Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues

[Bugeater]

I had that happen semi-regularly with the UMC, not so much after installing the HPWC. I never figured out why it happened and service was unable to reproduce. I think making sure to close it firmly and being careful not to press the button as you put the cable away is about as much as you can do.

No, this happens randomly for me sine I got the car. I have very carefully closed the reflector and watched as it popped back open. The HPWC cable was already put away.

The truncated directions has been noticible by me since 7.0.

 

[jerry33]

No, this happens randomly for me sine I got the car. I have very carefully closed the reflector and watched as it popped back open. The HPWC cable was already put away.

^^^^This. It happens but not frequently enough to be really annoying, maybe twice a month.

 

[Pilot_51]

In my case, when it did happen (roughly once a week), it was just about always as I was putting the cable away (coiling it up on a small table), so I thought it was possible there was a short of the button wiring in the cable or something. I also left the protective plastic on the handle, which I thought could have been causing the button to stick, but service said many owners leave it on and don't have the problem.

 

[Scottd]

I have found that the front headlight accent lights and amber lights on my '13 MS 85 are not illuminating when the headlights are on. From the touch screen it shows that they illuminate then turn off which tells me that the car realizes that they are not on. Is there a fuse or something I can do easily to fix this or should I set up an appointment with service?

 

[BertL]

I have found that the front headlight accent lights and amber lights on my '13 MS 85 are not illuminating when the headlights are on. From the touch screen it shows that they illuminate then turn off which tells me that the car realizes that they are not on. Is there a fuse or something I can do easily to fix this or should I set up an appointment with service?

Check the back of your Owners Manual for fuse location, otherwise, I'd just call the SC.

 

[FloridaGary]

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I have found that the front headlight accent lights and amber lights on my '13 MS 85 are not illuminating when the headlights are on. From the touch screen it shows that they illuminate then turn off which tells me that the car realizes that they are not on. Is there a fuse or something I can do easily to fix this or should I set up an appointment with service?

Fuses are located in the Frunk on the passenger side near the windshield. You have to remove the black plastic to access.

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Okay, since getting v7 (2.9.12) or maybe the release before that, about 50% of the time when I get in the car I have to wait for the "Systems Powering Up" alert to clear before I can tap the brake pedal and start the car. I have re-booted, but still have the issue. In the past nearly 3 years, I may have seen it twice before, but now it's multiple times a day. The car shouldn't be "asleep" because I keep Energy Savings OFF / Always Connected selected. It's not the end of the world, but I'm curious if it's just me...

I've only had my S for 6 weeks and this has happened to me 3 times. I notice it happens when I am washing the car in the driveway and when I hop in to pull into garage to dry it, I notice the screen is blank as if its asleep.

 

[Scottd]

I have found that the front headlight accent lights and amber lights on my '13 MS 85 are not illuminating when the headlights are on. From the touch screen it shows that they illuminate then turn off which tells me that the car realizes that they are not on. Is there a fuse or something I can do easily to fix this or should I set up an appointment with service?

I ended up calling my SC here in Dallas. They said that they had a good idea of what could have caused it and to stop by. It ended up being that the last tech to work on the car during a service, forgot to plug a connector together in the front of the car. That piece also controls the louvers for cooling. Not sure how a code was not thrown but if anyone has this issue in the future--best bet is that the plug is not connected.

 

[Beryl]

My invoice from the SC included this remark:
"Numerous aftermarket electrical accessories installed"

The SC replied to my email questioning that description since I only recalled installing a webcam.

The technician is referencing all accessories being powered by the 12V battery. It includes the front and rear facing cameras, along with the USB drive, USB multiplier, and phone charger plugged in by the console. All these accessories put a load on the 12V circuit, therefore he’s encompassing all of them when stating “numerous”.

They are correct. Tesla installed the console with the phone charger but I forgot about the USB multiplier (in the lighter port with nothing attached) and USB drive (music collection).

Has anyone had warranty problems with a comment like this being on file at Tesla? I'd like to leave the webcam installed but should I remove the 3 USB items when not in use?

Update: Tesla sent a new invoice with changed verbiage:

"Note: Vehicle has aftermarket forward and rear facing dash cams."

 

[hoskme]

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Fuses are located in the Frunk on the passenger side near the windshield. You have to remove the black plastic to access.

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I've only had my S for 6 weeks and this has happened to me 3 times. I notice it happens when I am washing the car in the driveway and when I hop in to pull into garage to dry it, I notice the screen is blank as if its asleep.

I got the message about waiting for systems to restart a few days ago. My phone had a message that charging was complete but when I got in the next morning the screen was blank and the message was on the instrument panel. I waited a couple of minutes the rebooted both screen and instrument panel and everything then started up ok. This has only happened once in 7 weeks since delivery.

 

[Ingineer]

My invoice from the SC included this remark:
"Numerous aftermarket electrical accessories installed"

The SC replied to my email questioning that description since I only recalled installing a webcam.


They are correct. Tesla installed the console with the phone charger but I forgot about the USB multiplier (in the lighter port with nothing attached) and USB drive (music collection).

Has anyone had warranty problems with a comment like this being on file at Tesla? I'd like to leave the webcam installed but should I remove the 3 USB items when not in use?

Update: Tesla sent a new invoice with changed verbiage:

"Note: Vehicle has aftermarket forward and rear facing dash cams."

Tesla service is hostile to aftermarket equipment of any kind. Keep in mind if you have USB stuff, or anything plugged into the 12v (cig lighter) port, it goes off when the car goes to sleep, so this will not impact anything in the car. If you have tapped the 12v system so that your device is always on, then that is a different scenario though.

