RCM_a021 front left safety restraint system fault

[championwaqas]

Hello,
I am getting this alert RCM_a021 on my 2019 Model 3 Dual Motor AWD which is out of warranty. The alert disappears when I adjust the seat past a certain height but come back as soon as I lower the seat height. The alert description within the service mode points to the driver side lap pretensioner. I think there is a loose connection somewhere in the wiring harness and wanted to see if anybody her was able to pin point the issue and DIY fix without going to the Tesla Service Center?
I did take the car to the Service Center last week. The service advisor had no clue on what he was doing. He told me the wiring harness needs to be replaced but asked me to approve an estimate of $2375 to replace the entire seat. I rescheduled the appointment without approving the estimate. Upon further google search, I was able to see invoice images from other Tesla owners with the same issue and their total was between $300 to $500. Spoke with the Service Advisor and asked him why he was asking me to approve replacement of the entire seat without first replacing the wiring harness? He sent me a revised estimate for $505 after speaking with his mechanic. The revised estimate still includes a duplicate $180 charge for labor. Sent the advisor another massage to see if that can be removed.
I am frustrated at this point and my fear is that the service center and am hesitant at taking the car to them. It appears that they have no idea on what they are supposed to do. Trying to see if anybody here was able to get this issue fixed on their own?

 

[cdub715]

I have the same exact make and model. I also got this error the other day but it went away after readjusting the seat. I notice my error pops up when i adjust the seat to the extremities. Its been two days now without an error but Im not betting my life that this wont pop up again... just going to readjust my seat settings. Definitely dont want to shovel out 500 bones for something so negligible. The error is quite vexing :/

PS: Im not sure if this is coincidence or what.... same error around the same time. was this planned by Tesla?

 

[championwaqas]

I have the same exact make and model. I also got this error the other day but it went away after readjusting the seat. I notice my error pops up when i adjust the seat to the extremities. Its been two days now without an error but Im not betting my life that this wont pop up again... just going to readjust my seat settings. Definitely dont want to shovel out 500 bones for something so negligible. The error is quite vexing :/

PS: Im not sure if this is coincidence or what.... same error around the same time. was this planned by Tesla?

I had some spare time today and looked at the wires underneath the back side of the front seat and found the issue. The wires connecting to the seat belt pretensioner are loose. When I wiggled the wires, error message popped up. Moving the wires in the other direction cleared the error.
I am going to check with Tesla if they could repair the connection alone but I am almost certain that they are going to say nope, gotta replace the whole harness. Attached is the image of the connector I am referring to.
If anybody has fixed the wiring to this connection, please share how to do that.

 

[cdub715]

Hey thanks for putting in the work! Since you identified the problem, why not ask Tesla if you can just purchase the connector and replace it yourself. You could do a penthouse shutdown the use solder heat shrink to do the job.

 

[championwaqas]

Hey thanks for putting in the work! Since you identified the problem, why not ask Tesla if you can just purchase the connector and replace it yourself. You could do a penthouse shutdown the use solder heat shrink to do the job.

I can ask them if they have the connector as a separate part. But I haven’t done soldering before.

 

[alexgr]

Hello,
I am getting this alert RCM_a021 on my 2019 Model 3 Dual Motor AWD which is out of warranty. The alert disappears when I adjust the seat past a certain height but come back as soon as I lower the seat height. The alert description within the service mode points to the driver side lap pretensioner. I think there is a loose connection somewhere in the wiring harness and wanted to see if anybody her was able to pin point the issue and DIY fix without going to the Tesla Service Center?
I did take the car to the Service Center last week. The service advisor had no clue on what he was doing. He told me the wiring harness needs to be replaced but asked me to approve an estimate of $2375 to replace the entire seat. I rescheduled the appointment without approving the estimate. Upon further google search, I was able to see invoice images from other Tesla owners with the same issue and their total was between $300 to $500. Spoke with the Service Advisor and asked him why he was asking me to approve replacement of the entire seat without first replacing the wiring harness? He sent me a revised estimate for $505 after speaking with his mechanic. The revised estimate still includes a duplicate $180 charge for labor. Sent the advisor another massage to see if that can be removed.
I am frustrated at this point and my fear is that the service center and am hesitant at taking the car to them. It appears that they have no idea on what they are supposed to do. Trying to see if anybody here was able to get this issue fixed on their own?
View attachment 926341View attachment 926343View attachment 926344

I had this fixed under warranty. It is a bad connector under the seat. I would do it myself if out of warranty. If you are in LA area, I would expect there are a few mechanics who could do it on Tesla.

 

[championwaqas]

I had this fixed under warranty. It is a bad connector under the seat. I would do it myself if out of warranty. If you are in LA area, I would expect there are a few mechanics who could do it on Tesla.

I am in the LA area. I have pin pointed the connector that has the issue. Do you know anybody specifically who can fix the wiring for the connector?

 

[Fradog]

I have the same issue as all above. I have a service appointment with an estimate for $360. In my opinion, they should fix for no charge since it is a safety related defect. I have filed a complaint with NHTSA on this issue, there were about four other complaints filed for this same issue. I love Tesla, but they need to own up to this one. Compared with the trunk harness recall I consider the seat belt pretensioner quite a bit more serious.

 

[jblack41510]

Any updates on this issue?

 

[jwalkingjon2]

Had this starting a few days ago - Today tesla came and replaced the Pretensor free of charge (I'm under Used warranty). Took about 15 minutes, Going to pray the error doesn't come back. I have warranty for another 12k miles so not too worried. 2019 Tesla Model 3 here

 

[jblack41510]

I just got front passenger and rear passenger side pretension fault come up few days ago. I have about 80k miles now. I would say less than 200 total miles since 2019 have I had a passenger in my vehicle.

 

[jwalkingjon2]

Been a few days since pretensor was replaced no errors since I think without warranty it would been about $200 repair.