Should I duct tape the passenger door to keep it closed?

[tinm]

Wow, if this happened to my car and I were on a long trip, I'd immediately divert to nearest Tesla Service Center and just show up unannounced and present the problem to them expressing my safety concerns. If they blew me off, I'd whip out my iPhone and record a video for YouTube of the problem, and Tesla's refusal to help. But I don't think it would go that way. i suspect they would be happy to help. In my experience, when you drive an expensive car under warranty and you show up at a service center with grave safety concerns about aberrant mechanical behavior from the car, they usually find a way to drop everything and help you on the spot out of general concern mixed with curiosity as to what the heck is causing this weird problem.

I agree with others who've said Tesla's service seems overwhelmed. I believe we have not seen anything yet. Just wait until the new Xs arrive. And then the 3s. The service organization is not set up or trained or equipped to handle the traffic. Nor does management seem concerned. I also agree that Tesla's service centers vary in quality and general effectiveness. Which makes sense: this whole problem boils down to a management problem. Good managers work the problems until they're fixed, and don't wait for corporate HQ to issue a memo with instructions on what to do. Unfortunately the quality of management varies from service center to service center.

 

[hpham007]

I can't imagine why anyone would think it's a good idea to take the tried and true door handles that have worked for decades and turn it into a gimmicky, complicated device that has questionable longevity. I understand it looks cool and all but coolness gets old after five minutes and I would imagine most people would prefer something guaranteed to work for life. Somebodies quest for the cool door handles at Telsa probably cost them more in door handle warranty replacements than every other car manufacturer combined. If the Falcon doors are even half as problematic as the door handles, Tesla's going to be in trouble.

 

[Phil K]

This is a safety issue and should be dealt with immediately. In previous experience with other makes, I would just drive to the service centre without making prior appointment and they would fix it on spot.

 

[Thumper]

I would put a hook into the hand grab on the inside and tie it to the console. Tape alone might not work adequately.

 

[artsci]

I'm afraid I didn't communicate with sufficient force to the young service center person my concern about the problem. But I have reached folks higher in the chain and should here something soon about a solution. In the meantime I have a long roll of clear tape

 

[CHG-ON]

I wonder if turning off auto present handles would help in the short term.

 

[Electricfan]

I can't imagine why anyone would think it's a good idea to take the tried and true door handles that have worked for decades and turn it into a gimmicky, complicated device that has questionable longevity. I understand it looks cool and all but coolness gets old after five minutes and I would imagine most people would prefer something guaranteed to work for life. Somebodies quest for the cool door handles at Telsa probably cost them more in door handle warranty replacements than every other car manufacturer combined. If the Falcon doors are even half as problematic as the door handles, Tesla's going to be in trouble.

I agree with this, and I fear for the future of the door handles. I don't see why they don't give you an option during configuration to get a normal "old style" handle that's just mechanical. It may not look as cool, and might take a mile off the range. I'd take that trade off for simplicity and peace of mind. Plus it just irritates me every time I walk up to the car from behind with my hands full of groceries because I always have to wait a few seconds for the handles to pop out. They don't seem to sense you as quick when you walk up from behind the car.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

Why wouldn't you just put the tape on the inside of the door?

But, seriously, that needed to get fixed yesterday...doors opening unintentionally is a serious safety/security concern.

 

[Electricfan]

I'm afraid I didn't communicate with sufficient force to the young service center person my concern about the problem. But I have reached folks higher in the chain and should here something soon about a solution. In the meantime I have a long roll of clear tape

Good news. Still sad that you had to escalate something so obvious a safety issue. But did the Fremont repair plan cause some delay or maybe put it in their mind you were willing to live with it? Hope its fixed right away - certainly should be a high priority.

 

[MsElectric]

Be careful putting tape on paint. When our car once needed paint work, the body show had used adhesive tape in a certain area and it took months for me to get all the residue off of it.

I concur with others. If this was my car, I would have driven it to the SC and expected them to fix it right then and there. I don't think this is a difficult repair as even a Tesla Ranger can fix this issue. I would however try and push them to replace al 4 door handles.

 

[Cyclone]

I am going to deviate from other posters here and hope I don't get burned too much for it.

I completely agree that this is a serious problem and Tesla should treat it as such. However, I disagree that they should drop everything else and "fix it on the spot". What they should do (IMO) is send out a tow to flatbed the car in and provide you a loaner (even if its an ICE). It may take them two weeks to get to your car in the queue, but they shouldn't have you driving it like this. I doubt once they realize the seriousness that they would take two weeks on it, but I think the more reasoned approach is for them to get the car off the street and you into a safe alternative immediately. Driving to the SC would be a similar option. Park it there and make them give you a loaner/rental. That said, I still would prefer if they came and flatbeded it away to avoid the risk of it opening while driving.

