NHTSA Investigates Failing MCUs

[Joer293]

I had mine replaced under extended service agreement. Paid the deductible and the only option was a MCU1 which was a few weeks back ordered part.

yes there is legally some minor safety issues. Yes, My mcu1 failed while driving. The turn signals stop responding. The outdoor/battery temperature limiting of accel & regen also stopped being applied. Supercharging no longer worked, can’t refuel the vehicle. When parked the door locks don’t function. The car won’t shut off, HVAC Continued to run full blast until the main battery is dead. My garage got pretty warm from the heat overnight. high beams also don’t work. Ability to turn on/off headlights stopped working. You lose access to the emergency brake and tow/jack mode. You also lose the complete battery power off ability. Those safety items are there for some reason. In the US if a car has a safety feature, it has to work. So when those stop, NHTSA has a case to look into.

I could go into the annoyances, but there is a legit reason to separate safety features to bypass the gateway. In an ICE the infotainment unit is not the gateway for the canbus for a reason.

 

[MP3Mike]

I could go into the annoyances, but there is a legit reason to separate safety features to bypass the gateway. In an ICE the infotainment unit is not the gateway for the canbus for a reason.

It isn't in a Tesla either. The gateway is separate computer.

And you are the only person I've seen with all of those things failing, so I suspect you have more than a failed MCU.

 

[Joer293]

It isn't in a Tesla either. The gateway is separate computer.

And you are the only person I've seen with all of those things failing, so I suspect you have more than a failed MCU.

nope, just the MCU Replacement fixed everything. I have had plenty of other service issues, but this time just the MCU. The service center was very familiar with all of it already. I’m not the only one.

 

[SO16]

nope, just the MCU Replacement fixed everything. I have had plenty of other service issues, but this time just the MCU. The service center was very familiar with all of it already. I’m not the only one.

Weird. I just tried my blinkers. Worked fine. Rebooted MCU. While I reset it, I kept trying the blinkers. The sound stopped but the blinkers still worked fine and on the instrument cluster.

 

[Joer293]

Weird. I just tried my blinkers. Worked fine. Rebooted MCU. While I reset it, I kept trying the blinkers. The sound stopped but the blinkers still worked fine and on the instrument cluster.

Yes, if your MCU reboots, it’s not dead. The blinkers will work without sound during a reboot. They didn’t work with a failed MCU. I’ve had 2 MCU failures.

 

[petecrayton]

Come on, we all know the number is far greater than 11 and extends all the way until 2018 when MCU1 was discontinued.

Everyone who's had to replace their MCU1 should file a complaint with NHTSA now.

OH, great! I have a '17 MS and thought I had dodged all the quality problems being reported here on new deliveries.
I have recently noticed the incursion of the dreaded "yellow screen", but everything still works. Now you are telling me that ultimately my world will go dark?

 

[SO16]

OH, great! I have a '17 MS and thought I had dodged all the quality problems being reported here on new deliveries.
I have recently noticed the incursion of the dreaded "yellow screen", but everything still works. Now you are telling me that ultimately my world will go dark?

Eventually, yes.

there are solutions albeit not perfect.

1. Get a replacement MCU1 for 1600.
2. Get a MCU for 2500.
3. Work with @ ev-fixme to replace the EMMC for a few hundred.

I also have a 2017. MCU1 still works so far. I will upgrade to MCU2.

 

[jpvdheijn]

What a sneaky move changing that warranty coverage period. Luckily I have got it in writing confirmed by the service advisor and the previous document stored as reference of 4 years warranty.

 

[SO16]

What a sneaky move changing that warranty coverage period. Luckily I have got it in writing confirmed by the service advisor and the previous document stored as reference of 4 years warranty.

Definitely an unfortunate change for us. But, that appears to be in line with other manufacturers. I thought the original MCU 4 year warranty was too generous.

Here is Mercedes’ warranty:


Parts Warranty
When you choose Genuine Mercedes-Benz Parts, you enjoy the reassurance that comes with our Parts Warranty:

• 12-months, unlimited mileage
• 24-months or 24,000 miles for transmissions
• 48-months or 50,000 miles for engine and long blocks (same coverage as for a new Mercedes-Benz)

See your Mercedes-Benz Retailer for more on the Mercedes-Benz Spare Parts Limited Warranty.*

 

[agtdDelirium]

Perhaps Tesla sees the writing on the wall with the outlook of their first major mandatory safety recall of every vehicle with MCU1. That would be a lot of new MCU1 repairs that will be under warranty. Cutting two years off of the warranty is pure $ thinking. They will be forced to spend on repairs, so better shave some cost on warranty exposure.

I still think it's kind of sleazy to do it quietly on their website right when many owners are choosing to upgrade at their own cost to replace a failing or known to fail eventually part on their vehicles.

 

[Chaserr]

It isn't in a Tesla either. The gateway is separate computer.

And you are the only person I've seen with all of those things failing, so I suspect you have more than a failed MCU.

Failed MCU causes other things to fail and in a few days the car itself won't power on. If the MCU fails, 12v doesn't recharge so in a day or two the car can't even drive. Most people with the black screen have a partially failed MCU that is still partially running, and that's why you will see random different modes of failure. The screen goes black when it can't fully boot the EMMC any more, but the MCU itself can still function in other ways.

