Need Help Outwitting Homelink

[JenkinsEar]

Our Homelink/Opener lashup appears to be operating consistently, but we'd like to know a little bit more about how it's deciding what to do. Here's what's happening:

We have enabled auto-open and auto-close for our garage door. Until we discovered a workaround, this is the way we were attempting to use the Homelink:

When we would get ready to leave, we would step into the garage, and press the door open switch on the wall. Then get into the MX, and back out. As we would leave driveway, the door would not close. We would turn around, come back in the driveway and close the door using HomeLink. Upon return, the door would AutoOpen for us. We would typically close the door using the wall switch.

We have discovered that if, when we're leaving, we use the MX's HomeLink remote to open the garage door, the door will AutoClose correctly as we leave the driveway.

So, the question is, does the car keep track of what it thinks the state of the door is? And only modify that presumed state based on commands it has sent? Or what?

 

[thimel]

My setup,is the same as yours. I also open the garage door before I get into my car to leave. About two thirds of the time, my car automatically closes the door after I drive out. The other third of the time, it doesn’t even try. (No chime or visual imdication it triggers homelink. I’ve never figured out why it sometimes doesn’t work. So, whatever the problem is, it is not simple.

 

[Haxster]

My setup,is the same as yours. I also open the garage door before I get into my car to leave. About two thirds of the time, my car automatically closes the door after I drive out. The other third of the time, it doesn’t even try. (No chime or visual imdication it triggers homelink. I’ve never figured out why it sometimes doesn’t work. So, whatever the problem is, it is not simple.

Same on my MS. Pulling out slow or fast makes no difference. I'm sure that there's a reason (and maybe even a fix/work-around), but for now, this isn't on my top ten list of tech-related mysteries to focus on.

BTW, with recent SW updates, the auto-open has improved to ~90%. However, when it doesn't auto-open, it gets REALLY stubborn about wanting to open manually.

 

[JenkinsEar]

My setup,is the same as yours. I also open the garage door before I get into my car to leave. About two thirds of the time, my car automatically closes the door after I drive out. The other third of the time, it doesn’t even try. (No chime or visual imdication it triggers homelink. I’ve never figured out why it sometimes doesn’t work. So, whatever the problem is, it is not simple.

You might try opening it from inside the car (using the car Homelink) instead of doing it before you get in. See if that makes any difference?

My guess is that the SW in the car is trying t keep track of whether it thinks the door is open or closed, and is confused.

 

[aesculus]

I always open my garage door via the garage door opener before I approach the Tesla. Rarely does it fail to close when I leave. The few times this happens is when I get to about the 5 foot warning and then put it in park. Resuming backing and then pulling out it sometimes delays past the distance it can work of forgets to close at all. Probably 1/50 if that happens.

 

[boaterva]

I always open the door manually (from the wall). I've turned off auto-close since it never worked, but I need to try it again. Auto-open always works at about the bottom of my driveway (30 feet or so). I'd like it to close automatically when I leave, but I never know when to assume it's not going to do it, and then I have to back up and close it myself (from the car transmitter...).

I'll 're-check' that box and see if the recent firmware releases have ever fixed that issue. It shouldn't matter which 'opener' (wall or car) you use to open or close it, there's no connection between the two or what the car knows. Homelink has no state involved, unfortunately (about the door being open or closed).

 

[aesculus]

It shouldn't matter which 'opener' (wall or car) you use to open or close it, there's no connection between the two or what the car knows.

But the wall button is probably close to 100% and just triggers the opener. It does not even try to guess if it's open or closed.

The Tesla opener tries to guess state by operations. So if it opens the garage the next time it operates it thinks it should close the door, regardless of what might have happened in the meantime or what it's last request actually achieved.

I am not faulting Tesla for this. As you state Homelink has no state. Tesla is doing about as good as it could in this case.

One thing Tesla could do would be to sell you a set of sensors you could stick onto the sides of your garage door that they could rely on to give state, but that is whole new kettle of fish.

 

[Craig-Y]

I can’t speak for all owners but I finally figured out how HomeLink works in my Model X. MOST of th issues I was having, I inadvtantly caused myself by interrupting the Tesla sequences for HomeLink. You guys have described exactly the problems I was having. Here are my observations:

1. HomeLink auto open and close activate when the car is in DRIVE - So...
2. I can use HomeLink from inside the car to open the garage to leave and not mess up auto close if i activate HomeLink BEFORE I place the car in DRIVE
3. If I place the car in drive and then use HomeLink manually to open the garage door, it will not auto close the door when I leave.

