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NHTSA Investigates Failing MCUs
- Thread starter 2101Guy
- Start date
aerodyne
2 of 3 EV's - Defect Free!
Garbelled fonts are one of the earliest signs, IIRC. can be fixed with a reboot.
there is a whole list on another very large thread on this board.
there is a whole list on another very large thread on this board.
maxse
Member
My MCU1 failed yesterday and now I have no blinkers. I’d say that’s definitely a safety issue!
aerodyne
2 of 3 EV's - Defect Free!
if not under warranty, I would report it to NTSB. Maybe tell Tesla too, and ask for a goodwill refurbed unit.
I dont have personal experience with failed MCU but from what I read is that when MCU fails, you lose blinkers clicking sound but the actual turn signals still actually work. Is that not accurate?
When my MCU was failing the sound stopped but the turn signals still actually worked. Not much else worked though even after multiple reboots- then I let it sit a few hours while I scheduled service. Then it suddenly worked again, but taking no chances i went ahead with the replacement MCU- my car was right at 6 years old when this occurred. No AP, or TACC. just a plain old 2014 S85. Service center ordered a refurb MCU since the car technically was down, They got it in just a few days, ( nationwide backlog of refurbs) Got it back after a week, new MCU works well.
maxse
Member
Did they goodwill this or what was the charge? My blinkers are not working at all I have tested this having my wife check while I am in the car. Only the hazards work. Can’t wait for Tesla to tell me tomorrow it’s going to cost $2500 to replace with another MCU1.
Has anyone been able to get them to upgrade to MCU2? At least then I’d be fine with paying ...
should be about $1,600 to replace with another MCU1. Or could work with @ EV-Fixme to replace the EMMC chip for a few hundred.
Tesla is most likely going to try to delay this as long as possible by kicking the can down the road - e.g. doing paid and warranty replacements as needed to buy time. Let's say as of right now (and I don't know the actual numbers) from the 2012-2018 model years 75% of those cars are still on the road with MCU1 screens. The longer Tesla drags this out, the fewer MCU1 cars will remain in service due to normal end of life attrition, paid MCU2 upgrades, and so forth.
At the point when an involuntary recall is issued by the NHTSA, Tesla will be compelled to correct the issue at their expense so if they can hold off the recall for let's say five years, there may only be 50% (again pure speculation) of MCU1 cars remaining of which Tesla would have to foot the bill.
For those wondering about the backup camera functionality and how it plays into all of this - in the US, backup cameras became mandatory in May of 2018 meaning every new car produced after May 2018 is required to have a backup camera system. At this point obviously, new Teslas were being produced with MCU2 units. If the MCU1 unit was still being put into new cars, it would be an absolute slam-dunk recall because the federally-mandated backup camera system is rendered inoperable by a failing MCU. Because the faulty units predate the federal mandate, I don't think loss of backup camera functionality in a failed MCU1 would be valid grounds for a recall. Of course, I am not an attorney so who knows...
At the point when an involuntary recall is issued by the NHTSA, Tesla will be compelled to correct the issue at their expense so if they can hold off the recall for let's say five years, there may only be 50% (again pure speculation) of MCU1 cars remaining of which Tesla would have to foot the bill.
For those wondering about the backup camera functionality and how it plays into all of this - in the US, backup cameras became mandatory in May of 2018 meaning every new car produced after May 2018 is required to have a backup camera system. At this point obviously, new Teslas were being produced with MCU2 units. If the MCU1 unit was still being put into new cars, it would be an absolute slam-dunk recall because the federally-mandated backup camera system is rendered inoperable by a failing MCU. Because the faulty units predate the federal mandate, I don't think loss of backup camera functionality in a failed MCU1 would be valid grounds for a recall. Of course, I am not an attorney so who knows...
maxse
Member
Has anyone compiled a list of these issues broken down by year and mileage? I would be happy to create a database and send a quick survey link. It would be helpful to have an independent database for these issues related to MCU...
reddy
Active Member
aerodyne
2 of 3 EV's - Defect Free!
it is the official Tesla forum on the Tesla site under "support"
It is the Brain Trust and first home of the Early Adopters. I'm not one of those, BTW
Link to thread, page 15, akkiki post dated June 9th:
MCU Failures | Tesla
It is the Brain Trust and first home of the Early Adopters. I'm not one of those, BTW
Link to thread, page 15, akkiki post dated June 9th:
MCU Failures | Tesla
Ron Burgundy
Member
My car is either it my garage (especially now since March) or it the garage at work. It is rarely out in the sun all day - maybe 10 days/yr max. And I live in Seattle - it is generally not that hot here overall to drive extreme interior temps when is is out in the sun.
These are just bad designs: the display and the chip. There are not automotive quality for durability or longevity - PERIOD.
Ron Burgundy
Member
The warranty is for 1yr if you get it covered under initial warranty replacement (free). Mine "warranty'd" MCU failed after 14 months. I got to pay for the 3rd MCU myself!
Last edited:
aerodyne
2 of 3 EV's - Defect Free!
I believe Che is correct. It is one year for most purchased parts, but a special provision for the MCU gives it 4 years, IF purchased.
Replaced under warranty, only the duration of the remaining warranty, maybe a year after replacement, I could be wrong on the latter.
aerodyne
2 of 3 EV's - Defect Free!
There have been enough posts about failures with cars treated very gently that I do not believe the emmc failures are well correlated with high temps.
Logging and write cycles, yes. Things controlled by Tesla and they should take responsibility for that.
It's a heat-related failure. My testing shows that it's mainly an MMC controller failure in the chip, as errors happen in all partitions in a failing chip, This can't primarily be worn out cells.
Chill the chip and you can often then read it. So it's a classic cheap electronics, heat-related failure.
Chill the chip and you can often then read it. So it's a classic cheap electronics, heat-related failure.
aerodyne
2 of 3 EV's - Defect Free!
Heat can't help, but many have claimed the car is never in extreme weather, garaged, etc, yet they have had an early failure.
Tesla told me my MCU1 was "fine" based on write cycles.
Of course, they say that about a lot of things...
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