 

[Peter_11]

i have a 2017 with 49k miles. See below video. In the past month my car now requires a reboot during every drive, data and streaming stops. I plan to file a complaint. My car is going for service next month to fix the AC and I've let Tesla know about my concerns. But I doubt they would replace the MCU unless it is completely gone

Better complain before 50,000 miles. Not sure about your warranty, but the issue just came up for us, and we were told the warranty expired at 50,000 miles (2015 X 70D)...

 

[Peter_11]

You obviously have some sort of "I hate Tesla" thing going on rather than just looking at the facts. Wake me up when that 11 number grows to 6000. Most are getting their MCU1's swapped out because they want newer technology. They are paying for that upgrade. I don't count that as a failure. In fact the investigation confirmed there is no suspect of safety issue since these cars never lost control. The only issue was loss of the visual on the backup camera but legally these were not required until 2018. The most recent MCU failure reported was in 2015 build date and reported within the past 13 months.

To be fair, I have heard more reports of Model 3 screens blacking out momentarily more frequently on the forums. Also, a yellowing of the screen border on very old Model S. You can search for these reports on many of the forums. Those defects are not part of this investigation but are pretty common knowledge.

U.S. probes touchscreen failures in Tesla Model S cars

Ours recently failed completely after rebooting multiple times while driving. We're at the end of Model S 70D, 2015. Our delivery date was 12/22/2015.

? Hate Tesla thing?? I used to sing their praises, and even sold several friends on them. Then the Handles went out, and that, somehow wasn't under warantee. Then the battery suddenly was emasculated 30% -- even though service said all was normal! Now, the entire screen goes blank, and the car won't start. How would you feel about Tesla at this point?

 

[viper2ko]

Better complain before 50,000 miles. Not sure about your warranty, but the issue just came up for us, and we were told the warranty expired at 50,000 miles (2015 X 70D)...

I did tell them. My appt is in a couple weeks for another issue. I think they'll just wipe the cache and say they fixed it

 

[Peter_11]

Just checked our car (MS 2015 (December), D70) prior to having it towed to Tesla Service.

Main screen is bricked. After multiple reboots, I was able to get the car out of the garage.

Brake lights do NOT work at ALL. Signal lights do not work at all. We'll be posting to the MHTSA site -- It's hard to imagine having no brake lights is not a safety issue!

 

[SO16]

Ours recently failed completely after rebooting multiple times while driving. We're at the end of Model S 70D, 2015. Our delivery date was 12/22/2015.

? Hate Tesla thing?? I used to sing their praises, and even sold several friends on them. Then the Handles went out, and that, somehow wasn't under warantee. Then the battery suddenly was emasculated 30% -- even though service said all was normal! Now, the entire screen goes blank, and the car won't start. How would you feel about Tesla at this point?

Doesn’t make sense the handles weren’t covered under warranty. First I heard of that.

MCU can be fixed for a few hundred if you work with ev-fixme to replace the EMMC chip. Would be good if Tesla covered those costs.

The battery reduction issue is significant. Would be nice if Tesla would swap your battery out to restore full functionality.

 

[croman]

Yes, if your MCU reboots, it’s not dead. The blinkers will work without sound during a reboot. They didn’t work with a failed MCU. I’ve had 2 MCU failures.

Can confirm. I lost my MCU and while it was dying I lost the sound on my blinkers but when it actually died (black screen, but seemingly some functionality from deep) I lost all signals themselves. Stalk would "click" into the turn position but no noise and no avatar signal (and verified with my wife, no actual signals showed).

Regen brakes and brake lights worked. No HVAC, music, app access, etc. Couldn't control headlights. It was far more dangerous driving without a backup camera but I just limited my driving.

Lost all data except music favorites when I got my new MCU.

 

[viper2ko]

Can confirm. I lost my MCU and while it was dying I lost the sound on my blinkers but when it actually died (black screen, but seemingly some functionality from deep) I lost all signals themselves. Stalk would "click" into the turn position but no noise and no avatar signal (and verified with my wife, no actual signals showed).

Regen brakes and brake lights worked. No HVAC, music, app access, etc. Couldn't control headlights. It was far more dangerous driving without a backup camera but I just limited my driving.

Lost all data except music favorites when I got my new MCU.

Don't worry per our lord elon. "Should be much better at this point"

 

[croman]

Don't worry per our lord elon. "Should be much better at this point"

Mine died at 50300 miles. I had put in a mcu2 upgrade request 2 weeks before I crossed 50k and noted my MCU was dying and they took that as sufficient to cover the MCU under the 50k mile warranty.

I really like my service center and I hope it continues but clearly mcu1 wasn't as robust as necessary for a car that is like the Model S (connected where everything is done through MCU). The service staff was aware of that and did what they could to help.

 

[viper2ko]

Mine died at 50300 miles. I had put in a mcu2 upgrade request 2 weeks before I crossed 50k and noted my MCU was dying and they took that as sufficient to cover the MCU under the 50k mile warranty.

I really like my service center and I hope it continues but clearly mcu1 wasn't as robust as necessary for a car that is like the Model S (connected where everything is done through MCU). The service staff was aware of that and did what they could to help.

So you got mcu2 for free?