Now that I know HOW HomeLink normally functions and I have adjusted my pattern accordingly, I almost never have an issue. Let me know if this works for you.

Craig

 

[JenkinsEar]

I can’t speak for all owners but I finally figured out how HomeLink works in my Model X. MOST of th issues I was having, I inadvtantly caused myself by interrupting the Tesla sequences for HomeLink. You guys have described exactly the problems I was having. Here are my observations:

1. HomeLink auto open and close activate when the car is in DRIVE - So...
2. I can use HomeLink from inside the car to open the garage to leave and not mess up auto close if i activate HomeLink BEFORE I place the car in DRIVE
3. If I place the car in drive and then use HomeLink manually to open the garage door, it will not auto close the door when I leave.

Now that I know HOW HomeLink normally functions and I have adjusted my pattern accordingly, I almost never have an issue. Let me know if this works for you.

Craig

Not sure now whether my experience ties into yours or not:

1. When in the garage, in Park, open the door using Homelink
2. As I back out, Tesla senses when I'm an appropriate distance away, and gets HomeLink to close the door
3. When I return, Tesla senses the distance from the door, asks HomeLink to open it.
4. I get parked in the garage, get out of the car, and close the door from the wall switch (I have not tried this by closing while still in the car, using Tesla/Homelink - I plan to do that, but keep forgetting)
5. Repeat.f

So far, that's been working every time for each exit/re-entry cycle.

Would be nice to have someone chime in that knows how the Tesla/Homelink logic works.

 

[Craig-Y]

Not sure now whether my experience ties into yours or not:

1. When in the garage, in Park, open the door using Homelink
2. As I back out, Tesla senses when I'm an appropriate distance away, and gets HomeLink to close the door
3. When I return, Tesla senses the distance from the door, asks HomeLink to open it.
4. I get parked in the garage, get out of the car, and close the door from the wall switch (I have not tried this by closing while still in the car, using Tesla/Homelink - I plan to do that, but keep forgetting)
5. Repeat.f

So far, that's been working every time for each exit/re-entry cycle.

Would be nice to have someone chime in that knows how the Tesla/Homelink logic works.

Yes, thats exactly my experience except I back into the garage. I should have used DRIVE/REVERSE instead of just DRIVE in my notes. Working flawlessly for me and I’m on software version 50.3

 

[boaterva]

And as I posted in another thread, autoclose still doesn’t work for me. I can try doing what’s in the list above, using Homelink to open the door on leaving, but I can’t see how that matters. Homelink does not know the state of the door. It issues a ‘state change’ command dependent on the car’s position (for the auto commands, of course).

 

[Craig-Y]

And as I posted in another thread, autoclose still doesn’t work for me. I can try doing what’s in the list above, using Homelink to open the door on leaving, but I can’t see how that matters. Homelink does not know the state of the door. It issues a ‘state change’ command dependent on the car’s position (for the auto commands, of course).

@boaterva What matters is WHEN you use HomeLink manually. If you use it after you put the car in DRIVE or REVERSE, it will not automatically close the door. If you need to open the garage door to leave, use HomeLink BEFORE you put the car in DRIVE or REVERSE. Hope this helps!

 

[DerekH]

Now I understand why I have homelink not functioning all the time. I usually press the wall switch to leave the garage and find out that the Tesla will not close the door.

I'm not sure what algorithm Tesla uses, but I'm thinking it would be simpler if they use GPS to know when to close the garage since it obviously uses the gps to open the door as I arrive home. After all, the car knows if I am coming or going.

 

[NigelM]

First: the car (nor any other remote) has any idea of whether the garage door is open or closed; it simply sends a signal to your door opener hardware and depending on what state the door is it either opens or closes.

Second: normal activity for auto-homelink is that it is geo-based; being too fast can cause a signal to be missed.

Third: signal is sent from the front of the car, so reversing out of the garage has more consistency than driving out forwards. (I always reverse out and it works 99.9-100% of the time unless I happen to pull out too fast).

Fourth: tapping the center screen (e.g. for Nav/music etc.) during the auto-homelink process can interrupt the signal being sent.

Most likely culprit is the antenna on your garage door opener, check that it's free and visible, hanging straight. Also check the distance setting on the homelink, longer distance equals reduced chances of signal actually reaching your antenna.

