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Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues

Discussion in 'Model S' started by DrComputer, Sep 27, 2012.

  1. FlasherZ

    FlasherZ Sig Model S + Sig Model X + Model 3 Resv

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2012
    Messages:
    7,024
    That's common when the signal reception is spotty -- the HD carrier is on the edge of reception and the radio drops back to analog mode, and when it recovers it blends back to HD mode. I live 40 miles east of St. Louis where TV and radio are crystal clear, except in the model S. The service folks said to turn off HD if you get that fade-in-and-out effect. You'll also notice the annoying habit of the station getting louder when in HD mode vs. the analog fallback.

    I claim it's a design issue, because where I live you get great reception on even those clock radios with a 4" tail antenna. I should not hear fuzz in St. Louis stations and should not have to turn off HD mode based on where I live.
     
  2. JohnEC

    JohnEC S 00443

    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2012
    Messages:
    113
    Location:
    Concord, Ca
    So ... Has anyone received their parcel shelf yet? Or even heard anything about them? I've had my car for a little over a month and a half now, but still no word on the shelf. How hard can it be to make a silly little shelf?
     
  3. Sig698

    Sig698 Model S Sig Perf #698

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2012
    Messages:
    182
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I have one. I think it may be the old design that they just gave me to shut me up though :tongue:
     
  4. kitk

    kitk Model S P85 - VIN#2589

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2012
    Messages:
    64
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Perhaps every successful product needs to have their own AntennaGate. Has anyone determined where the FM antenna is located in the Model S? I know there was discussion surrounding XM Radio support and it initially being tied to the pano roof option. Would be interesting to determine if there is any difference in either FM or XM reception between the two roof options.

    I know that many manufacturers place the FM antenna as a part of one of the window assemblies. Cars I have had with this "feature" have had dramatically degraded FM reception as well.
     
  5. FlasherZ

    FlasherZ Sig Model S + Sig Model X + Model 3 Resv

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2012
    Messages:
    7,024
    The antenna is on the rear glass. Beneath the glass, in the trim panels on the left and right side of the liftgate are two antenna amplifiers about 1" x 2" which have a snap onto the window, similar to 9v battery snaps but with two female ports on the connector. The left side has an AM/FM amplifier with two coax snap connectors, the right side is an amplifier for XM/Sirius with 1 coax snap connector.

    That said, even compared to the embedded windshield antennas in the 80's, the model S's performance is horribly anemic when it comes to AM/FM reception. My ranger's rental car had no external whip antenna and it could receive the stations just fine, while the model S had static and couldn't tune HD on local St. Louis stations (transmitters 40 mi from me).

    The GPS antenna is located beneath the upper left corner of the rear glass as well.
     
  6. Robert.Boston

    Robert.Boston Model S VIN P01536

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2011
    Messages:
    7,844
    Location:
    Portland, Maine, USA
    I saw a few minor problems in the firmware yesterday:
    1. The timestamps in the Phone/Recent Calls list are wrong. It looks like there's a bug in parsing the timezone of the call.
    2. On the center console map, the red icon showing my car disappeared for a while. The screen continued to scroll as I drove, so the car knew where I was. This went away after I stopped, got out, got back in, and set a navigation point. (I'm not sure which of those actions, if any, did the trick.)
    3. I crashed the center console twice while recording a voice command. No idea why.
     
  7. mknox

    mknox Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2012
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    10,103
    Location:
    Toronto, ON
    My Cadillac CTS has been rock solid too. After 3.5 years and 75,000 miles I haven't even had to do brakes or wipers. No rattles, no cosmetic problems... nothing. There was a recall to "check" for a potential issue, but my car didn't even have the issue they were investigating.
     
  8. brianman

    brianman Burrito Founder

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2011
    Messages:
    17,515
    Ooh, thanks for the reminder. I meant to post...

    On Thursday, I made about 4 phone calls. On the last call, it showed the correct number but the name below it was from the third call. I contacted the desired party with no issues and they weren't confused by what they couldn't see ;) (nor was I), but it was still odd and wrong.
     
  9. gg_got_a_tesla

    gg_got_a_tesla Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913

    Joined:
    Jan 29, 2010
    Messages:
    6,533
    Location:
    Redwood Shores, CA
    Good idea, Brianman. You should be able to take a stab at kickstarting the wiki, no?!

