Rear license plate screw stripped?

[TT97]

This may be an odd question, but why are you needing to remove the screws more than the one time to get the plate on? When the new registration tag comes, I just put it over last years', or (when the pile gets too tall), use an Xacto knife to remove the pile first. The plate stays on the car. What am I missing?

It is just the one time but the grommet was free spinning just removing the “zero emission” temp plate. I also have the vintage plates on order so will need to replace the plates once those are in.

 

[Canuck]

It's a stupid design. Tesla put my plates on for me with no front plate holder like they did with my S. The back plate holder is also smaller than the usual Tesla one, and I had another larger one someone got me for my 50th that had been sitting in the garage, so I decided to move the smaller back holder to the front, and put the larger one on the back. So both plates had to come off. Getting them off and back on ended up being over a two-hour and frustrating as hell job. I'm glad to see it's not just me -- well that sounded bad -- but you know what I mean.

 

[tdwin2000]

I had this problem as well. I figured it out. I only had two top screws on mine. They held in the paper temp plate. The problem isn't the grommets with the thread placed into the car. The problem is the black screws they used to put on the temp plate. They are wood screws with a point on them and they are too thin for the grommet so it doesn't grip. I pulled them out with a pliers very carefully so I wouldn't scratch the paint. Then once out used a pliers to hold the grommet and unscrewed the black screws (throw them away). Go to your local Home Depot and pick up some 10/32 machine screws (I used 1/2 inch long as this will work going through the license plate and the frame). Also pick up a small package of 10/32 washers. Make sure for washers and the machine screws you buy the stainless steel ones. I think both packages together were under $2. If you take your car to the local service center, they will re-install the same crappy black pointy tip screws if they are able to get them out. Trust me the stainless screws that I described here do work on the model 3 perfectly.

 

[tdwin2000]

In addition, if you use the MODEL 3 plate that came with your car, make sure you slide the plate from the back in front of the silver 4 tabs first (be careful as the edges of the frame are very sharp on the back side). Then, once done you can use the 10/32 screws to mount the plate with all 4 holes. I didn't do this at first and placed the tag behind the four silver tabs and though it looked terrible. Hope this saves somebody some aggravation.

 

[aSlowOldGUy]

Whoa. The same exact issue here - took off the temp (paper) tag and the plastic anchor/nut just spun and spun. Fortunately, Tesla attached the temp tag with just the top two screws, so I attached the real plate with the bottom screws. My plan is to have it taken care of next time I'm at the service and delivery center. Felt it was too minor to call it in. But MAN was it annoying. I must admit to a certain relief that I'm not the only one with this dumb issue. I mean, REALLY?

 

[David3]

I have the same issue, mobile service will come fix it.

 

[ChrisH]

Same issue here. Ugh.

 

[Insight75]

Same issue I had. They used the wrong screw which was bigger and fit much tighter. This caused the plastic nut thing to give way and it just kept turning. I applied pressure and eventually after some wiggling it came out. I did end up scratching the paint under the plate. Glad it was under the plate..... Bad design.

 

[Trevor B]

I have the same issue, mobile service will come fix it.

Ditto ... that was proactive of Tesla

 

[btews]

Had the same problem yesterday on the lower right screw -- plastic grommet kept spinning, and I couldn't get the screw out (stopped trying as I was worried about scratching the car). Luckily, if the bottom screws are the problem, you can slip the plate into the frame OVER the bottom screws with a little effort...then install the other screws. Will work fine until my first trip to the SC, when I'll have them fix it properly (no other issues so far, so first SC trip could be a while).

 

[Blizzard]

Yes sir! Add me the the list, same damn issue. I will try TDwin’s solution before calling them.

 

[FinallyGotMyM3]

Yup I had it too on the bottom two screws of my rear license plate. I was going in for service and they “fixed it” for me. They installed some plastic lugs which sit in front of the plate and screw into that. Then they added some large chrome covers to it. One has already fallen off.

 

[ChrisH]

I had this problem as well. I figured it out. I only had two top screws on mine. They held in the paper temp plate. The problem isn't the grommets with the thread placed into the car. The problem is the black screws they used to put on the temp plate. They are wood screws with a point on them and they are too thin for the grommet so it doesn't grip. I pulled them out with a pliers very carefully so I wouldn't scratch the paint. Then once out used a pliers to hold the grommet and unscrewed the black screws (throw them away). Go to your local Home Depot and pick up some 10/32 machine screws (I used 1/2 inch long as this will work going through the license plate and the frame). Also pick up a small package of 10/32 washers. Make sure for washers and the machine screws you buy the stainless steel ones. I think both packages together were under $2. If you take your car to the local service center, they will re-install the same crappy black pointy tip screws if they are able to get them out. Trust me the stainless screws that I described here do work on the model 3 perfectly.

Do you have a link to the product you used? I just bought 10/32 1/2 inch stainless machine screws and they don’t seem to fit in the grommets (too thick) and the ones I bought also have heads on them that were too small and they went through the license plate frame holes.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SJC3]

Add me to the list. Seems like the guy that installs the plates didn’t do his job right. Now the service techs can do it at 100x the cost.

 

[guywithkeyboard]

Do you have a link to the product you used? I just bought 10/32 1/2 inch stainless machine screws and they don’t seem to fit in the grommets (too thick) and the ones I bought also have heads on them that were too small and they went through the license plate frame holes.

I don't have a link, but I just got them from Ace Hardware yesterday and was able to install them. I had to apply a little bit of pressure; otherwise they fit fine.

 

[ChrisH]

I don't have a link, but I just got them from Ace Hardware yesterday and was able to install them. I had to apply a little bit of pressure; otherwise they fit fine.

You’re right. I got them to work after I figured out how to get the license plate in front of the “chrome” parts. Thanks.

 

[Eno Deb]

I had this problem as well with the two screws on the right when I installed my plates a few days ago. I was eventually able to get them out by turning the screwdriver *very* gently, i.e. without applying much torque. They also went back in after installing the plate, but don't fully grip when they are fully tightened (i.e. they keep turning). But it holds firm enough. Not ideal, but I consider it theft prevention (any bad guys trying to steal my plate will be frustrated and give up ).

 

[Powered By Jay]

I was installing my OEM license plate frame and one of my plastic fasteners spun and stripped as well. I had to bend up my OEM license plate frame with needle nose pliers to get it off the screw. Then I removed the screw while pinching the fastener with the pliers.

After doing that, I popped out the OEM plastic fasteners using two credit cards (one credit card on each side) and I bought a new set of license plate plastic fasteners from my local OSH hardware store. I took the gaskets from the OEM fasteners and slid them on the new fasteners. The new fasteners look to have the same width, but a shorter length. They seem better though because they are open ended and spread as the screws get tightened. The OEM fasteners appear to be fully enclosed and don't spread as the screw is tightened.
I tested the OEM screws with the new fasteners and it seems to be more secure now.

Here are the OEM fasteners with the stripped one on the top right:



Here is the OEM fastener (top) vs. hardware store fastener (bottom):



Here is the new fastener with the OEM gasket slid on:



Here is the new fastener installed:



Here is the new fastener with the OEM screw:



Here is the new fastener packaging:


Hillman LPF-2625U
H#415529
Insert Nut Screw #8

 

[Powered By Jay]

BTW, the new fasteners are cheap. Mine were only $0.40/each because OSH is closing down and everything is on sale.

 

[Jeffcm3]

Thx for the info on OSH. Hope they still got the fasteners.

Same problem here... and not only that but the ppl installing the zero emissions tag scratched the paint around the fasteners.

I’m hoping to cover this up with maybe some gorilla tape.