Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues

[ggr]

There weren't lots of cell/radio towers there were there? (I'm thinking of the recent thread where this happened when too close to too much RF)

Hmm, yes, actually. Lots and lots of various kinds. I don't recall that thread, though. Thanks for mentioning it, here it is: an important note about the key fob and RF interference.

Yes, the top of Mt Soledad does look a bit like that...

 

[kishdude]

The irony is he said "You're on a really old software version (1.14.15), so I'm going to push you the most recent." This, after I've been asking for months about the status of upgrades and getting nowhere. I'm now back home, plugged in, waiting for the upgrade to arrive.

As software developer, I admit that I really don't understand Tesla's update policy. I can understand that you want to beta test a release on a small sample of cars to make sure there are no disasters, but once you are comfortable, why would you not roll out the latest update to everyone all at once? I don't understand the 200 cars a day thing and it seems the people with the oldest version of the firmware are updated last. Maybe there is some difference between the signature cars and the production that makes them harder to update?

But it is interesting to me that the car OS can be crashed and the key FOB wont work. What happens if this happens and the car is not in cell range?

 

[Lloyd]

Do you mean TuneIn? Or does Slacker have features I’m not familiar with?

I do love the ability to tune stations over 3G instead of relying on FM or AM reception. I absolutely adore not having to care where I am when I want to pick up a favorite station – even those from across the country or around the world. I’ve found myself listening to stations I haven’t had access to in decades.

Yes, I meant Tune in.

Sorry!:redface:

 

[jerry33]

As software developer, I admit that I really don't understand Tesla's update policy. I can understand that you want to beta test a release on a small sample of cars to make sure there are no disasters, but once you are comfortable, why would you not roll out the latest update to everyone all at once?

Apparently they tried that and overloaded their local cell so nothing got out. My expectation is that this won't be a problem when they enable the WiFi on the cars.

 

[znino]

So far i have only had minor technical glitches that either go away on their own or with a screen reset. The past two days, however, have seen two issues creep up. First, my rear right door handle will no longer go in. It is stuck in the open position with the LED on. I cannot pull on it to open the door either. I ended up trying to put some physical pressure to push it in but that only pushed it in. It is still non-responsive to any unlocking or locking and the LED stays on, even now that i physically pushed it in (I can see the light is on). So now it is stuck in the closed position.

Anything issue (has happened 4 times in 2 days) is that I put the car in reverse and start reversing at slow speed and at some point (has happened before reversing and also during my reverse when I was almost stopped) the car puts itself into PARK on its own. Very disconcerting. Anyone else ever notice this? I thought I might be crazy at first or somehow accidentally hit the gear lever but tonight I had someone with me in the car and clearly we were reversing. I stopped to adjust speed as I was getting close to my garage back wall and the car went into PARK.

 

[jomo25]

Anything issue (has happened 4 times in 2 days) is that I put the car in reverse and start reversing at slow speed and at some point (has happened before reversing and also during my reverse when I was almost stopped) the car puts itself into PARK on its own. Very disconcerting. Anyone else ever notice this? I thought I might be crazy at first or somehow accidentally hit the gear lever but tonight I had someone with me in the car and clearly we were reversing. I stopped to adjust speed as I was getting close to my garage back wall and the car went into PARK.

Did you lift your butt up? This has happened to others, at low speed, reversing, lift your butt up, the sensor thinks you have left the car, and it goes into park.

 

[mrjohnlnguyen]

Picked up my 60v on Friday from the factory and toured and drove it back to OC hitting all the superchargers except Space X. Great ride but horrible weather so I used the defrostters, well there in lies the first mech problem. It appears that the heater was programmed to strong so it literally burned both side mirrors and rear view mirror, it's almost dark brown and totally unusable. Also did the update and now the drivers door doesn't get any power. The other doors open and light turns on except the driver...pretty strange so guess I'm getting all new mirrors and software fix. Although this isn't to be expected in a new car that cost 90K I wasn't totally surprised nor disappointed with the car at all. I have a Range Rover sport & 2006 Lexus GS430 and still have no buyers regret! I went from 4.0 to 4.1 FYI.

