Multiple system failure / Wiring Harness Recall

[navt]

Well that was unnerving. Driving home from Gatwick, just as I enter the M23 northbound, multiple alerts for system failures.

• Autopilot disabled
• TACC disabled
• Regenerative breaking disabled
• Steering assist disabled
• TPMS disabled

In fact, if there was a warning symbol for it, it was probably illuminated. No where safe to pull over so continued to Clackett services. Car seemed to drive fine but weird without regen. Would maintain speed even though foot off the accelerator. Steering, indicators and brakes all appeared to be working fine.

At Clackett, hard reset twice but no joy. Logged bug report. Decided as Dartford SC was on my way home, I should try my luck there. Without regen, consumption was high. Left Gatwick on 46%. Got to Dartford with 20% remaining. Also on incline, car would roll back - something I have not experienced since giving up manual shift many years ago. Technician downloaded log which appeared to indicate water ingress in wiring loom. Weird as car was left for a couple of nights in covered car park. Was told to book a service which I did before leaving. Ranger scheduled to visit next Wednesday. Car parked up on driveway until resolved.

 

[OfficialMark_H]

It’s posts like this that scare the hell out of me.

 

[Jason71]

Have you noticed how many failures are water related.
I have read of several similar to yours
Boot lid leaks
Boot leaks
Puddles damage aero panels
Fogged lights
Windscreen wipers not fit fit purpose untill recent update
There is a definite pattern here

 

[George Marley]

Silly boy.

 

[jimbo_hippo]

View attachment 503291

Silly boy.

This makes most Octopus tariffs very very dangerous.

 

[bjbrown]

This looks like an identical failure to my thread "Epic Fail". Tesla took the car away and fixed it no problem but I have the feeling it is too big an issue for a ranger to fix. I could be wrong however. Car working excellently again now.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

99% it will be the connector in the steering loom which apparently can suffer from water ingres.

It may need that part of the loom replacing but ultimately it's just water getting into a plug, which of course can happen with any car so not unique to Tesla and although there have been multiple reports of it happening, if you consider the number of Model 3s now in the UK it will be a tiny proportion being affected.

I'm sure the bad weather we've had recently has contributed. Maybe it's also only happening on RHD models as I haven't seen much discussion about it in the U.S forums. Being related to the steering column, I think that's a real possibility.

You can get these 'multiple system failures' when a single sensor becomes disconnected. There's nothing wrong with the regen, TC, SC, etc. etc. it's just that the MCU sees one sensor is giving errors so disables all those other systems temporarily. If the connection is intermittent, you might be able to clear the fault by powering off and on again.

As you've seen, the car is still driveable. It's a small failure really, but some people on other forums have been getting a bit over-dramatic about it. More important is how quickly you can get a SC appointment and how long the fix will take.

 

[JS77]

Have you noticed how many failures are water related.
I have read of several similar to yours
Boot lid leaks
Boot leaks
Puddles damage aero panels
Fogged lights
Windscreen wipers not fit fit purpose untill recent update
There is a definite pattern here

Yeah... I'm wondering if it's worth waiting another 6-9 months before ordering to see if the next production batch has any tweaks for better water-proofing (like the 2020 models have tweaked noise reduction etc) - Then again, this is Tesla, so in another 6-9 months, seats and wheels are probably an optional extra....

 

[Jason71]

99% it will be the connector in the steering loom which apparently can suffer from water ingres.

It may need that part of the loom replacing but ultimately it's just water getting into a plug, which of course can happen with any car so not unique to Tesla and although there have been multiple reports of it happening, if you consider the number of Model 3s now in the UK it will be a tiny proportion being affected.

I'm sure the bad weather we've had recently has contributed. Maybe it's also only happening on RHD models as I haven't seen much discussion about it in the U.S forums. Being related to the steering column, I think that's a real possibility.

You can get these 'multiple system failures' when a single sensor becomes disconnected. There's nothing wrong with the regen, TC, SC, etc. etc. it's just that the MCU sees one sensor is giving errors so disables all those other systems temporarily. If the connection is intermittent, you might be able to clear the fault by powering off and on again.

As you've seen, the car is still driveable. It's a small failure really, but some people on other forums have been getting a bit over-dramatic about it. More important is how quickly you can get a SC appointment and how long the fix will take.

The vast majority of Teslas in the US are sold in and around California which is basically a desert at this point which may be why water related issues are not common ( or better engineered to not happen in the first place) I would not be surprised if the UK is not consistently wetter than most of the US. I am sure this is probably Googleable if I can be bothered. Not even talking about average rainfall. More about number of hours of rain or days a year where it rains. It would not be the first time the US underestimated the challenges of islands surrounded by water, big water, ocean water . We may be presenting a challenge that has not faced the bulk of the M3 fleet thus far.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

The vast majority of Teslas in the US are sold in and around California which is basically a desert at this point which may be why water related issues are not common ( or better engineered to not happen in the first place) I would not be surprised if the UK is not consistently wetter than most of the US. I am sure this is probably Googleable if I can be bothered. Not even talking about average rainfall. More about number of hours of rain or days a year where it rains. It would not be the first time the US underestimated the challenges of islands surrounded by water, big water, ocean water . We may be presenting a challenge that has not faced the bulk of the M3 fleet thus far.

