Rear Keyless Entry Sensors

[SDRick]

Often, when I approach the car from the rear, the manual hatch button underneath the hatch will not operate. Is the car supposed to auto present the door handles and unlock the rear hatch if you are standing behind the car?

 

[Julesp313]

I have the same frustration - to open the trunk, I have to first walk up to the rear door and wait for the handles to auto present. If I use the fob, I can open the trunk from a distance - seems as though approaching from the trunk, as is very common when loading groceries and other things, doesn't trigger the "unlock".

No solution or suggestions but you are not alone!

 

[GaryREM]

When you approach from directly behind, the door handles do not present.

However, when you push the manual button (on my car at least) the trunk unlatches and opens and the handles present (if set to present on unlocking). There is a sensor at the rear for the key fob.

 

[SDRick]

When you approach from directly behind, the door handles do not present.

However, when you push the manual button (on my car at least) the trunk unlatches and opens and the handles present (if set to present on unlocking). There is a sensor at the rear for the key fob.

I have mine set to present the door handles as I approach. If there is a sensor in the rear, either mine is not working or there is a setting that I am not familiar with. If I approach from the rear my door handles do not present, why would the trunk unlock?

 

[GaryREM]

I have mine set to present the door handles as I approach. If there is a sensor in the rear, either mine is not working or there is a setting that I am not familiar with. If I approach from the rear my door handles do not present, why would the trunk unlock?

I thought I was clear.

There is a sensor at the rear which, if it detects a key, will allow you to hit the manual trunk latch on the vehicle allowing you to open the hatch. Once the trunk is latch is operated, the door handles are unlocked and, if set to auto-present, they present themselves.

The handles will not auto present from the rear sensor until you operate the manual latch.

 

[SDRick]

I thought I was clear.

There is a sensor at the rear which, if it detects a key, will allow you to hit the manual trunk latch on the vehicle allowing you to open the hatch. Once the trunk is latch is operated, the door handles are unlocked and, if set to auto-present, they present themselves.

The handles will not auto present from the rear sensor until you operate the manual latch.

My problem is that my trunk remains locked even after I am right up against it. As was also mentioned by another up thread, I also need to walk around to the doors in order for the trunk button to unlock so it can be used manually. So is there a setting I am missing or is it something that needs to be addressed by service?

 

[Julesp313]

Yep, same here - if I approach from the rear, the manual button on the trunk does not work. I can either walk up to the rear passenger door and the handles present, then the trunk can be opened with the manual button, or I can dig in my purse for the key fob and hit the button on it. But I would expect that walking up to the trunk - while not causing the passenger door handles to auto present - would still detect the presence of the key fob in my purse and allow me to open the trunk using the manual button on the trunk itself.

For reference, I have the manual trunk and not the powered version - if that makes any difference...

 

[GaryREM]

Interesting... the online manual says
"Press the switch located under the exterior handle (depending on date of manufacture and options selected at time of purchase, some Model S vehicles require you to first unlock Model S)."

So, either your rear sensor is not working, or there is a possibility that's the way it was designed.

I think if you have manual trunk, you must unlock car first. @SDRick looks like he has loaded P90D so I would get things checked.

 

[Julesp313]

I think if you have manual trunk, you must unlock car first.

I guess that's my frustration with this - that the car doesn't sense the key fob presence and therefore allows the trunk to be opened/unlocked without first having the passenger doors unlock. I know it's not the done thing to compare Tesla to other brands, but all my previous cars that had keyless entry (three Lincolns, two Lexus) would allow me to open the trunk using the manual button even if I hadn't unlocked the passenger doors.

Out of curiosity, I'll ask the service center next time I have reason to talk with them

 

[murphyS90D]

I sometimes have to take the fob out of my pocket and hold it close to the trunk to get the button to work.

 

[SDRick]

Interesting... the online manual says
"Press the switch located under the exterior handle (depending on date of manufacture and options selected at time of purchase, some Model S vehicles require you to first unlock Model S)."

So, either your rear sensor is not working, or there is a possibility that's the way it was designed.

I think if you have manual trunk, you must unlock car first. @SDRick looks like he has loaded P90D so I would get things checked.

Thanks for finding that in the manual. I have confirmed that I can get mine working as per the manual except that it is sporadic. Now I am trying to figure out what I am doing different between the times where it works and when it doesn't.

 

[f-stop]

There is a sensor at the rear which, if it detects a key, will allow you to hit the manual trunk latch on the vehicle allowing you to open the hatch. Once the trunk is latch is operated, the door handles are unlocked and, if set to auto-present, they present themselves.

