Stirthepot
Member
is the latch opening to allow the striker to be engaged? perhaps you don't have enough slack on the latch motor cable and it isnt allowing the latch to fully open (ask me how I know, i had to adjust mine)
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Power Frunk Group Buy - MS Refresh LR/Plaid
- Thread starter mec0t0
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Stirthepot
Member
you shouldn't have any wiggle room with the latch and the bump stops (rubber things on the hood) properly adjusted. If you have slack before you install either adjust it yourself or have tesla service get it right. I have no wiggle at all, prior or post installation
Yes, the latch was opening enough. I re-tried moving the latch all the way to the top and the hood started latching although there was a little play in it afterwords. It would sink down all the way and latch then pop up a tiny bit, not sure if that's normal but I also didn't have the side skirts reinstalled yet so not sure if that would make a difference.
Unfortunately after getting this far the ECU started acting up. After a couple of successful openings and closings the ECU stopped moving the motors. The latch would release but no actuation. Then the LED on the ECU stopped blinking and it wouldn't response at all. For some reason, pressing the emergency release button on the inside panel of the trunk would get the LED to start blinking again but the motors still wouldn't actuate. For now I've removed the power and latch connections and put back in the OEM struts until I get a response from EVOffer.
I still haven't gotten a response to my message from yesterday evening and have left several more with updates since then.
Did it take 2 zip ties tied together? The long ones provide don't make it around the large brown frame piece with the qr code on it.
Stirthepot
Member
IIRC it was two joined together, there was a couple very long zip ties in my kit and then a few others that were long, but not as long. I used the others for the ECU and the short ones for the general cable management
Ok, EVOffer got in touch and we were able to figure it out. I took videos from the inside as the hood closed and we saw that the springy bar EVOffer uses to provide latch protection was a little too high so the hood was bouncing off of it before the latch engaged. There wasn't a lot of wiggle room but I was able to push their bracket down a tiny bit and that was enough to stop the bounce.
As for the ECU misbehaving, it seems like the vehicle thought there was a problem with the latch control due to all my testing. An error was showing on the dash panel that I didn't notice this morning since I didn't go in the car. By switching fully back to OEM I was able to clear that error and then reinstall everything successfully.
That makes sense. I ran into something similar as I went through my install where the system would beep and actuate the latch but nothing more. In my case, manually closing (or opening - I don't remember which now) the lid convinced the system that everything was OK and it cleared its fault and started working.
I actually went through the same thing with the tailgate as well as I had not realized the fuse needed to be moved from its original slot into the tap they provided and I set a fault in that system. Once I put in the second fuse and manually closed the tailgate, it reset and went back to working properly.
Glad to hear everything got cleared up in the end.
Stirthepot
Member
I guess i would just quickly disconnect the struts, close the frunk and fix it when i got home
I installed it last Thursday. Took ~6 hrs. Raymond (the dude in the video) was extremely helpful. Long story short, here are my main take aways:
-Do look up online and research as much as you can before you take things apart. The manual on EV offer website is helpful, and I have to read it several times to finally figure out where all the wires go (box doesn't say). The installation video for the variant B is helpful too. Too bad there's no video for variant C installation.
-Do find a good ground for the kit. My first real issue was that the control box powers up, but solid red and doesn't respond to anything. Raymond suggested that I find a good gnd for the negative wire and that was very helpful.
-Don't drop any tools. As I was prying out the old struts, the small screw driver flew off and landed inside the car somewhere. A few choice words were thrown until I realized it landed perfectly on the half shaft for me to pick up. phewww....
-The second snag I hit was the fact that the frunk wouldn't close properly. It would close the first latching stage but not the second/final stage. Good thing Raymond was there (remotely), otherwise I'd be adjusting all the wrong items. Anyhow, the solution is to either bend the lever arm thingy on the latch add-on bracket forward (towards the front of the car), or attach a small extrusion on the striker. He said it's due to quality control of the refreshed S - he has seen two other S with the same issue: striker doesn't engage the lever enough for the hood to be fully latched on. My ghetto solution was to tape a lego block to the back of the striker (see photo).
-So now everything works great. But here's the rub: the struts that came w/ Variant C can NOT be moved manually. Raymond said it's due to the way refreshed S hood is designed. I asked for the Variant B strut as the installation video clearly showed that it can be moved manually. Raymond assured me that those struts won't work either. He mentioned that manually opening is still possible but just not closing. In any case, from usability perspective it's not too bad - but one has to remind others not try to close the frunk manually. I can see a few corner cases where it might be liability: just make sure if the 12v battery is dead - don't open the hood unless you have the new replacement battery ready to go (or be ready to take down the struts). I suppose that's better than the alternative - that it can't be opened manually (I haven't been able to verify that as I haven't been able to create the unique condition to test that.)
-As for motor/control box locations, See photo 2. I ended up changing the location for the control unit by putting it at the lower right corner of the picture (where the manual depicts the motor location). I didn't put the motor there b/c it felt awkward as I have to fold the coax cables. Finding the location for motor/control box probably took me a good hour - need to make sure the frunk fits still after everything is tied down. Mine is probably not ideal but it is what it is.