I had a firmware update on my car fail (due to bugs in their system), but they decided to blame it on my dashcam that was hooked to the 12v system. They made me take the car back with old software and remove the dashcam before they would fix the car and apply current software. Total BS, but I had no choice if I wanted to receive updates. Several other owners (without dashcams) on cars with similar configurations to mine also had the same failures and they admitted it was a software issue and apologized. They made me drive to service an additional 2 times for no reason.

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I've only had my S for 6 weeks and this has happened to me 3 times. I notice it happens when I am washing the car in the driveway and when I hop in to pull into garage to dry it, I notice the screen is blank as if its asleep.

If you get this frequently, disable "energy saving" and check "always connected" and see if the problem goes away. It will use a bit more "vampire" power, but I don't find it to be a problem.

 

[mknox]

Tesla service is hostile to aftermarket equipment of any kind. Keep in mind if you have USB stuff, or anything plugged into the 12v (cig lighter) port, it goes off when the car goes to sleep, so this will not impact anything in the car. If you have tapped the 12v system so that your device is always on, then that is a different scenario though.

Why would that be? The DC-DC will kick in and "top up" the 12v as it trickles down periodically whether the car is "on" or "off", does it not? It's not like an ICE where the alternator is only replenishing the 12v when the car is running. I assumed the 12 v maintenance algorithm would be the same whether the car is on or not. I have heard it said that one problem might be that they let the 12v drain too far down before initiating a "top up".

 

[FloridaGary]

Tesla service is hostile to aftermarket equipment of any kind. Keep in mind if you have USB stuff, or anything plugged into the 12v (cig lighter) port, it goes off when the car goes to sleep, so this will not impact anything in the car. If you have tapped the 12v system so that your device is always on, then that is a different scenario though.

I had a firmware update on my car fail (due to bugs in their system), but they decided to blame it on my dashcam that was hooked to the 12v system. They made me take the car back with old software and remove the dashcam before they would fix the car and apply current software. Total BS, but I had no choice if I wanted to receive updates. Several other owners (without dashcams) on cars with similar configurations to mine also had the same failures and they admitted it was a software issue and apologized. They made me drive to service an additional 2 times for no reason.

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If you get this frequently, disable "energy saving" and check "always connected" and see if the problem goes away. It will use a bit more "vampire" power, but I don't find it to be a problem.

I'll give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Ingineer]

Why would that be? The DC-DC will kick in and "top up" the 12v as it trickles down periodically whether the car is "on" or "off", does it not? It's not like an ICE where the alternator is only replenishing the 12v when the car is running. I assumed the 12 v maintenance algorithm would be the same whether the car is on or not. I have heard it said that one problem might be that they let the 12v drain too far down before initiating a "top up".

Tesla could deny warranty on the 12v under the claim that your added load is deep-cycling it more. It's BS, but they could.

 

[mknox]

Tesla could deny warranty on the 12v under the claim that your added load is deep-cycling it more. It's BS, but they could.

Could they? The car has 12v and USB ports in it. Do they expect us not to use them? (As I say, the charge/discharge cycle of the 12v is not like an ICE with an alternator and as far as I can tell is the same with the car on or off).

 

[Ingineer]

Could they? The car has 12v and USB ports in it. Do they expect us not to use them? (As I say, the charge/discharge cycle of the 12v is not like an ICE with an alternator and as far as I can tell is the same with the car on or off).

No, you did not follow my complete reasoning, see several posts back:

If you have tapped the 12v system so that your device is always on, then that is a different scenario though.

The 12v/USB ports go off when he car goes to sleep, so they'd only have a leg to stand on for people tapping in directly.

 

[mknox]

No, you did not follow my complete reasoning, see several posts back:

The 12v/USB ports go off when he car goes to sleep, so they'd only have a leg to stand on for people tapping in directly.

Okay, maybe I'm missing something, but on the Model S, what difference does it make? Does the car do something differently with respect to replenishing the 12v when the car is "on" vs. when it is "off"? I know mine will engage the DC-DC converter from time to time when parked to top up the 12v and I assume the car does the same when I'm driving it. It's not like an ICE where the 12v will simply run down if the engine (alternator) is not keeping it topped up. Whether an accessory is switched or on all the time, the car should be doing the same thing to keep the 12v charged. Sure, it won't be doing it as much for a switched 12v load, but I am not sure why this would be a problem. A ton of other 12v stuff is always on in the Model S and it keeps the 12v maintained regardless. What would the warranty issue be?

 

[JRP3]

You'd be putting greater load on the DC/DC and the battery, cycling them both more often.

 

[mknox]

You'd be putting greater load on the DC/DC and the battery, cycling them both more often.

Well, more duty cycles, but I doubt more load. My guess is that when the 12v gets to a certain point, the DC-DC starts its top-up process at or about the same current levels each time. The same would be true for someone who does not use the Energy Savings options vs. someone who does, or simply drives more for that matter. I'm still struggling to see how Tesla could make this a warranty issue.

 

[Ingineer]

They have the upper hand. They've already proven it to me more than once. If you do happen to have them refuse a claim, your only recourse is to sue them.

So what are YOU going to do if they decide to blame your aftermarket accessories on something? I had to capitulate or do without AP (or sue them).

 

[jerry33]

They have the upper hand. They've already proven it to me more than once.

Still, I've found they're better than the dealer who tries to stall fixing the problem until after the warranty expires so full price can be charged.