Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues

[mknox]

There was some discussion a while back about 17" screens not coming on in the cold (at least for a while) meaning that the car's controls were inaccessible. I have not seen any further discussion on this, and am wondering if the problem has been resolved with more current firmware.

 

[favo]

For what it's worth, there is a big red "STOP" button in the menu that you can poke if you trigger it accidentally.

Another option is to have a confirmation dialog box if the car is in gear.

 

[Doug_G]

There was some discussion a while back about 17" screens not coming on in the cold (at least for a while) meaning that the car's controls were inaccessible. I have not seen any further discussion on this, and am wondering if the problem has been resolved with more current firmware.

I had it happen once, and although it happened in extreme cold there was no way for me to know if this was a factor or not. One data point does not provide any correlation. Tesla says it is not a cold issue, and is planning to replace a component in my car.

 

[mknox]

I had it happen once, and although it happened in extreme cold there was no way for me to know if this was a factor or not. One data point does not provide any correlation. Tesla says it is not a cold issue, and is planning to replace a component in my car.

Good to know... thanks.

 

[slartybartfarst]

The tech guys at the service center and corporate I've spoken to just shake their heads at the extending handles. All they say is "Elon gets what Elon wants". I'm sure every engineer at Tesla has said the extending handles are just a fiasco waiting to happen. They are an overly complicated solution to a simple problem. Just look at those automated seatbelts that many cars had in the 90's. All of those went away too because it just added unneeded complexity.

I hope to be one of the first in the UK to run an S so Im very grateful to all the early adopters here on this forum for the posts, hopefully Tesla will work their way through the fixes and Im sure this forum will help that cause. As an engineer I contemplated making my own electric car years ago but pretty much knew the battery tech was no where near so 15 years later here we have it.......... an amazing achievement..... what I never expected to find was problems with the door handles! Guys we sorted that one 50 years ago! I think maybe you cant get one solution without the other, you know any company with enough vision and drive to do what's been done is probably gonna go flying past the "DEAD END" singes and barriers that were on the development road to "powered door handles". Ive no time for anything that keeps me out my own car, opens when it should be closed, nips at kids fingers or puts my daughters in danger if they were to borrow the car. I just hope that Tesla have a contingency plan in place to deal with the longer term problems this is gonna cause. They must be cool as hell ive yet to see them but the first time they play up ill be machine manual pop out versions, same goes for the charge port.

 

[dtich]

re: pano roof sticking when opening.

this problem started happening to me when i upgraded to 4.1 (.31) -- so i assumed it was a fw thing, and was standing by for further update. but when i had my car in for another small service issue i asked them to take a look. byron in la said it had some extra 'glue' (he called it, but perhaps meant lube, at any rate), they removed the pano panel, cleaned off the glue/lube, re glued/lubed, reinstalled and recalibrated.. and, no more issue. so. while a fw update may have started it, it seems a hardware tweak with a calibration can fix it. probably a combo of things, sensors, calibrations, etc... sticky tracks.... anyway. just thought i'd post for the record.

 

[Dborn]

A lot of these problems are because Elon is no longer " walking the line". That is, quality assurance is no where near where it should be. It would interesting to see if there is a difference between cars constructed in the dying days of 2012 and 2013 builds. There was a lot of pRessure to get cars out by year end.
There really should not be any " excess glue" on the pano roof tracks now that it is a well recognized problem. The robot should have been reprogrammed already to cope with that scenario.
New owners - please chip in here and recount whether you are experiencing physical problems on 2013 builds.

 

[JRP3]

Probably glue, since lube would make it slide more easily, not stick.

 

[Kaivball]

A lot of these problems are because Elon is no longer " walking the line". That is, quality assurance is no where near where it should be. It would interesting to see if there is a difference between cars constructed in the dying days of 2012 and 2013 builds. There was a lot of pRessure to get cars out by year end.
There really should not be any " excess glue" on the pano roof tracks now that it is a well recognized problem. The robot should have been reprogrammed already to cope with that scenario.
New owners - please chip in here and recount whether you are experiencing physical problems on 2013 builds.

If it takes a single individual to ensure a quality car comes off the line then you never had quality assurance in the first place.

You build quality into the process, you don't inspect it in.

