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"Parking Brake Needs Service"

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haferc

haferc

Member
Jul 13, 2017
95
211
Philly
#1
I took delivery of my brand new Model S on September 22nd. Five days later on the 26th, I walked to my car after work and found it displayed the following error, "Parking Brake Needs Service Car May Be Free Rolling." The car had 68 miles.

After a week in the shop, I was told the issue was resolved. The culprit, I was assured, was a faulty 12V battery (DCS33-UNCR, MS (10837740-00-A)) and post, both of which were replaced.

Fast forward to this morning. I go to drive my daughter to school and find the same error on my dash. Once again, the car will not shift out of park and will not free roll even in tow mode. The car now has 219 miles.

Two things: 1) this is obviously a known issue (https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/parking-brake-needs-service); and 2) I'm not sure I trust taking my car anywhere now knowing I could end up being stranded. My old Honda is a better option for me at this point.

Anyone else having this issue? Anyone have any luck getting it fixed? If so, how?

I have already submitted this for executive review (twice) so hopefully they can fix the issue ASAP.
 
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#3
The service center team just showed up at my house and said they had a feeling they'd be seeing me again. They have seen 3 other cars with the same issue just this past week. Said they need to get a firmware fix out ASAP since there are a lot of unhappy owners.

UPDATE: The service rep was here and gone in 10 minutes. He "fixed" the brake issue for now but cautioned it may happen again unless a patch is issued to address the problem.
 
Last edited:
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#5
haferc said:
The service center team just showed up at my house and said they had a feeling they'd be seeing me again. They have seen 3 other cars with the same issue just this past week. Said they need to get a firmware fix out ASAP since there are a lot of unhappy owners.

UPDATE: The service rep was here and gone in 10 minutes. He "fixed" the brake issue for now but cautioned it may happen again unless a patch is issued to address the problem.
Click to expand...

I've seen a few people post about this. What software version is your car on (check your app for the version # if that is more convenient than checking the car)?
 
#8
NewTMSMan said:
My Model X is at the Service Center right now with this issue. It is supposedly resolved with 2017.38 firmware according to senior tech, but we will see.
Click to expand...

.38 doesn't fix it. My MS is in the service center with the same issue as well. I've had .38 since I took delivery on September 30th.

I got an update from the service center. They told me that they've been in touch with California and this is a widespread issue that California will be releasing an update for.
 
#9
haferc said:
I took delivery of my brand new Model S on September 22nd. Five days later on the 26th, I walked to my car after work and found it displayed the following error, "Parking Brake Needs Service Car May Be Free Rolling." The car had 68 miles.

After a week in the shop, I was told the issue was resolved. The culprit, I was assured, was a faulty 12V battery (DCS33-UNCR, MS (10837740-00-A)) and post, both of which were replaced.

Fast forward to this morning. I go to drive my daughter to school and find the same error on my dash. Once again, the car will not shift out of park and will not free roll even in tow mode. The car now has 219 miles.

Two things: 1) this is obviously a known issue (https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/parking-brake-needs-service); and 2) I'm not sure I trust taking my car anywhere now knowing I could end up being stranded. My old Honda is a better option for me at this point.

Anyone else having this issue? Anyone have any luck getting it fixed? If so, how?

I have already submitted this for executive review (twice) so hopefully they can fix the issue ASAP.
Click to expand...

There are legal remedies, that would likely make you whole, in case that were to prove necessary.

Your Rights Under Maryland's Lemon Law

Scannerman
 
#10
mazeminder said:
.38 doesn't fix it. My MS is in the service center with the same issue as well. I've had .38 since I took delivery on September 30th.

I got an update from the service center. They told me that they've been in touch with California and this is a widespread issue that California will be releasing an update for.
Click to expand...

My X now has 2017.38.4 be12575, not 2017.38 f87c64d5, but this seems to have been available for about 1 week. Which do you have on your X?
 
#12
My SC has confirmed that 2017.38.4 be12575 seems to rectify the Parking Brake Needs Service issue on my car. I had the added issue that a FWD sensor was not taking updates and was blocking FW updates, but once that was replaced the Model X took the FW update and seems to have remedied the issue. Only time will fully tell of course now.
 
#17
Jugster said:
My MX had 2017.38 yesterday and was working fine. Took update overnight to 2017.40.1 and now car displays Parking Brake Needs Service. I picked up my MX on 9/30/17.
Click to expand...

Is the car stuck in Park, or can you drive it? If stuck in Park, you might be able to get it unstuck by disconnecting and reconnecting the 12V battery. Just leave it disconnected a few minutes to allow power to dissipate in the system.
 
#19
Jugster said:
Thanks. Yea, it's stuck in park. I'm waiting for SC to review logs. I'll give that a try in the meantime.
Click to expand...

So SC confirmed it's a firmware issue and they have no fix for it. But resetting 12V is supposed to work at least temporarily. And they told this can be done from within the car? Waiting on technician to call me back and walk me thru it...
 
#20
Jugster said:
So SC confirmed it's a firmware issue and they have no fix for it. But resetting 12V is supposed to work at least temporarily. And they told this can be done from within the car? Waiting on technician to call me back and walk me thru it...
Click to expand...

Had the same issue and SC claimed 2017.38.4 fixed it, I am on 2017.40.1 now and no recurrence yet.

It's pretty simple to do;

1. Open front trunk
2. Remove plastic trim cover at top edge (closest to windshield, the black plastic piece with the tag coming form under it). It pops right off easily, not held with standard trim clips and designed to be removed.
3. On left side (facing back of the Model X) is the battery. It is slightly recessed so a little painful to reach, but not tough. Disconnect RED hot lead and leave disconnected for a few minutes and reconnect.

Note this will reset the car including the FWD and you may show door errors. Opening and closing them will reset them and clear the error.
 
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