 

[znino]

Did you lift your butt up? This has happened to others, at low speed, reversing, lift your butt up, the sensor thinks you have left the car, and it goes into park.

yes, after posting i did more research and saw those posts. I went back out to do tests and I can confirm this happens if you are in reverse, with seat belt off and lift yourself a bit off the seat to reverse, the car shifts into N and then immediately into P. Seems to happen more often if there is a little bit of a sudden forward motion during the reversing (such as the tires hitting a small bump in the road or garage sill and you have no real rear momentum). I am on Version 4.2 so if they need to tweak it, this has still not been done in the latest version. Maybe it is just a simple security measure with the car thinking someone has jumped out of the car but a lot of people lift their weight to see being them when reversing.

 

[FredTMC]

Picked up my 60v on Friday from the factory and toured and drove it back to OC hitting all the superchargers except Space X. Great ride but horrible weather so I used the defrostters, well there in lies the first mech problem. It appears that the heater was programmed to strong so it literally burned both side mirrors and rear view mirror, it's almost dark brown and totally unusable. Also did the update and now the drivers door doesn't get any power. The other doors open and light turns on except the driver...pretty strange so guess I'm getting all new mirrors and software fix. Although this isn't to be expected in a new car that cost 90K I wasn't totally surprised nor disappointed with the car at all. I have a Range Rover sport & 2006 Lexus GS430 and still have no buyers regret! I went from 4.0 to 4.1 FYI.

Thanks for this. I'm getting my 60 around the end of Feb. I'm very curious about how much battery was used between Harris and Tejon Ranch (and how fast you drove).

 

[znino]

Here is another weird behavior for all your shelock holmes out there.... can anyone offer any kind of explanation other than aliens?

Wife drives to coffee shop with car. Walks away from car into coffee shop and visually confirms handles going flush and lights flashing indicating locking.
She is inside coffee shop about 15m from car's front hood.
5 minutes later My son gets off the bus (scheduled to meet her there) and walks to car.
As he gets close, the handles present and he gets into the car. This whole time my wife is standing in the coffee shop and witnesses this happening as well.

It is impossible that my son somehow triggered the opening. It has to be coincidence but why would it suddenly open with her 15m away and after 5 min? She was stationary. It can't walk-up open from that distance can it? It would be the equivalent of leaving the fob 15m away from the car at night and the car deciding someone was coming and close enough! Impossible! And no, my son did NOT have a FOB on him!

 

[mrjohnlnguyen]

Thanks for this. I'm getting my 60 around the end of Feb. I'm very curious about how much battery was used between Harris and Tejon Ranch (and how fast you drove).

So from The Factory to Gilroy is the easiest, 50 miles. The super charger is next to the Sony Store/ In n Out, had lunch there( 4 chargers ) I actually pulled up and there was anothe Model S charging, pretty cool. Didnt chage to max range because your well within the 180 miles. Next stop was Harris ranch, only 1 super charger and a slower stage 2 so hopefully you won't have to wait. I did set to max range and took about 30 miles. Next was Lebec..tracking about 65-70 we arrived with 10 miles! This charger is on the far left when you exit, next to the Panda Express, can't miss it. We had dinner across the street at the Iron Skillet, what a dump! I should have gone to Panda but its a resturant so you can chill. My suggestion eat at Panda and go over for a cup of coffee. 40-45 min later we where on the road and made it to Irvine with 60 miles to spare and that was traveling 70-80. Didn't need to stop off at Space X although I should have but I was tired. We started the tour at 9:30-11:30 which was very cool and worth doing. I estimate that it took a solid 8 hours but it was an adventure and FREE! I figured the gas savings was spent on snacks at the stops ha ha. Either way it was fun and LOVE the car. Took it to Fashion Island and used the Tesla's charging after going on a ride. You'll find that you will tend to take the long way home so you can enjoy the ride, best if luck and hope this helps!

 

[Ben W]

It appears that the heater was programmed to strong so it literally burned both side mirrors and rear view mirror, it's almost dark brown and totally unusable.

This could just be the Nighttime Mode for the mirrors to reduce glare. I believe there's an LCD panel embedded in each mirror which gives it the dark-brown appearance when this is active.

