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Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues
- Thread starter DrComputer
- Start date
The door opening is electronic, not mechanical. So it simply unlocks & lowers the window simultaneously and seamlessly.
Evan, Via Tapatalk
lolachampcar
Well-Known Member
Go up to any car with frameless windows and auto lowering and gently/slowly start to open while paying attention to the window. The first part of your opening action turns on the motor to lower the window just a bit. It does not move far and thus is fast. If you snatch on the handle too quickly and pull, the glass will be held in the crease of the seal while the door moves out. This causes the window to pivot which allows the top to lower just a bit and pop out of the seal. By the time you go to close the door, the glass has dropped.
I've got a MY97 with mechanical door latches and auto lowering glass. I specifically open the door like I would engage a pre-trigger. I wait to feel for the glass movement before I continue to open the door.
As someone has already said, the MS has electric latches thus they can sequence glass down then door unlatch. Also, newer window assemblies are much faster than my old toy from 1997.
I've got a MY97 with mechanical door latches and auto lowering glass. I specifically open the door like I would engage a pre-trigger. I wait to feel for the glass movement before I continue to open the door.
As someone has already said, the MS has electric latches thus they can sequence glass down then door unlatch. Also, newer window assemblies are much faster than my old toy from 1997.
> By the time you go to close the door, the glass has dropped. [lolachampcar]
Unless it hasn't dropped. Because it is frozen solid to the door. Then you can't close the door. Then you are pi$$ed off 'cause you are out in the parking lot and it is below freezing and the sun has gone down and people are rushing home all around you. So you get in the car & call AAA or Ranger service. They come and using a credit card in their strong hands scrape away the ice along the lower window seal & then slide it in between the seal & glass separating the two. Bingo, window pops down the necessary 1/2 inch & door can be closed. And you can drive home.
Or, you spray silicone into door seal on a regular basis and brush snow & ice off roof & window religiously at every opportunity, then this might not ever happen to your S.
Or, you take door apart, getting air bag out of the way, and relocate window regulator assembly to a new position about 1/2 inch lower so the door can always be closed. It might need to be dropped only 1/8in - just enough so glass does not hit chrome strip along roof as door is being closed. On my car it appears that the glass & roof seal will still be doing a very good sealing job in this new position.
Or, you open door & sever the wire feeding power to the window regulator motor. Window now permanently in 'drop' position. Come Spring, re-connect wire. But this full-drop position might not seal as well as doing the precise adjustment above. And other weird stuff might occur since this is not your father's '88 Corsica.
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Unless it hasn't dropped. Because it is frozen solid to the door. Then you can't close the door. Then you are pi$$ed off 'cause you are out in the parking lot and it is below freezing and the sun has gone down and people are rushing home all around you. So you get in the car & call AAA or Ranger service. They come and using a credit card in their strong hands scrape away the ice along the lower window seal & then slide it in between the seal & glass separating the two. Bingo, window pops down the necessary 1/2 inch & door can be closed. And you can drive home.
Or, you spray silicone into door seal on a regular basis and brush snow & ice off roof & window religiously at every opportunity, then this might not ever happen to your S.
Or, you take door apart, getting air bag out of the way, and relocate window regulator assembly to a new position about 1/2 inch lower so the door can always be closed. It might need to be dropped only 1/8in - just enough so glass does not hit chrome strip along roof as door is being closed. On my car it appears that the glass & roof seal will still be doing a very good sealing job in this new position.
Or, you open door & sever the wire feeding power to the window regulator motor. Window now permanently in 'drop' position. Come Spring, re-connect wire. But this full-drop position might not seal as well as doing the precise adjustment above. And other weird stuff might occur since this is not your father's '88 Corsica.
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lolachampcar
Well-Known Member
Todd Burch
14-Year Member
Just leave the windows down in winter, and there will be no freezing issues.
BTW, just a datapoint because I've had my car for two days and this thread was freaking me out before I got the car (and others too, likely)...I've had zero mechanical issues in two days of driving so far.
A few software bugs, and room for improvement, but everything's functioning well (knock on wood). Haven't had to reset the touchscreen at all. (Just kidding about leaving the windows down).
BTW, just a datapoint because I've had my car for two days and this thread was freaking me out before I got the car (and others too, likely)...I've had zero mechanical issues in two days of driving so far.
A few software bugs, and room for improvement, but everything's functioning well (knock on wood). Haven't had to reset the touchscreen at all. (Just kidding about leaving the windows down).
