitches and it works again.

Thank you

I have a 2022 Model S Plaid having similar problems with driver door latch. It always resolves itself after being in sleep mode, overnight (while plugged in; not sure if that matters). In the morning, the latch works perfectly both from exterior and interior. I’ve had 2 door panels replaced under warranty, but the periodic and random failures keep occurring. Judging from the posts I’ve read, this is a gremlin that the engineers can’t figure out.

 

[Darthracing]

My 2014 S was in the shop for a week for this, they bought a new latch, I went to open the door today and FAIL.

I attempted to express the front door relationship at the shop but they did not follow:

"It is due to broken wires coming from the kick panel into the driver door. It’s located in the flexible waterproof grommet."

I will send the quote above now and suggest they google it...

 

[ACS.]

Front doors rubber grommets at hinge. Left had three broken wires last spring. Weeks ago I soldred one broken ground wire in the right door. This is not engineering gremlins. Just broken wires that are loosing continuity. Check your grommet wires folks.

 

[ACS.]

My 2014 S was in the shop for a week for this, they bought a new latch, I went to open the door today and FAIL.

I attempted to express the front door relationship at the shop but they did not follow:

"It is due to broken wires coming from the kick panel into the driver door. It’s located in the flexible waterproof grommet."

I will send the quote above now and suggest they google it...

Fix it yourself

 

[bate]

I have a 2022 Model S Plaid having similar problems with driver door latch. It always resolves itself after being in sleep mode, overnight (while plugged in; not sure if that matters). In the morning, the latch works perfectly both from exterior and interior. I’ve had 2 door panels replaced under warranty, but the periodic and random failures keep occurring. Judging from the posts I’ve read, this is a gremlin that the engineers can’t figure out.

I have the same problem on my Model S Plaid 2023 last couple of weeks. About once or twice a week I cant open the driver door, only way to open is with the mechanical latch from the inside. I tried rebooting but it does not help. But every time I left the car overnight it magically starts to work again next morning. Seems somehow software related. Has this been resolved for you?

 

[KalJoMoS]

Front doors rubber grommets at hinge. Left had three broken wires last spring. Weeks ago I soldred one broken ground wire in the right door. This is not engineering gremlins. Just broken wires that are loosing continuity. Check your grommet wires folks.

I did tried to find this discussion, good that now have. Here is my fix.

 

[MrSlowEv]

I have the same problem on my Model S Plaid 2023 last couple of weeks. About once or twice a week I cant open the driver door, only way to open is with the mechanical latch from the inside. I tried rebooting but it does not help. But every time I left the car overnight it magically starts to work again next morning. Seems somehow software related. Has this been resolved for you?

I have a 2022 Model S Plaid having similar problems with driver door latch. It always resolves itself after being in sleep mode, overnight (while plugged in; not sure if that matters). In the morning, the latch works perfectly both from exterior and interior. I’ve had 2 door panels replaced under warranty, but the periodic and random failures keep occurring. Judging from the posts I’ve read, this is a gremlin that the engineers can’t figure out.

Hey Gents, I also have a 2022 Model S Plaid with this same issue. It presented itself for the first time tonight. I’ve opened a service ticket and have an appointment next Tuesday. Have either of you guys been able to get this resolved?

 

[sunnyputt18]

good morning everyone. hope all is well. great information. thank you for sharing. new tesla model s owner and finding these types of information is very helpful. definitely going to try this and hoping this would take care of the issue. has anyone in this forum has to replace front bumper?

 

[NewbyMaybe]

It's easy, on YouTube. 2nd person is helpful because its floppy but not necessary.

 

[sunnyputt18]

The entire harness pulled apart and out.

same here. can you please share how you fixed this?