Model X 2017 not charging (ac or dc)

[Retkimora]

Hello,

My model X 2017 is charging whenever wind blows from right direction and moon is at correct position. This is EU-version of the car so it has type 2 connector only. I need to use Teslas CCS2 adapter to charge at any dc fast charger. Charging usually works after car has been resting for longer period, like 10 hours. Once I finish charging it no longer works. DC charging works best but AC charging gets interrupted all the time. Whenever it is wet outside the problem goes really bad. Then after a werk or two of dry weather it improves a little.

Problem is CP signal according to the car. Most common error message is no error message at all, but often PLCRLY_a139_PilotFaulted. Sometimes some other message saying control pilot irrational or something similar.

Resets do nothing. Power off or unplugging usb devices does nothing. If I stay at supercharger the car may wait for 5-45 minutes before starting to actually charge. Any other dc fast chargers usually say cable is not connected to a car. Car says cable is connected but no power flowing.

Mobile technician visited me once and measured CP signal to the first connector and checked that PE to chassis is good. It was. He then asked his peers or checked some knowledge space for similar problems and they thought it is the onboard charger. Maybe it is. Tesla quoted me some thousands of euros for replacing it so I decided to dive into it myself first.

I replaced charge port already as it was acting up anyway. No joy. Took the charging connector apart and found nothing special.
I replaced CP and PP wires going all the way to main charger connector, no change in behaviour. If I plug type 2 home charger in I can read 11,5V between PE and CP from car side. Plug outputs 11,75V. When connected all the way to main charger the voltage drops to 10,4V. Maybe it drops too low somehow?

Tesla service manuals are no help too. EU versions of older cars can get PLCRLY part installed to enable CCS adapter support and its wiring is not documented at all in wiring diagrams. I unwrapped lots of wiring loom to figure out actual connections.

I have spare main charger with blown main fuses I could try replacing and then install that to car. Any other help is much appreciated.

 

[EbS-P]

Can you get a charger with charge port still connected a 30 day return period. Stateside they are running $500-$750 usd. My thinking is this would rule out any issue with the charge port you installed. If the issue is not fixed it could be the new to charger is bad and it gets returned and you know the issue is probably not the charger or charge port.

I just had my charger replaced. I had cold weather charging issues it hasn’t been cold for me to see if that actually fixed anything. December will be here and I’ll find out.

 

[Retkimora]

I wish I could. I tried installing broken charger yesterday. Replaced two hv fuses on circuit board and installed charger to the car. Did software reinstall. As soon as green light began to flash on charge port a fuse was blown on house side and it likely took my umc at the same time. Umc shows three blinking lights which translate to relay/contactor fault. I put the original charger back in and it seems to work whenever it wants to. I opened cases from both chargers to see if there was water intrusion or something obvious that is wrong. Nope. Newer charger did not blow replaced hv fuses though.

3-phase chargers seem to be hard to find used. I will keep on looking and likely open the broken one a bit more.

 

[Retkimora]

Tesla quoted me 2220€ for a new charger unit. What really surprised me was the fuse inside the charger; its price at Tesla was 4€/piece. I got myself couple of those from Mouser for around 30€/piece.

I have a feeling there is a short between power modules/ground inside the broken charger. I should have measured it beforehand. I will open the charger whenever I have extra time.

 

[Retkimora]

Managed to open the charger. Sure enough the module in the middle was shorted from L to N directly. Trying to get module off now. I think I need to desolder all the big component legs from the board and hope it just lifts off after that. All big stuff is likely glued to the bottom plate where water cooling seems to be.

Contacts between AC bus bar and modules have something weird going on. Neutral bus is solid piece but all phase lives are not soldered or welded to the circuit board. See pictures. They make contact when pressed against the board. I don't think this is supposed to be like this. 24A going through that kind of connection is going to cause problems in the long run. This particular unit was likely damaged because of bad house electronics, according to the person I got the charger from. Maybe missing neutral or phase-to-phase short. I will replace these bus bars with copper ones (need to make them) if I manage to repair (or replace) the broken module.

 

[Retkimora]

This video was very helpful:

So I need to desolder some component legs. I already checked all diode legs that are covered with that clear goop. Found many that are shorted on two different modules. One module has all those diodes in supposedly good condition. I don't know the diode type or specifications yet but will find it out eventually.