Ben W
Chess Grandmaster (Supervised)
After 3000 miles with my S (Signature Special Performance #61), I got today for the first time the dreaded "Needs Service - Power Limited" error. Naturally it happened as I pulled away from the curb with five people piled in the car for a test drive -- possibly the extra passenger weight triggered something? In any case, the car had very little power and wouldn't go over 20mph; I had to drive slowly and embarrassingly around the block and back to the house. After they all got out, I stopped and restarted the car a few times, rebooted the touchscreen, drove around a little bit, and after ten minutes or so the error disappeared. (And the car has been fine for the past 20 miles since.) This is with 3.0 firmware (1.15.14); for some reason my car hasn't been updated to 4.0 yet, let alone 4.1. But just a FYI, that if this does happen, it can fix itself. I'll call Tesla tomorrow and find out if there's anything they need to look at.
Had you just been driving it before giving your test drive? There was a known "heat soak" problem with the 3.0 software that if the car was driven and got warm, you then parked it for a few minutes and turned it off and then got back in a few minutes later the thermal sensors could think the car had overheated. Turning it off and then back on again would fix he problem. This has been (or so I was told) fixed in 4.x.
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Not sure this really is a technical or mechanical issue but it is a mystery. After my trip for LA to SF back to LA my car was very dirty. I decided to give it a nice New Year's bath and found a strange piece of pink plastic INSIDE what appears to be a sealed taillight. I've sent the LA service center the picture too to see if they can figure it out. I don't see anything else pink that could have broken off inside the housing. Very strange.
I think the outer housings of all the lights aren't sealed and that is why they fog up. That area where the pink is might be open to the 'outside'
Tried to open my sunroof today (3 times) and it wouldn't open once. It made a sound like the motor was stressed and just gave up. Not sure what the issue is... but from reading this thread there CLEARLY is an issue that needs fixing.
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I am having so many issues that I started a page to document them all and share the good, bad, and ugly. I realize the car is new/cutting edge technology, but the growing list is bumming me out.
Here is my experience with constant updates. - http://www.gadgetking.com/2012/12/27/an-owners-tesla-model-s-first-impressions/
My latest issues are the sunroof not opening (stuck shut) and the mirrors not pointing down when going in reverse? I have the setting set to do this... but they don't move at all when the car is put in reverse.
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I am having so many issues that I started a page to document them all and share the good, bad, and ugly. I realize the car is new/cutting edge technology, but the growing list is bumming me out.
Here is my experience with constant updates. - http://www.gadgetking.com/2012/12/27/an-owners-tesla-model-s-first-impressions/
My latest issues are the sunroof not opening (stuck shut) and the mirrors not pointing down when going in reverse? I have the setting set to do this... but they don't move at all when the car is put in reverse.
yes, i too was told that the outer clear plastic in some sections wasn't a sealed part, but that the lights inside are fully sealed and that any condensation will go away doing no harm. fwiw.
SuperCoug
Model S Res #7734
This fogging issue on the Model S has me looking more closely at other cars on the road. I have noticed a few cars with some condensation but today I followed a relatively new Toyota that had one of its turn signals almost completely full of water! I can't imagine why the bulb hadn't burned/shorted out but it was working perfectly. The sloshing water was unmistakable. This guy could have been driving around with a goldfish in there. :smile:
ddenboer
MODEL X #1770
I was told the condensation was not normal, and needs to be fixed. I have all rear lights and the chrome bar being replaced next week (I have experienced some extreme condensation in there that was even still there after an hour drive to Menlo park on a sunny, but cold, morning).
lolachampcar
Well-Known Member
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
My guess is it got into the lights when assembled at the factory and just dropped down into view after road vibrations.
I make no statement of opinion on these, just data points offered. Delivery was 12/31:
- charge port door doesn't open (was true at delivery and service has been alerted, can manually be opened with a smack of the palm behind the pivot point)
- passenger side rear handle won't retract as of day 3 of ownership. Told a rep at the store, she said she'd notify service for me.
- Multitudes of weird "pop up" bugs with the GUI. It'll pop up the blue tooth screen at random, the Release Notes screen at random, etc. Reboots haven't helped.
- Condensation in the tail lights (as noted by other members)
- Driver's side window fogs easily (as noted by other members)
Sounds as if something may be causing false touches to register at the very top of your screen, if all the spurious popups are related to functions that are accessed by touching the symbols at the top.
An interesting anomaly occurred on my recent cross-country trip from Calif to AZ. When I left CA and drove north from Needles to BullHead City then on to Kingman, AZ I changed time-zones, from PST to MST. I was curious to see how the clock in Tess handled it. Well, just before I got to Kingman the clock advance an hour as expected. I spent the night in Kingman, and at some point it reverted to PST. Stayed that way until I was a couple hours out of Kingman heading south when it advanced again. I asked the Service guy in Phoenix if there was a way to manually advance the clock/time-zone and he said he didn't think so. Anyone else have experience crossing time-zones?
