Multiple systems shutdown in hot weather?

[Tell021]

I took delivery of my model 3 last week. Loving the car, but during the first weekend I did have some issues.

4 or 5 times, I got warnings that a bunch of systems had been disabled:

- traction control disabled
- regenerative braking disabled
- steering assist reduced
- ABS disabled

It hasn’t occurred since then, but I still want to figure out what happened. It was still drivable (though a bit weird, especially without the regen brakes), but I’m sure my wife would absolutely panic if it happened to her.

This mostly happened while the car was parked, but one time it also happened at a red light. It also happened with two different software versions. The only correlation I can figure out, is the weather. It was a lot warmer over the past weekend, and the car was often sitting in the sun right before I got the warnings.

I have an appointment for a mobile tech next week, but am still curious if others have noticed anything like this. I saw mentions of similar problems on the forums, but never with a consistent root cause. If it is indeed temperature related, I worry it will be hard for tech to diagnose.

Anyone experience this?
Any advice?

(By the way, does anyone know if the mobile repair guys can also take care of small paint issues too?)

 

[bickity]

I also had the same exact warning a couple of months ago. The next day it corrected itself and haven't seen it since, all good. Hopefully the same with you. I find that most things are this way: system reset, power car off and next day all is back to normal. With so much software running the car, I guess this is the future.

 

[Raechris]

Agreed- it's like the car is working out it's own kinks. There should be a log for the tech to see what triggered. Happy e-motoring!

 

[Tell021]

Thanks for the replies.

The same thing just happened today, under similarly circumstances (after the car was parked in the sun for an hour). So it seems to be a systematic issue related to temperature. I hope the tech can sort it out.

 

[Tell021]

Update:

So it's 3 weeks later.

The day before the first appointment, I got a message that the cars log files showed an issue with a wheel speed sensor. Great, apparently a clear solution. I needed to wait for the replacement sensor to come in, but today finally the mobile tech came and took care of it. We went for a quick drive around the block after and everything seemed ok. But then, today after work, the issue returned...

Now I'm really getting frustrated. While waiting for the replacement sensor, the issue became more frequent, to the point that it happens 90% of the time I drive (I'm so used to the regenerative braking and steering assistance being off now, it feels so weird when they do occasionally work). I'm also becoming uncomfortable driving without ABS, traction control, and all the other safety features that gave the car it's great safety rating. Not to mention FSD that I paid so much for.

I'm not sure what to do next.

I'm thinking to just go to a service center, leave the car there, and ask for a loaner while they figure it out. Would this approach work? I've also heard loaners can be hard to come by.

Love the car, but Tesla's infamous quality and after sales service is really trying my patience.

Suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[SO16]

I'm thinking to just go to a service center, leave the car there, and ask for a loaner while they figure it out. Would this approach work?

I would do it.

 

[Bill Foster]

Update:

So it's 3 weeks later.

The day before the first appointment, I got a message that the cars log files showed an issue with a wheel speed sensor. Great, apparently a clear solution. I needed to wait for the replacement sensor to come in, but today finally the mobile tech came and took care of it. We went for a quick drive around the block after and everything seemed ok. But then, today after work, the issue returned...

Now I'm really getting frustrated. While waiting for the replacement sensor, the issue became more frequent, to the point that it happens 90% of the time I drive (I'm so used to the regenerative braking and steering assistance being off now, it feels so weird when they do occasionally work). I'm also becoming uncomfortable driving without ABS, traction control, and all the other safety features that gave the car it's great safety rating. Not to mention FSD that I paid so much for.

I'm not sure what to do next.

I'm thinking to just go to a service center, leave the car there, and ask for a loaner while they figure it out. Would this approach work? I've also heard loaners can be hard to come by.

Love the car, but Tesla's infamous quality and after sales service is really trying my patience.

Suggestions would be appreciated!

They have only replaced one part, and you didn’t even have to drive to the dealer to have the work done.

Now that it happens “90%” of the time you drive, it should be easier for a tech to diagnose it and get it right.

Just schedule an appointment using the app, and bring it to the service center

 

[KenC]

Wheel speed sensor makes sense, as 3 of the 4 alerts you got would fail if the wheel speed sensor went wonky. Only the steering assist would seem to be unrelated, come to think of it, the amount of steering assist is speed related, so all 4 of your alerts are speed sensor related.

As for whether you should leave your car, I'd ask what they are planning to do. If it's to replace the sensors on the other 3 wheels, then I'd just keep the car and let the mobile ranger fix it at your home or work.

It doesn't seem like that unusual a problem, wheel sensors go wonky, sometimes just because of rain or dirt. I'd turn regeneration on low, in the interim, so that you don't have the car going from high regeneration to low regeneration and back while you're driving. It's summer, so traction control you might never notice, and ABS you'll only notice in panic stops. If you drove in the 80s before any of this became common, you'll know all those things are extra and not at all essential to normal driving.

Don't feel uncomfortable, 99% of the safety rating is due to passive safety, in an actual collision. The car's solid build, low CoG, front crumple zone, etc. The stuff not working help in active safety, to help you avoid a collision, and even then, a competent driver should be able to brake just as quickly as an ABS-assisted car, etc.

Update:

So it's 3 weeks later.

The day before the first appointment, I got a message that the cars log files showed an issue with a wheel speed sensor. Great, apparently a clear solution. I needed to wait for the replacement sensor to come in, but today finally the mobile tech came and took care of it. We went for a quick drive around the block after and everything seemed ok. But then, today after work, the issue returned...

 

[Tell021]

Thanks for the replies.

I understand where you guys are coming from, but I guess I just had high expectations. Despite reading these forums before purchasing and seeing similar complaints of initial issues, I just didn't expect the same to happen to me.

I've made another appointment, this time at a service center. And I already got a message from Tesla asking for the last date/time the issue occurred to allow them to do more diagnostics, so it's good to see they're already looking into it.

Hopefully they've figured it out by the time I drop if off.

 

[Ultron]

It's hard to believe it's heat related as I live in Mississippi and it's been in the 90s for several weeks and I've not noticed any problems like this.

 

[Tell021]

Oh, it's definitely not a normal sensitivity for the Model 3, but initially it seemed like heat triggered the particular issue in my car.

 

[cablue]

We had that exact thing happen the day we picked up our Model 3 - before we even drove off the lot! But, they did replace the steering column control module, and we've not had that problem again in nine months. Hopefully, the replacement will take care of the problem.

 

[Tell021]

Another update:

The service center kept the car for about a week (to also take care of some paint issues). They couldn’t find anything else wrong except that the part the mobile tech replaced wasn’t tightened properly :/

In any case, I’m happy to report the problem hasn’t returned since then.

My only issue now is the memory of how nice the Model S loaner was compared to my 3!