Screen problems after HW3 upgrade

[montefuego]

I upgraded my 2016 Model S to FSD HW3 on the last day of the special. As I pulled out of the Tesla shop, I noticed the center screen went dark for a few seconds, then came back on. Also, Autopilot was still calibrating.
1. Autopilot never finished calibrating, stayed around 98%. Eventually they had to fix a camera or two in order to get it to calibrate.
2. The screen still:
A. Goes dark repeatedly, sometimes even once a minute. Then will be fine for couple days, then again a problem.
B. Freezes completely and won't respond.
C. Shows the backup image (along with the overhead car view) with a curved 'path' overlay, frozen, when I am driving FORWARD.
D. Sometimes when backing up, the 'live' camera image goes black, even though the overhead image of the car on the bottom of the screen stays constant. This is extremely dangerous when I am backing onto a street.
E. I'll be driving and the screen will go black and do a full reset, losing my settings.

The car had no problems at all until I did the FSD upgrade. It has the Tegra MCU.
I have had it in for service twice, they did a full reset, also said upgrading the MCU wouldn't help.
It's going in again in three weeks. Anyone else have this problem or can offer advice?

Thanks...

 

[Tam]

...Freezes...

All the symptoms you described are because the MCU1 is overstressed with all the heavy demands from HW3.

Tesla should have disclosed that if you don't switch to MCU2, you'll have to deal with the inefficient performance of MCU1 as described with all the symptoms that you listed above.

Your solution is to pay an additional $2,500 for MCU2 even you thought upgrading to HW3 is free (and it's still free as long as you can tolerate all those bad symptoms of MCU1).

 

[zanary]

As Tam has said, you need to purchase the optional $2500 Infotainment Ugrade Package upgrade. This is NOT the FSD upgrade that you had done which is just for Full Self Driving. What you need is your MCU and IC upgraded to the latest generation hardware which will resolve your issues...

Note: You will loose all radio function, but at some point in the future, they will offer the Radio Upgrade for maybe $400 to 500 which you can pay above the $2500 optional Infotainment Ugrade Package upgrade to return radio back to you.

URL for the Infotainment Ugrade Package Options $2500 Upgrade = Infotainment Upgrade

I did the Infotainment Ugrade Package back in March 2020. Here is my detailed report for anyone interested.

URL = Tesla confirms infotainment system upgradeability from MCU1 to MCU2 for $2500

 

[montefuego]

Thank you guys so much! Really appreciate your knowledge and experience. Strange the techs at Tesla are not saying this.
Here are two 'wrinkles':
1. I several times asked about upgrading the MCU, the tech people did not recommend it. Apparently, there have been many changes, including new cameras, other wiring, etc, that differentiate a new Model S from mine. They seemed to think that just doing the MCU might not fix the problem. Apparently they might contemplate (or need to contemplate at some point) a more comprehensive solution.
2. It seems to me that I had a perfectly functioning car. I paid $3000 for an 'upgrade.' Now the car does not function properly. The screen that worked fine before isn't reliable, is frequently distracting and even causes dangerous situations if I am depending on backup camera and it suddenly blacks out. It would therefore seem to me that Tesla needs to pay whatever it costs to at least restore the functionality I had before. If it means replacing the MCU, it seems to me that they need to bear that cost. Am I crazy?

 

[zanary]

2. It seems to me that I had a perfectly functioning car. I paid $3000 for an 'upgrade.' Now the car does not function properly. The screen that worked fine before isn't reliable, is frequently distracting and even causes dangerous situations if I am depending on backup camera and it suddenly blacks out. It would therefore seem to me that Tesla needs to pay whatever it costs to at least restore the functionality I had before. If it means replacing the MCU, it seems to me that they need to bear that cost. Am I crazy?

You're not crazy. If you're Tesla is under the original warranty, they will give you an MCU/1 with the new eMMC to restore functionality. That will improve some of the issue, but the lagginess will not be resolved, and you won't get all of the new capabilities (ie, games, karaoke, Netflix, and the upcoming camera during signal, etc...) upcoming features unless you actually pay for the optional $2500 Infotainment Ugrade Package. This Infotainment Ugrade Package is NOT a warranty fix item, but you're welcome to try. Others have and been denied.

If you do go for the Infotainment Ugrade Package, your Tesla will feel like a brand new one in terms of the user experience you get from the MCU... Well worth it assuming $2500 is something you're willing to spend.

 

[Tam]

...I several times asked about upgrading the MCU, the tech people did not recommend it. Apparently, there have been many changes, including new cameras, other wiring, etc, that differentiate a new Model S from mine. They seemed to think that just doing the MCU might not fix the problem. Apparently they might contemplate (or need to contemplate at some point) a more comprehensive solution...

I have no idea why they said that. It's true that there are different hardware in the different age groups but that's why Tesla officially posted the specific link for Infotainment Upgrade.

The keyword on that link to solve your problem is "smoother":

"Upgrade your Infotainment system to access new features, as well as a more advanced and smoother user experience."

What you are experiencing now is not smooth at all!

...It would therefore seem to me that Tesla needs to pay whatever it costs to at least restore the functionality I had before. If it means replacing the MCU, it seems to me that they need to bear that cost. Am I crazy?

Most of us just pay up ourselves but I think I understand what you say that your MCU1 was perfect before but now with HW3 it's terrible so Tesla needs to pay up to make the experience smooth again. Good luck!

 

[dirkbike1]

Last thing I want to do is spend $2500 on a car Tesla just dropped the price by another $5500.

 

[zanary]

Last thing I want to do is spend $2500 on a car Tesla just dropped the price by another $5500.

Generally, cars do not appreciate in value, nor hold their value. Just wait for next year's Model S with the new 4680 cell and older Model S/X will fall considerably... We should be buying our Tesla to drive and enjoy.

Like many have said in the past, you should drive a Tesla like you've stolen it.

 

[Padelford]

At a minumum, you need to have the eMMC card replaced in your MCU1. That will mean a major improvement in its operation & stability and give you more HW3/FSD functionality, like reading speed limit signs. You won't get more imagery in the driver display like you do with MCU2. Replacement cost is about $500 if you're not still under warranty.

 

[arri]

I'm in the same boat: HW3 and MCU1. Black screens, spontaneous reboots, voice control problems and navigation sometimes takes minutes to calculate a route. In the dutch forum there are multiple cases of unstable MCU's after HW3 upgrade. I think Tesla should fix this, my car still has warranty.

The strange thing is that if you have EAP, and you order a MCU2, you will get the HW3 for free. But order FSD, you will end up with instability... Wish I have waited a bit more, FSD will take years to come to Europe...

 

[Padelford]

I'm in the same boat: HW3 and MCU1. Black screens, spontaneous reboots, voice control problems and navigation sometimes takes minutes to calculate a route. In the dutch forum there are multiple cases of unstable MCU's after HW3 upgrade. I think Tesla should fix this, my car still has warranty.

The strange thing is that if you have EAP, and you order a MCU2, you will get the HW3 for free. But order FSD, you will end up with instability... Wish I have waited a bit more, FSD will take years to come to Europe...

Definitely go get your MCU1 fixed under warranty. Mine died twice, and that made the warranty repair easier, but your symptoms should get them to fix your MCU memory card.