 

[TLej]

@boaterva I have observed something interesting, I wonder if it applies to you. I have had inconsistent results with HomeLink auto-closing the door after I leave, but it has been pretty much flawless in opening when I return home. Earlier this week I noticed something that I have now been able to repeat and get the same results. I have always had my calendar sync'd to my car. When I would get in in the morning, it would pop up the appointments window and I would dismiss it before putting the car in Drive and leaving the garage. I noticed earlier this week when I had a day with no appointments, the auto-close worked when I left. The next day, an appointment reminder came up when I got in as usual, and this time the door did not auto-close when I left. When I got home Wednesday night I turned off the reminder pop-up in the settings, and lo and behold yesterday and today the door auto-closed when I left.

Similar to what @NigelM wrote above in point 4, it seems the pop-up for the calendar disrupts the HomeLink process in some way. It's a bit different in that the pop-up comes up well in advance of sending the signal, so it's not quite the same as distracting the system by tapping somewhere during the opening sequence, but maybe Nigel is talking about the same thing as me. I usually start my climate control and music before I exit the garage, those actions don't seem to mess with the HomeLink the same way as the calendar pop-up.

Can anyone else provide feedback about the calendar pop-up?

 

[boaterva]

Hm, thanks for the idea... I'll turn off the calendar morning/ever pop-up and see. I don't see the obvious connection, since that's long gone by the time it should try to close the door, but who knows what the software is doing. Interesting point!

And on the other post, I never use Homelink to open the door when leaving (unless I'm experimenting as here...). As I tried to say, Homelink should be working based on the location of the car, as it does when you return home. It should do the same on leaving.

We really need someone from Tesla to tell us what 'auto close' really does. When you get to X feet away from home, send the signal, is what I believe it is doing.... Like auto open sends it when approaching X feet of home.

 

[Sawyer8888]

My setup,is the same as yours. I also open the garage door before I get into my car to leave. About two thirds of the time, my car automatically closes the door after I drive out. The other third of the time, it doesn’t even try. (No chime or visual imdication it triggers homelink. I’ve never figured out why it sometimes doesn’t work. So, whatever the problem is, it is not simple.

Hypotheses regarding the operation of Homelink in a Tesla seem to be all over the map. Not sure about any potential calendar interference @TLej since I do not link any calendars.

The operation of Homelink has improved as far as opening the door from outside is concerned.

My experience is similar to what @thimel posted. When I use the wall button to open my garage door, then back out, my MS60 will auto-close 90% of the time. The 10% it does not, it either says it auto-skipped the function or their is no indication whatsoever - it doesn't even make the attempt. I open the door and back out the same way every time, so I have not idea what is causing the inconsistency.

The last time auto-close did not do it's job, I had the driver's door open (the car's door is usually closed), then I pressed the wall button, and finally I backed out. I had to manually press the Homelink button to close the garage door.

 

[NigelM]

We really need someone from Tesla to tell us what 'auto close' really does. When you get to X feet away from home, send the signal, is what I believe it is doing.... Like auto open sends it when approaching X feet of home.

That's what it does.

 

[boaterva]

That's what it does.

Right... so, why would mine work 100% on autoopen (approaching the house) and 0% on autoclose (leaving the house)?

I back out of the garage, also, so, the antenna(s) have the same 'visibility'. I've also reprogrammed things several times back when I started playing with this, and it didn't help. At this point, I almost don't care, but I look at each new HL thread for some magic answer.... nothing makes sense why the GPS/software/transmitter works one way and not the other.

 

[aesculus]

Right... so, why would mine work 100% on autoopen (approaching the house) and 0% on autoclose (leaving the house)?

My only response to this is were the situations exactly the same?

For example in one case you got into the car with the door open,backed out and then when you were far enough the auto door shut.

In another case when you backed out you put the car in park, opened a door to let a passenger in and then resumed. The auto did not work.

The later seems to be the scenario I have encountered when it did not auto close. I could see it counting down the the feet before auto close but then I put the car in park before it sent the signal. I then opened the car door, let my passengers load and then proceeded (note I have to back out and then pull forward no matter what happens with letting people in the car or not). A few times perhaps when it failed I may have backed up just past the point it would make the decision to send a signal but had not sent it. Then when I drove away it was all confused.

This is all speculation on my part but I was just trying to point out that it's possible I changed my pattern just enough at a critical time that caused the system to fail. Perhaps your scenarios are not the same too.