 

[Retkimora]

I managed to take one power board off. No need to desolder every single thing; only inductors and output pins + logic board connections can be desoldered and whole board lifts up with some gentle prying. I broke some minor things while learning this but I think I can fix them.

I am comparing all diodes and mosfets to (assumed) working module. This one does not show full short between L and N ac-inputs like middle module. But I found that D15 and D14 are shorted. They both are STTH6010WY which seem to be 5€ part. I'll see what else is broken.

 

[Retkimora]

Mobile connector came back to life after changing onboard relays. One was welded to always on -position but I decided to swap them all. Mouser has them available for like 6€/piece.

Onboard charger spare parts arrived at the same time. Now to find time for replacement process.

 

[Retkimora]

This is likely a problem. I have accidentally lifted four pads on logic board while removing the power board. Of course this is the main board that needs to be working so others can work as well.

I can see small vias next to pads. I will try to solder small wires there and connect them to power board. I compared other power board connectors and I there is similarity in connections.

All other power modules were easier to remove after practising with first one. I could also remove them without damaging them. It is long and somewhat painful process though.

 

[Retkimora]

I managed to solder thin wires to vias. I measured with multimeter that 6 out of 8 pins are connected together with other power board connections as well. Two pins on each connector were not connected together. I soldered new diodes to power boards and put everything back together. No more shorts between phases and neutral. Every power module input has about 60kOhm resistance between L and N now. Third module had this reading when I opened the case for the first time.

Tomorrow I will install the charger in the car and see if it charges/works. Old charger is misbehaving as usual, but it still charges the car overnight (usually). Phone is full of charging stopped -notifications in the morning.

 

[Retkimora]

Got charger installed again. Software update won't go through. It stops at 30% when updating autopilot. Wheel size reboots don't help. I tried charging anyway and ac charging seems to work fine. Starts as it should and does not stop charging randomly. Also tried dc charging but there I get unable to dc charge -error message. Service mode shows many other errors there then as well but I think it is because software does not reinstall properly. Now car is recognized by the fast charger immediately and it shows state of charge too.

I made a ticket to Tesla. Let's see how they can assist with the reinstall.

 

[Retkimora]

They simply tried to push the same update again to me. Did not help. Tried disconnecting 12V and HV loop. Update started from 0% and fails at 30% (autopilot update). DAS update from service menu goes through but ECU update hangs. After ecu update I got two more active alerts: app_w051_radecuissue and app_w189_backupcamerastreamexit.

My rearview camera or its wiring is broken. Picture stays on for few seconds and then it disconnects/goes black. Maybe it is preventing the update from going through? I need to open the rear hatch and see if connector has corrosion or if wires at tailgate rubber boot are broken.

 

[Retkimora]

Tesla responded to my concerns via SMS. They did remote diagnosis and said chargers phase 1 and phase 2 are not communicating and this is preventing update going through. They recommended replacing the charger.

So maybe something else is still damaged within the board. I have a feel I need to buy brand new charger for 2200€ to keep going.

I also noticed that AC charging speed is low despite 16A 3-phase limit. Likely two power modules are not doing work at all. Bah.

 

[Retkimora]

1-phase charging was actually because of my house side fuse of Tesla wall connector was blown. I thought I measured all the phases of wall connector but apparently not.

The whole charger gave up yesterday at public charging station. Car went unresponsive at first and then emptied 12V battery very quickly. After jumping the car with another battery there were two big error codes on the screen: bms_w151 and bms_f151. External isolation faults. Car would not drive as HV was not on. I could smell electronics in the trunk area. After tow truck driver telling me its going to take at least an hour for him to get there, I thought I will disconnect the main charger and see if error goes away. Indeed it did. Reboots did not remove these errors. I ended up removing HV battery connectors from the charger and taping them over to get car running again. Took way less than one hour and saved towing cost. Drove home and put old crappy charger back in temporarily. Back to the square one: charger accepts 3-phase and dc charging but does not recognize cp-signal well. So charging does not start immediately.

"Repaired" charger goes to recycling center at this time.

I will update this thread as soon as I get brand new charger installed.