 

[FredTMC]

So from The Factory to Gilroy is the easiest, 50 miles. The super charger is next to the Sony Store/ In n Out, had lunch there( 4 chargers ) I actually pulled up and there was anothe Model S charging, pretty cool. Didnt chage to max range because your well within the 180 miles. Next stop was Harris ranch, only 1 super charger and a slower stage 2 so hopefully you won't have to wait. I did set to max range and took about 30 miles. Next was Lebec..tracking about 65-70 we arrived with 10 miles! This charger is on the far left when you exit, next to the Panda Express, can't miss it. We had dinner across the street at the Iron Skillet, what a dump! I should have gone to Panda but its a resturant so you can chill. My suggestion eat at Panda and go over for a cup of coffee. 40-45 min later we where on the road and made it to Irvine with 60 miles to spare and that was traveling 70-80. Didn't need to stop off at Space X although I should have but I was tired. We started the tour at 9:30-11:30 which was very cool and worth doing. I estimate that it took a solid 8 hours but it was an adventure and FREE! I figured the gas savings was spent on snacks at the stops ha ha. Either way it was fun and LOVE the car. Took it to Fashion Island and used the Tesla's charging after going on a ride. You'll find that you will tend to take the long way home so you can enjoy the ride, best if luck and hope this helps!

thanks! I'm in San Clemente. Looking forward to getting the car and making this same trip. Enjoy the car

 

[MikeK]

Did you lift your butt up? This has happened to others, at low speed, reversing, lift your butt up, the sensor thinks you have left the car, and it goes into park.

This seems like broken behavior to me. Wouldn't it make more sense to only trigger the park mode if the door is also open?

 

[ElSupreme]

I have a double image coming from my drivers rear view mirror. I looked online apparently this is when the electrochromatic oil leaks out of the mirror. So should be a relatively easy fix. It is a real problem at night when I get 2 pairs of headlights instead of 1. Also a problem when trying to figure out if that Crown Vic/Charger behind you is the po-po or just some guys car.

 

[mrjohnlnguyen]

thanks! I'm in San Clemente. Looking forward to getting the car and making this same trip. Enjoy the car

Cars in the shop, the mirrors crystallized and they said they had never seen it before. Got a hot Chevy Cruze now ha ha.

- - - Updated - - -

Here's a link to the photos and charging station, FYI the chargers at Lebec are actually on the far right NOT the left.

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=FE9533E1D7FD124F!1050

 

[Pjster]

here is a link to a article which very well explains and lists most of the problems... I do hope that someone gives this to Tesla so that they can fix these problems. Most of these should be easy to deal with!
Tesla Model S: Glitches, Quirks, and Peccadilloes Roundup

 

[Todd Burch]

yes, after posting i did more research and saw those posts. I went back out to do tests and I can confirm this happens if you are in reverse, with seat belt off and lift yourself a bit off the seat to reverse, the car shifts into N and then immediately into P. Seems to happen more often if there is a little bit of a sudden forward motion during the reversing (such as the tires hitting a small bump in the road or garage sill and you have no real rear momentum). I am on Version 4.2 so if they need to tweak it, this has still not been done in the latest version. Maybe it is just a simple security measure with the car thinking someone has jumped out of the car but a lot of people lift their weight to see being them when reversing.

Imagine you're in the driver's seat with no seat belt on, and you're in reverse. Now suppose you accidentally press the accelerator somewhat firmly thinking it's the brake (or you hit a bump and your foot pushes down on the accelerator). What happens? The car surges backward, and you fly out of the seat. Now you're in a potentially very dangerous, out-of-control situation.

In my mind, that's a good safety feature and I don't see it as needing a tweak.

My riding lawnmower shuts off when the blade's engaged and the weight comes off the seat. Sometimes, when I go over bumps which push me up out of the seat, it causes the engine to sputter. Extremely minor nuisance, yet I still appreciate the safety feature.

- - - Updated - - -

This seems like broken behavior to me. Wouldn't it make more sense to only trigger the park mode if the door is also open?

See my explanation above. If you're reading this, I assume you already have. In short, it's not for someone flying out the driver's door, but flying forward out of your seat in case you press the wrong pedal!

 

[JRP3]

My riding lawnmower shuts off when the blade's engaged and the weight comes off the seat. Sometimes, when I go over bumps which push me up out of the seat, it causes the engine to sputter. Extremely minor nuisance, yet I still appreciate the safety feature.

One of my first mods on a new mower is to disable all that safety crap as I find it very annoying. Sounds as if the S is overly sensitive in this case.

 

[Majerus]

One of my first mods on a new mower is to disable all that safety crap as I find it very annoying. Sounds as if the S is overly sensitive in this case.

I do this as well.