Repeater camera issues. Blinkers seen on screen when flashing.

[zef3215]

Has anyone tried to make sort of a sleeve that fits around the whole round camera lens. Light may be leaking in from the top inside the housing. If we make a sleeve out of thin material like black vinyl. We might be able to block the light. I'm gonna try this. Will report back with findings. There is a very tight opening all the way around the camera that may allow me to do this.

That's an interesting thought. That "sleeve" could be arround the camera as you proposed, or on the inside housing of the blinker on the side with the actual light. In my case, I still hope Tesla will replace the camera (today is the big day) but if they don't, I might try some "home made" solution as well. Let us know the outcome of your investigations.

 

[CarlThompson]

As an aside, $150 for the part and $28.50 for the labor to replace it for each side is insanely cheap compared to what other high-end car dealers would charge. (Not saying you should have to pay.)

 

[Tevo Solutions]

Has anyone tried to make sort of a sleeve that fits around the whole round camera lens. Light may be leaking in from the top inside the housing. If we make a sleeve out of thin material like black vinyl. We might be able to block the light. I'm gonna try this. Will report back with findings. There is a very tight opening all the way around the camera that may allow me to do this.

Won't work. That's not the cause. All will be explained when we release our teardown video soon. I'm working on a possible fix this morning. It's messy but it might work.
ETA It does work, but I'm not sure how many of you would want to try the repair as it's very easy to mess up and potentially junk the whole unit. Spending the rest of today cutting it all together and will post the link once uploaded.

 

[freeAgent]

Both of the side cameras on my 2021 (black trim) have this issue. One was replaced due to a cracked housing (tech thought it was probably over-torqued in the factory) that allowed water infiltration and eventually killed it back in July 2021. I don't particularly like the light from the turn signal bleeding into the camera image, but figured it was normal since it's happened on 3 out of 3 cameras that have been installed on my car.

 

[WhiteM3P-]

My sleeve approach was a failure. I look forward to any solutions you guys may have. I have 4 cameras total now and I'd be willing to experiment.

 

[Tevo Solutions]

I've repaired one of my old cameras (2019 M3P). Original glare on left, after fix on right.
Full details on how it can be done coming very soon, but you have to be prepared for it to go wrong if you aren't really careful!
You can see some dead pixels there, which are always going to be there but you wouldn't notice them unless you cover up the camera lens like this.

These shots above were both taken with the lens taped over like this. This is the best way to check how much glare you're getting.

 

[Dysan911]

Oh wow so no joke then trying to black out the amber lens externally. Can't wait to see what you came up with on the fix.

 

[Tevo Solutions]

Oh wow so no joke then trying to black out the amber lens externally. Can't wait to see what you came up with on the fix.

There's nothing anyone can do about this externally. It's all an internal problem. Tesla recognised this and applied a temporary fix for it then later the problem was designed out by an evolution of the circuit boards.

 

[WhiteM3P-]

Can't wait for the fix.

 

[zef3215]

The glare issue is solved for me today.

Tesla Mobile Service came and replaced the right repeater camera under warranty (was not even a discussion if it should be warranty or not). The replacement operation took maximum five minutes but the camera came black on the screen initially. The technician performed some tests, confirmed the camera is working and it will show up on the screen after a short drive. I check the car an hour after he left and the camera was showing OK on the screen without me needing to drive the car.

I obviously test this evening/night the “glare” effect and is all GONE.

I’m super happy with Tesla Mobile Service here in The Netherlands!

https://imgur.com/a/FlWafQR

 

[Dysan911]

Nice!. Congrats on an easy fix. I didn't know Tesla would even consider this a flaw with the side camera.

Edit: I just did what you with the video and it turns out only my right side camera is having that flawed blinding issue.

I scheduled mobile service to come hopefully do the same as they did for you. Thanks for sharing this info!

B.

 

[WhiteM3P-]

Nice that Tesla outside the US still honors warranty for something that isnt working correctly. Here in California. Their mantra is deny the issue til the user forgets.

 

[zef3215]

Nice that Tesla outside the US still honors warranty for something that isnt working correctly. Here in California. Their mantra is deny the issue til the user forgets.

Sorry to hear that.
I have to say, in one year I had few service appointments (nothing serious) and my experience was extremely good with them, both with mobile service and one of their workshops here in The Netherlands. Way better than all the other experiences I had before with ICE brands (another American one, French, Korean and German which was my last one before Tesla). Keep in mind, The Netherlands is a small country in terms of its size (with 17 mil people) where EV adoption is quite high and we have nine Tesla service centers.

I have a YouTube channel (check my profile) where I have some interesting materials and plan to release more including one about my service experience with Tesla.
Check it out and stay tuned!

 

[Tevo Solutions]

Can't wait for the fix.

I did the other camera on my M3P today and with even better results second time around. Had to re-shoot some video to explain exactly how to do it so final cut is delayed but hopefully I'll finish the edit tomorrow.
Only the most enthusiastic DIY'ers will want to have a go, I suspect, but I do like a challenge and I also hate the fact that the repeaters Tesla take out will just end up in a bin somewhere. Wasted energy and resources. I'd rather repair than replace myself. I'll repair the other 2 cameras on our M3LR next.

 

[Tevo Solutions]

Everything explained here:

 

[Dysan911]

What an outstanding and thorough investigation/fix you came up with!. Thank you for making that video and putting in so much detail. I am not sure I'm ready to give the fix a try just yet. I will see if Tesla comes through for me and offers to replace it free of charge first.

What I do find interesting is that I only seem to have this issue on the Right side. My left side does not have the light bleed issue. Do you think that would suggest that either Tesla had a mix of new and older repeaters in their parts bin to grab from during assembly and maybe my left side got the one from the manufacturer who used the tap to cover the holes and my right side wasn't so lucky?

 

[Tevo Solutions]

Thanks! Yes, I think it's nothing more than those cars with one good and one bad camera were built when they had a mix of cameras in the factory.

 

[WhiteM3P-]

Everything explained here:

Awesome fix!! Thanks for sharing and leading the way.

 

[jsmay311]

Everything explained here:

Anyone care to summarize this video and save me 19 minutes?

 

[freeAgent]

Anyone care to summarize this video and save me 19 minutes?

There are three holes in the PCB for older camera revisions which allow light to bleed through it and hit the camera sensor. The fix is, essentially, to block that light transmission from happening.

Tesla apparently became aware of it at some point because even with the old holey PCB, they started putting little pieces of tape (or something) over the holes to block it. However, I'm guessing that workaround was very, very recent since my Fremont-built Dec 2020 ("2021" car) came with side cameras that didn't have the workaround in place. I also got a replacement camera on my left/driver side in July 2021 that also has this issue. Apparently there is a very recent PCB/camera revision that no longer has holes in the PCB and therefore doesn't need the patch job.