The handles will not auto present from the rear sensor until you operate the manual latch.

just fyi here's my observation with my early Dec 2015 70D, slightly different than mentioned above: I have the power liftgate, auto-present door handles = on, door unlock mode = driver, walk-away door lock = on, unlock on park = off (in case any of those settings make a difference)

with key fob in pocket, if I approach from the rear and walk right up to the trunk, tapping the manual release latch on the trunk opens the trunk. But all the door handles remain retracted. in fact, all the doors remain locked. For example if after opening the trunk, I leave the fob in the trunk and walk to the front of the car, the driver's door and passenger doors remain locked - tapping them will not pop them out.

to the OP, perhaps you have some problem with the rear fob sensor in your car?

 

[GaryREM]

just fyi here's my observation with my early Dec 2015 70D, slightly different than mentioned above: I have the power liftgate, auto-present door handles = on, door unlock mode = driver, walk-away door lock = on, unlock on park = off (in case any of those settings make a difference)

with key fob in pocket, if I approach from the rear and walk right up to the trunk, tapping the manual release latch on the trunk opens the trunk. But all the door handles remain retracted. in fact, all the doors remain locked. For example if after opening the trunk, I leave the fob in the trunk and walk to the front of the car, the driver's door and passenger doors remain locked - tapping them will not pop them out.

to the OP, perhaps you have some problem with the rear fob sensor in your car?

Hmmm. I do have door unlock mode = all. I wonder if that makes a difference. No time to check now.

 

[f-stop]

Hmmm. I do have door unlock mode = all. I wonder if that makes a difference. No time to check now.

I just tested that and now with unlock mode = all, the door handles all pop out when approaching from the rear and manually opening the trunk. So yes that setting makes a difference!

 

[Julesp313]

I just tested that and now with unlock mode = all, the door handles all pop out when approaching from the rear and manually opening the trunk. So yes that setting makes a difference!

So for you, having the door unlock on either "all" or "driver only" both work? For me, neither of those work... And by "work" I mean both settings allow you to unlock the trunk without first having to unlock the passenger doors.

 

[golfnut]

The only time it has failed to work for me was when I had my fob in my pocket next to my phone. I usually have them in separate pockets. Not sure if that made the difference, but it has worked every other time. Maybe something to test every once n a while.

 

[f-stop]

So for you, having the door unlock on either "all" or "driver only" both work? For me, neither of those work... And by "work" I mean both settings allow you to unlock the trunk without first having to unlock the passenger doors.

yes, for me approaching the car from the rear with fob in pocket always allows me to open the power liftgate/trunk without first unlocking the passenger doors. Normally I have Door Unlock Mode = Driver, in which case opening the trunk in this manner doesn't auto-present any handles. With Door Unlock Mode = All, opening the trunk causes all the door handles to pop out. In either case, I do nothing manually to unlock any doors, just walk up to the car and pull on the trunk latch. Re: @golfnut's observation above, in my case I always have my phone and fob in different pockets so I don't know if that's a factor.

 

[Pluto]

just fyi here's my observation with my early Dec 2015 70D, slightly different than mentioned above: I have the power liftgate, auto-present door handles = on, door unlock mode = driver, walk-away door lock = on, unlock on park = off (in case any of those settings make a difference)

with key fob in pocket, if I approach from the rear and walk right up to the trunk, tapping the manual release latch on the trunk opens the trunk. But all the door handles remain retracted. in fact, all the doors remain locked. For example if after opening the trunk, I leave the fob in the trunk and walk to the front of the car, the driver's door and passenger doors remain locked - tapping them will not pop them out.

to the OP, perhaps you have some problem with the rear fob sensor in your car?

This is exactly the case for me, except I have an April 2015 85, with power liftgate.

The only time it has failed to work for me was when I had my fob in my pocket next to my phone. I usually have them in separate pockets. Not sure if that made the difference, but it has worked every other time. Maybe something to test every once n a while.

I also keep the keyfob and my phone in separate packets, and simply walking to the trunk from the rear and clicking the button on the trunk works to open it for me.

 

[GaryREM]

So for you, having the door unlock on either "all" or "driver only" both work? For me, neither of those work... And by "work" I mean both settings allow you to unlock the trunk without first having to unlock the passenger doors.

@Julesp313 I thought you had a manual hatch. As mentioned before, I understand that you have to unlock the doors to open the hatch in all manual installations.

 

[Julesp313]

@Julesp313 I thought you had a manual hatch. As mentioned before, I understand that you have to unlock the doors to open the hatch in all manual installations.

I do have a manual trunk - but the guidance in the online manual doesn't state that the manual trunk won't open unless you unlock the doors - except it DOES state that under the guise of "some dates of manufacture and some options" which is rather vague, if you ask me!

Either way, being able to open the trunk without having to unlock the doors is a nice feature that I don't have... so I shall go sulk a bit (and then drive the car and suddenly it doesn't matter one bit...)