NHTSA asks Tesla to recall 158,000 [now 135,000] vehicles for eMMC failure. Voluntary Recall issued

[viper2ko]

I understand why some are just choosing to fork over even more $& to get their car to work. Is anyone else concerned that this will be Tesla’s answer to the recall because so many are willing to do it? It’s one thing to choose to upgrade (like ordering the plaid over my o85D. it’s another to be forced to do so so that you can drive your car.

What's more concerning is how Tesla is handling this. Drawing it out as long as possible, pushing the problem onto the buyer, an"extended" warranty to try and get out of the recall. Complete radio silence while they pimp their earning calls and FSD progress. All this over what would be a one time cost that would keep customer loyalty. Wish they would be honest about it either

A. We can't support a recall this large for MCU1 because we cant source that many daughterboards for a 10 year old board

B. We don't want to pay for the solution of mcu2

 

[whitex]

What's more concerning is how Tesla is handling this. Drawing it out as long as possible, pushing the problem onto the buyer, an"extended" warranty to try and get out of the recall. Complete radio silence while they pimp their earning calls and FSD progress. All this over what would be a one time cost that would keep customer loyalty. Wish they would be honest about it either

A. We can't support a recall this large for MCU1 because we cant source that many daughterboards for a 10 year old board

B. We don't want to pay for the solution of mcu2

A car salesman stereotype exists for reason. Elon has just taken it to the next level, as he does with everything he takes on, good or bad.

 

[aerodyne]

Each day goes by I’m more pissed than the before. My car just sits in the garage. I can’t drive it anywhere where I might get stuck.

yesterday I took a gamble. Had to make 120 mile drive for work. While charging so I could get back. Both screens went black. This happens everytime I drive it. I’m sick of it. $162,000. piece of *sugar*. No screens no idea of it was still charging windows won’t roll down. Nothing.
And all the SM can say is. Well no news yet to fix your car. Pissed

If you actually need to use the car, consider getting the chip replaced third party. About $500, but think of all the frustration you can avoid...

 

[gearchruncher]

Why would you pay to have the chip replaced when Tesla has a warranty on them failing? Most people's issues are not with the chip.
And $500 instead of $1500 for MCU2, plus you have to figure out how to move the data onto the chip (the whole OS is stored on there, you can't just put a blank one on and have it boot)

 

[aerodyne]

Why would you pay to have the chip replaced when Tesla has a warranty on them failing? Most people's issues are not with the chip.
And $500 instead of $1500 for MCU2, plus you have to figure out how to move the data onto the chip (the whole OS is stored on there, you can't just put a blank one on and have it boot)

Not true. The main cause of MCU1 failure is caused by eMMC, and those that have replaced the chip by third party, or the daughterboard by Tesla, overwhelming have had the problem fixed.

The chip is less than 50. The bulk of the work is copying and removal and installation.

EvFixMe

 

[gearchruncher]

Not true. The main cause of MCU1 failure is caused by eMMC, and those that have replaced the chip by third party, or the daughterboard by Tesla, overwhelming have had the problem fixed.

Really? This thread is full of people saying their MCU1 is slow and unstable, yet Tesla says the eMMC is fine, but there are known software bugs causing issues. Are you saying that if I replaced my eMMC my MCU1 would be back to 2018 performance? When I go to use voice commands and it is worthless, it's because of the eMMC?

Again, for any eMMC failure that Tesla recognizes, it is covered under warranty now.

 

[tontod]

I was told my eMMC is fine (per their health check) and its the CPU that is the issue.

 

[aerodyne]

MCU1 being slow can be caused by many things. Slow, but functional MCU1 not the subject of this thread or the recall.

Never said replacing chip would bring speeds back up to pre V9. Some have seen increased speeds, but the browser is speed is about the same.

Just because Tesla says something is "Fine" does not make it so. It is clear to me that they are not following thier own SB to save costs and push off part replacement as long as possible.

MCU1 crashing, rendering safety features inop, can be fixed by daughter board replacement. Many other problems such as slow tileing of maps, voice commands reportedly improved.

Tesla says the above problems are caused by the eMMC wearing, and they will all fail at some point, and the problem will be fixed by chip replacement, per their communication to the NTSB.

Meanwhile hundreds of chips have reportably been replaced by third parties with great success for the last year or so.

Getting Tesla to admit there is a problem is difficult. I was told there is a shortage of parts, and was unable to get one even after offering to pay for it and waiting 3 months.

The only failure they will take action on is a completely dead screen, so said one SvC.

 

[aerodyne]

I was told my eMMC is fine (per their health check) and its the CPU that is the issue.

That is typical, saying the eMMC is Fine. Same thing for batteries, slow charging, etc...

CPU problems are not typical, and there is no mention of this in the SB.

I would be very sceptical based on their actions so far.

