On 9/11/21, I was driving my '16 Signature Model X P90D (~31,000 miles) about 50 mph on a country road a mile from my home. No heavy acceleration, just cruising along. My X started lurching and I got a DI_w126 Alert: "Reduce Power. Service Required." The car became unresponsive to the throttle, and I was lucky to limp home (through a busy 4-way intersection) with minimal throttle control. The car died in my driveway. Two days later, I was able to back it onto the street for towing, where it died again in the middle of the street with a "Rear Drive Unit Failure" alert.
I took a 400 mile round-trip two weeks before the failure with no issues at all. The car then sat in the garage for a week with one or two 2-mile round trips. Then, a fatal failure on the RDU out of nowhere under gentle driving conditions.
My X was towed to the Vallejo, CA SC on 9/13. (The tow truck arranged by Tesla showed up with a flat tire on the dolly carrying the rear wheels of my X. Another unhappy story.)
After several days of "customer engagement by tweets" through the app (and no other way to discuss the problem) the SC determined that there was "a low megohm reading" in the rear drive unit (RDU), the car's controller caught it and disabled the RDU, and it had to be replaced under warranty. After 17 days in the SC, the work was done (waiting for parts, as usual) and I picked up my X. No details on the failure that cost me 19 days without a car.
I realize that the SC probably has neither the time nor the expertise to diagnose failures like this. But, I would like to know what happened inside the RDU and if it is a common or very rare failure. "Low megohms" is not a satisfactory explanation. I suspect an internal short, but how could that happen? I used to think that almost nothing on an automobile is more reliable than an AC Induction Motor.
Does anyone know what happened?
I took a 400 mile round-trip two weeks before the failure with no issues at all. The car then sat in the garage for a week with one or two 2-mile round trips. Then, a fatal failure on the RDU out of nowhere under gentle driving conditions.
My X was towed to the Vallejo, CA SC on 9/13. (The tow truck arranged by Tesla showed up with a flat tire on the dolly carrying the rear wheels of my X. Another unhappy story.)
After several days of "customer engagement by tweets" through the app (and no other way to discuss the problem) the SC determined that there was "a low megohm reading" in the rear drive unit (RDU), the car's controller caught it and disabled the RDU, and it had to be replaced under warranty. After 17 days in the SC, the work was done (waiting for parts, as usual) and I picked up my X. No details on the failure that cost me 19 days without a car.
I realize that the SC probably has neither the time nor the expertise to diagnose failures like this. But, I would like to know what happened inside the RDU and if it is a common or very rare failure. "Low megohms" is not a satisfactory explanation. I suspect an internal short, but how could that happen? I used to think that almost nothing on an automobile is more reliable than an AC Induction Motor.
Does anyone know what happened?