There are plenty of Model 3s in 'wet' US States and other countries around the world. Do you think it doesn't rain in Holland, Norway, Germany etc? If this was some sort of massive inherent design problem we would have heard about it long ago.

I suspect it's an issue related to the way the loom is routed in RHD cars, coupled with the wet weather we've had recently, affecting a very small percentage of cars delivered.

 

[Jason71]

There are plenty of Model 3s in 'wet' US States and other countries around the world. Do you think it doesn't rain in Holland, Norway, Germany etc? If this was some sort of massive inherent design problem we would have heard about it long ago.

I suspect it's an issue related to the way the loom is routed in RHD cars, coupled with the wet weather we've had recently, affecting a very small percentage of cars delivered.

I wasn't just talking about this issue but the plethora of water related issues. You may well be right that some are RHD related but I doubt that applies to boot leaks, inadequate aero panels, fogged lights etc.
I also agree that we are not the only wet place. What I am saying is that the bulk of early sales happened in very dry places so even if water resistance is generally poor there would not have been an early out cry with lots of people affected. Therefore any issues, even if known about, would not have been a priority to fix compared to say panel fit and paint issues which were making headlines. It's only now where significant volumes are going to wet places like the UK, holland, Germany etc that these issues will be climbing the leader board.
In hindsight the fact that you can't open the boot when raining without water running in should have been the first clue that water was not high on the list of priorities for Tesla when they engineered the M3.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Yeh, the boot thing is a bit dumb, but my BMW does the same when there's enough water on the lid.

My lights have some condensation in them. I'm not bothered by that at all.

I've checked all the bolts holding my aero panels up, so I'm happy I won't suffer from that issue.

These 'defects' are minor in comparison to the positive side of owning a Model 3. All IMHO of course.

 

[navt]

This looks like an identical failure to my thread "Epic Fail". Tesla took the car away and fixed it no problem but I have the feeling it is too big an issue for a ranger to fix. I could be wrong however. Car working excellently again now.

Thanks. I've just seen your thread, 5 pages back. Not sure why I missed it first time round.

Epic Fail

I did have the steering issue but only on reverse, but if I stuck it drive, PAS would kick in and I could then reverse. One week repair - hmmm.

 

[navt]

Unsurprisingly, Tesla have called to say this is not a ranger repair job. Earliest available appointment March 9th!

"Obviously we will do everything we can to bring that forward".

 

[Rooster6655]

Unsurprisingly, Tesla have called to say this is not a ranger repair job. Earliest available appointment March 9th!

"Obviously we will do everything we can to bring that forward".

If the car is not working then they need to provide a rental car, this is basically a dead car and needs to be taken in above regular service issues. If this happened to me they would be having the car back permanently.

 

[navt]

If the car is not working then they need to provide a rental car, this is basically a dead car and needs to be taken in above regular service issues. If this happened to me they would be having the car back permanently.

Fault self corrected over the weekend. Not telling Tesla that though. Car drove fine but zero confidence it won't happen again. Agree with what you say. They mentioned Cat 1 repair - not sure if that refers to priority. I will give them a chance to come good.

 

[Jason71]

Unsurprisingly, Tesla have called to say this is not a ranger repair job. Earliest available appointment March 9th!

"Obviously we will do everything we can to bring that forward".

Based on what you say it sounds undrivable, realistically if not physically, That being the case if they can't fix it until March 9th you need to call breakdown. get it towed and get a loner to use in the mean time. Having it taking up space and costing them for the rental might focus their mind on getting it fixed more quickly. 6 weeks is OK for a minor issue but surely is not acceptable for a break down!

 

[Rooster6655]

Based on what you say it sounds undrivable, realistically if not physically, That being the case if they can't fix it until March 9th you need to call breakdown. get it towed and get a loner to use in the mean time. Having it taking up space and costing them for the rental might focus their mind on getting it fixed more quickly. 6 weeks is OK for a minor issue but surely is not acceptable for a break down!

Agree you can't let Tesla get away with fobbing you off, keep phoning until you at least speak to the service manager.

 

[navt]

Have you noticed how many failures are water related.
I have read of several similar to yours
Boot lid leaks
Boot leaks
Puddles damage aero panels
Fogged lights
Windscreen wipers not fit fit purpose untill recent update
There is a definite pattern here

Elon Musk on Twitter

Yeah, I don't think so Elon.

 

[pacman65]

Just got my M3 back from having a fault like this repaired.
The Tesla team were great, especially the Bristol SC staff.

They said it's a wiring loom issue. RHD only. The connector is positioned where it wasn't expected to get really wet, but clearly that's not worked out.

They now have properly waterproofed replacement kits for the service centres and the factory has been fitting the new ones for RHD for some time.

They also said the newer software adds more redundancy so it should just give a warning that a service is needed but not affect full operation. I'll ask what software build that's in as it's clear other early RHD M3 are going to have this.