Quality problems are symptoms of poor processes or poor execution to the process and not whether the CEO walks the line or not.

That being said, I do agree with you that we shouldn't be surprised that they rushed units out the door to "make the numbers" and that there is a good chance that we will get cars with less problems in 2013.

If they have a good closed loop quality system then the issues will find a resolution back to the manufacturing line (I know they do in Asia where I do most of my manufacturing.... Not sure about Fremont... , lol).

 

[bonnie]

Glue is the WORST thing to deal with on a line. No way to validate a line. Only one way to verify that enough/not too much is being applied, and that is by checking. Nozzles clog. Weight might be right, but it might be unevenly applied. Room temperature changes how it applies. Rework is made much more difficult. The need should be designed out whenever possible.

Did I mention I hate glue on a line? I hate it. Hate. Glue.

 

[ElSupreme]

Glue is the WORST thing to deal with on a line. No way to validate a line. Only one way to verify that enough/not too much is being applied, and that is by checking. Nozzles clog. Weight might be right, but it might be unevenly applied. Room temperature changes how it applies. Rework is made much more difficult. The need should be designed out whenever possible.

Did I mention I hate glue on a line? I hate it. Hate. Glue.

+1 to glue. Gluing down flaps on the boxes where I work is a significant factor to line shutdowns. That reject station fills up fast.

And gluing a boxes shut you can pretty much use as much as you want. These boxes don't get opened by the flaps so even more so in.

 

[znino]

I had it happen once, and although it happened in extreme cold there was no way for me to know if this was a factor or not. One data point does not provide any correlation. Tesla says it is not a cold issue, and is planning to replace a component in my car.

Tonight while driving the 17" screen just went black except for a little X cursor dead in the middle of the screen. It stayed off for maybe 5 seconds and the the tesla T came on and everything appeared normal a couple of seconds later. Certainly seemed like faster than a manual reboot so not sure what happened. Doug was this what happened to you or was it upon starting your car?

 

[JRP3]

Did I mention I hate glue on a line? I hate it. Hate. Glue.

How do you feel about adhesive? :biggrin:

 

[bonnie]

How do you feel about adhesive? :biggrin:

Marginally better. All nasty stuff.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

New owners - please chip in here and recount whether you are experiencing physical problems on 2013 builds.

I just took delivery yesterday of one of the first cars, if not the actual first car, to be built in 2013. I'm happy to report that quality seems excellent. Fit and finish are great, no mechanical problems encountered so far.

 

[dtich]

Probably glue, since lube would make it slide more easily, not stick.

well, sometimes tracks for motorized parts need lube but not too much lube, the resistance is pushed just over the safety switch threshold. i think this is what happens with the pano. that said, maybe it's glue. cause they know how much bonnie likes it.

 

[Doug_G]

Did I mention I hate glue on a line? I hate it. Hate. Glue.

Yep. I feel the same way... have been trying hard to design it out of our products.

 

[jhs_7645]

re: pano roof sticking when opening.

this problem started happening to me when i upgraded to 4.1 (.31) -- so i assumed it was a fw thing, and was standing by for further update. but when i had my car in for another small service issue i asked them to take a look. byron in la said it had some extra 'glue' (he called it, but perhaps meant lube, at any rate), they removed the pano panel, cleaned off the glue/lube, re glued/lubed, reinstalled and recalibrated.. and, no more issue. so. while a fw update may have started it, it seems a hardware tweak with a calibration can fix it. probably a combo of things, sensors, calibrations, etc... sticky tracks.... anyway. just thought i'd post for the record.

First thing my DS showed me when I tried to open the Pano roof with the screen and failed is that if I used the steering wheel to do it, it works (4.1). Sure enough.. it did. He said that is definitely getting fixed in a future release (probably 4.2 as seems to be reported). I would try the steering wheel control for the pano roof before going to service.

 

[MikeK]

For what it's worth, since I don't have 4.2 yet, I tried the steering wheel. Nope. Roof still requires two attempts to open.

 

[dtich]

For what it's worth, since I don't have 4.2 yet, I tried the steering wheel. Nope. Roof still requires two attempts to open.

yeah, i actually can't see how those two methods would work any differently as they both call the same exact routine in the software.. could be just coincidence that it happens to work one way versus another from time to time... but can't say for sure.