-Also, the emergency wire (yellow loop) doesn't work the way you expect: it basically just clears up any restrictions the kit places on the latch - you will still need to find a way to open the hood (whether via Tesla emergency method or whatnot). Here's where manually movable struts might come in handy...
-Finally, I noticed if the hood encounters resistance while closing, it will stop, and then pop back up somewhat violently. See video link 2. Raymond said he's working on a software update for that. AFAIK the hood does not stop when encountering resistance while opening - so do make sure there's nothing above the hood when you open the hood!
-All in all, very pleased with the product. Extremely great support and will definitely buy from EV Offer again!
-Do look up online and research as much as you can before you take things apart. The manual on EV offer website is helpful, and I have to read it several times to finally figure out where all the wires go (box doesn't say). The installation video for the variant B is helpful too. Too bad there's no video for variant C installation.
-Do find a good ground for the kit. My first real issue was that the control box powers up, but solid red and doesn't respond to anything. Raymond suggested that I find a good gnd for the negative wire and that was very helpful.
-Don't drop any tools. As I was prying out the old struts, the small screw driver flew off and landed inside the car somewhere. A few choice words were thrown until I realized it landed perfectly on the half shaft for me to pick up. phewww....
-The second snag I hit was the fact that the frunk wouldn't close properly. It would close the first latching stage but not the second/final stage. Good thing Raymond was there (remotely), otherwise I'd be adjusting all the wrong items. Anyhow, the solution is to either bend the lever arm thingy on the latch add-on bracket forward (towards the front of the car), or attach a small extrusion on the striker. He said it's due to quality control of the refreshed S - he has seen two other S with the same issue: striker doesn't engage the lever enough for the hood to be fully latched on. My ghetto solution was to tape a lego block to the back of the striker (see photo).
-So now everything works great. But here's the rub: the struts that came w/ Variant C can NOT be moved manually. Raymond said it's due to the way refreshed S hood is designed. I asked for the Variant B strut as the installation video clearly showed that it can be moved manually. Raymond assured me that those struts won't work either. He mentioned that manually opening is still possible but just not closing. In any case, from usability perspective it's not too bad - but one has to remind others not try to close the frunk manually. I can see a few corner cases where it might be liability: just make sure if the 12v battery is dead - don't open the hood unless you have the new replacement battery ready to go (or be ready to take down the struts). I suppose that's better than the alternative - that it can't be opened manually (I haven't been able to verify that as I haven't been able to create the unique condition to test that.)
-As for motor/control box locations, See photo 2. I ended up changing the location for the control unit by putting it at the lower right corner of the picture (where the manual depicts the motor location). I didn't put the motor there b/c it felt awkward as I have to fold the coax cables. Finding the location for motor/control box probably took me a good hour - need to make sure the frunk fits still after everything is tied down. Mine is probably not ideal but it is what it is.
-Also, the emergency wire (yellow loop) doesn't work the way you expect: it basically just clears up any restrictions the kit places on the latch - you will still need to find a way to open the hood (whether via Tesla emergency method or whatnot). Here's where manually movable struts might come in handy...
-Finally, I noticed if the hood encounters resistance while closing, it will stop, and then pop back up somewhat violently. See video link 2. Raymond said he's working on a software update for that. AFAIK the hood does not stop when encountering resistance while opening - so do make sure there's nothing above the hood when you open the hood!
-All in all, very pleased with the product. Extremely great support and will definitely buy from EV Offer again!
Stirthepot
Member
It's just a tiny spring loaded mechanical lever that needs to be triggered in order for the hood to be "sucked in" completely.
So yes, I trust electrical tape and a lego block, for this particular application.
I asked EV this very question and they said it will stop opening when faced with resistance. I haven’t had a chance to install mine yet, but hopefully the required force to stop it opening is less than what would cause damage to the hood (of course paint excluded in the case where what it hits is abrasive).
yerEVan
Active Member
Anyone else having issues where before hooking everything up, you go to move the frunk hood up and down and the struts are locked? They won’t move manually.
WiLz
Member
The current struts cannot be moved manually, see Paul’s message quoted above. Might have to do with the geometry of the struts and hood.
yerEVan
Active Member
Mine won’t move electronically either. I sent them a video. The struts torque when trying but never go down. Thanks for the above note.
yerEVan
Active Member
Ok. I’m an idiot. Apparently it’s on the instructions to simply hold down reset button until it beeps before first attempt. Works now.
They also said some people are replacing the ball for the socket to get a bigger one as the factory one is kinda small and there is a lot of play in it. Anyone else notice that?
Stirthepot
Member
i just went and checked mine. i have no play in the struts socket. i dont think a bigger ball would fit on mine. didnt recall any play when i installed, but just double checked. wonder if they changed something with the struts. i installed on a 2022 plaid for reference.
yerEVan
Active Member
WiLz
Member
My new struts do have some play in them, they rotate slightly. This is on a July 2021 Plaid.
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