Read the SB and ask pointed questions. Has there even been an error in the logs?

If so immediate replacement of daughter board is mandated by the SB.

 

[scaesare]

This is in a thread about Tesla having an 8 year warranty on the eMMC, and possibly being forced to recall all of them as they are safety critical, but maybe setting up a guy with a hot air station in the back of the local service center. Yes, I do expect Tesla to guarantee this and they already do. No, I don't expect the guy with the hot air gun to, which is why Tesla won't be using that process.

As someone that designs electronics that go in various kinds of vehicles, I can tell you the vehicle vibration and thermal stress environment is often much worse than a cell phone. Single shock events are not the primary failure drivers.

Glad you got your MCU fixed and upgraded. It's awesome to see people starting to fix stuff like this themselves.

And I challenge that the environmental issues encountered by the MCU daughterboard are any worse than a cell phone...

- MCU sits in a hot car in the summer: Cell phones get left in those same cars. And in the sun at the beach, and on the patio, etc...

- MCU is subjected to vibration during vehicle operation. Cell phones ride in those same vehicles. And in pockets while jogging. And get dropped. And literally have apps that require you to shake them vigorously, etc...

- MCU experiences thermal cycling due to use. So do cell phones, and their usage profile is much more varied and frequent than an MCU's

- MCU sits in freezing car. Cell phone strapped to the handlebar mount of my bike experiences the same.

- Etc...


I pretty much guarantee a number or those cases are worse on the cell phone side: Accelerometer data from a phone can be crazy. That phone on my bike handlebars experiences a thermal transition from below freezing to my 74 degree house in the space of a second, far faster than an MCU will.

All of which to say, the level of expertise necessary for this repair is on par with that necessary to replace the chip iin a phone. That is to say: not overly-specialized. Oh, and a decent hot air station to do it is a couple hundred bucks. A really nice one is $500-600.

All of this is born out by the results. A bunch of us have done this ourselves. Our flash chips aren't falling off or failing. You might guess that in two years they will, but I expect you're wrong.

So, i don't think this is any sort of insurmountable problem for a company with the resources Tesla has.

(and with that, I'm done on this subject)

 

[random155]

So I've done a "little" research and havent found a real answer about the Jan 27 deadline for Tesla to answer the recall recommendation. Did Tesla not give an answer yet?

 

[irish26]

So I've done a "little" research and havent found a real answer about the Jan 27 deadline for Tesla to answer the recall recommendation. Did Tesla not give an answer yet?

Tesla only needs to respond directly to the NHTSA. They do not technically have to give a public response.

 

[viper2ko]

Tesla only needs to respond directly to the NHTSA. They do not technically have to give a public response.

I'm sure that response was something along the lines of, "we've done enough, we don't need to do anything else. Owners can just buy a new S or mcu2"

 

[random155]

Ok, thanks. Just curious if the response has been made public yet, which it doesnt look like.

 

[Cerie]

Has anyone been contacted by Tesla who has already had their mcu1 replaced due to Emmc failure about a refund? The wording on their faq said people would be contacted by or before February. I tried asking two weeks ago and got some snarky response from a fanboi.

 

[MP3Mike]

Has anyone been contacted by Tesla who has already had their mcu1 replaced due to Emmc failure about a refund? The wording on their faq said people would be contacted by or before February. I tried asking two weeks ago and got some snarky response from a fanboi.

I wouldn't be surprised if the reimbursement details have been delayed by NHTSA asking for a recall. Though they haven't update the information on their site to reflect that. (I personally wouldn't expect them to come out until the recall situation is settled.)

 

[aerodyne]

I'm sure that response was something along the lines of, "we've done enough, we don't need to do anything else. Owners can just buy a new S or mcu2"

Just be glad the response was not a Tweet from Elon, those usually do not go over well...

 

[TonyT]

Really? This thread is full of people saying their MCU1 is slow and unstable, yet Tesla says the eMMC is fine, but there are known software bugs causing issues. Are you saying that if I replaced my eMMC my MCU1 would be back to 2018 performance? When I go to use voice commands and it is worthless, it's because of the eMMC?

Again, for any eMMC failure that Tesla recognizes, it is covered under warranty now.

Tesla only replaces when the chip is pretty much dead. As the chip wears out, speed decreases dramatically. We have seen chips near EOL writing at 500-700 k/sec, new chip will write around 20 Megs/sec. A LOT of the mcu lag is due to a worn out chip.

 

[gearchruncher]

A LOT of the mcu lag is due to a worn out chip.

Thanks for this data, that is very interesting. It means if the NHTSA recall is forced, then some of us have a hope of a quicker MCU1 even if the eMMC is not "failed".

 

[viper2ko]

Some guy on facebook says they are voluntarily recalling and offering $250 off mcu2