    I do have a request for the mods; it's about time this thread became a sticky?! Not that it's hard to find otherwise but, we can have it front and center. Unless we are all trying to hide something from prying eyes ;)

    If there's an effort to limit the number of stickies, I think the sticky about the free Supercharging for early 60 kWh orders can safely be demoted now IMO...
     
  10. dsm363

    dsm363 Roadster + Sig Model S

    Joined:
    May 17, 2009
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    18,278
    Location:
    Nevada
  11. gg_got_a_tesla

    gg_got_a_tesla Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913

    Joined:
    Jan 29, 2010
    Messages:
    6,533
    Location:
    Redwood Shores, CA
  12. MikeK

    MikeK R#129, TSLA shareholder

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2012
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    1,133
    Location:
    San Francisco Bay Area
    I've seen that too. It seemed as if it happened when the number I was calling was not in my phone book -- it left the stale info from the previous call.
     
  13. walla2

    walla2 Member

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2012
    Messages:
    490
    Same problem here too with condensation in the tail lights. Just on the driver side. Just like the picture.
     
  14. Jeeps17

    Jeeps17 Cath Jockey in a P85

    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2012
    Messages:
    1,012
    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    I seriously hope that is not the case.

    Condensation may dry up in warmer climes, but it will not during winter, or during long periods of wet weather...
     
  15. pilotSteve

    pilotSteve Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 14, 2012
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    1,456
    Location:
    Prescott Az
    FlasherZ - your knowledge never fails to amaze! Thanks for all your posts.
     
  16. timdorr

    timdorr Model S P90D w/AP2.0

    Joined:
    Aug 2, 2012
    Messages:
    468
    Location:
    Atlanta, Georgia, United States
    TPMS Warning

    So, got my Tesla today and I'm loving it. It came off the truck with a few warnings about servicing the car, but I was aware of those being fixed by the 4.0 software. That update was immediately available to me and I didn't yet have my temporary tags (shipping issue with FedEx, but that's another story...), so I took the opportunity to upgrade.

    Most of the warnings have gone away (the windshield wiper one comes up occasionally, but I know that's a 4.0 bug), but I'm left with a tire pressure system warning. I've checked my tires and all except one were over-inflated to 51 PSI, so I dropped them down to 45 as indicated by the label inside the driver's door. But despite that, the message remains and is persistent.

    I've noticed no other serious issues and I left a message with the Dania Beach service center (the Atlanta one isn't open yet) to see if this is a known issue. Has anyone else seen this warning? I didn't see anything come up in searches, so maybe it's just me. I hope I'm not damaging the car, but I just want to drive it all day long! :)
     
  17. strider

    strider Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 20, 2010
    Messages:
    3,516
    Location:
    NE Oklahoma
    Yes, this should be a note to everyone who's getting a car w/o a DS there - the tires are set to max pressure for shipping. The recommended pressure is 42psi for the 21's.

    Did the warning say tire overinflation warning or a more general TPMS error? We had the pressure warning (our tires were at 51psi even though we picked up at the factory) but once I dropped it to 42psi it went away and hasn't come back. If the warning is still there at 42psi a ranger will need to take a look and possibly re-sync the sensors.
     
  18. timdorr

    timdorr Model S P90D w/AP2.0

    Joined:
    Aug 2, 2012
    Messages:
    468
    Location:
    Atlanta, Georgia, United States
    Nothing about overinflation, just a general TPMS warning and a note to contact Tesla Service (which I have done). I have 19" wheels, so they are 45 PSI cold and therefore 51 isn't a huge deal, just non-optimal.
     
  19. MikeK

    MikeK R#129, TSLA shareholder

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2012
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    1,133
    Location:
    San Francisco Bay Area
    I believe the manual says that the car has to be driven a certain distance before the TPMS will register correct inflation.
     
  20. Mike_Schlechter

    Mike_Schlechter Model S - P457

    Joined:
    May 21, 2010
    Messages:
    458
    Location:
    Weston, CT
    #520 Mike_Schlechter, Dec 16, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2012
    Not sure if this is a bug or purposeful. Want to remove the charger by coming around the back of the car. I couldn't it was not responding when I hit the button. I walked around from the front, no standing to the left of the charger, and out it came. I tested it a few more times. You can't pop the charger if you are standing to the right of the thing. Am I nuts?
     

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