 

[thegruf]

I'm afraid I didn't communicate with sufficient force to the young service center person my concern about the problem. But I have reached folks higher in the chain and should here something soon about a solution. In the meantime I have a long roll of clear tape

This sounds like the crux of it.
A junior SC person didnt really appreciate the importance of the issue so just quoted the standard lead time of 2 weeks.
Just needed to be escalated a bit. I hope you get it sensibly sorted now.

Also echo other comments about tape and paint.
The glue on some tapes will react and discolour the paint so use with care imho - try to find the stuff the glass people somtimes use for temporary repairs to broken glass whilst an new piece is sourced.

I guess overall that there will be more incidents like this as the SC sites grow, I just hope that Tesla can maintain their differential to the standard offered by other auto manufacturers and their dealers.
It is an absolutely essential USP for Tesla imho.

 

[ToddRLockwood]

Hi Artsci,

Regarding the problem itself, this was a common symptom on some 2012 through early 2013 Model S's. I assume yours is a 2013 model.

• Have your door handles been upgraded to Gen 2 handles? (The newer handles have some spring-loaded play when you pull on them.)

• Did you try rebooting both the touch screen and the instrument cluster?

I'm not one to gratuitously criticize Tesla but my current situation is cause for real concern...

 

[jerry33]

• Have your door handles been upgraded to Gen 2 handles? (The newer handles have some spring-loaded play when you pull on them.)

The also have a micro-switch rather than a pressure sensor.

 

[artsci]

Hi Artsci,

Regarding the problem itself, this was a common symptom on some 2012 through early 2013 Model S's. I assume yours is a 2013 model.

• Have your door handles been upgraded to Gen 2 handles? (The newer handles have some spring-loaded play when you pull on them.)

• Did you try rebooting both the touch screen and the instrument cluster?

Mine is a 2013 delivered in May -- one of the first MC reds.

I know that some work was done on the handles (had some problems before) but I'm not positive that they've been replaced with the Gen2. I'll have to check back over my service records to determine that. But I have had minor issues with the handles off and on for some time.

It's interesting that in Ashlee Vance's book on Elon there's a discussion about the handles. At first the engineers strongly resisted the idea, believing it would be a difficult engineering challenge. But Elon persisted. With hindsight it now appears that they were a a major technical challenge but it also appears the Gen2 version overcame the challenges.

I'll check my service records today.

 

[FlasherZ]

It's interesting that in Ashlee Vance's book on Elon there's a discussion about the handles. At first the engineers strongly resisted the idea, believing it would be a difficult engineering challenge. But Elon persisted. With hindsight it now appears that they were a a major technical challenge but it also appears the Gen2 version overcame the challenges.

The gen 2 handles don't completely fix it. I ran across an owner last weekend (during our Midwest gathering) who had the occasional door pop problem and she had the gen 2 handles already.

 

[mobe]

I agree with CHG-ON. Try turning off the auto present feature and see if that stops it.

 

[hpham007]

The gen 2 handles don't completely fix it. I ran across an owner last weekend (during our Midwest gathering) who had the occasional door pop problem and she had the gen 2 handles already.

for some reason, this just flat out disturbs me. cars have issues but having a unexpectedly door pop open is not something you think you would see in this day and age. i would imagine a handle failure in a regular car would fail close and not allow the door to open; if not, it should be mandatory.

 

[artsci]

for some reason, this just flat out disturbs me. cars have issues but having a unexpectedly door pop open is not something you think you would see in this day and age. i would imagine a handle failure in a regular car would fail close and not allow the door to open; if not, it should be mandatory.

Agree. There should be a fail safe design.

 

[scottm]

I can't imagine why anyone would think it's a good idea to take the tried and true door handles that have worked for decades and turn it into a gimmicky, complicated device that has questionable longevity. I understand it looks cool and all but coolness gets old after five minutes and I would imagine most people would prefer something guaranteed to work for life. Somebodies quest for the cool door handles at Telsa probably cost them more in door handle warranty replacements than every other car manufacturer combined. If the Falcon doors are even half as problematic as the door handles, Tesla's going to be in trouble.

I imagine it has to do with aerodynamic drag, and trying to make it zero for the door handles. And they did it.

- - - Updated - - -

Agree. There should be a fail safe design.

I have looked closely at this problem gen2 driver's door pull mechanism.

There are 2 micro switches in play here, one on each side of the handle.
1. One of them detects an appropriate point at which to stop the handle from emerging and coming to rest waiting for a pull. This switch has an adjuster screw.
2. The other detects your pull. Switch closes when the physical limit of the movement mechanism is reached.

If switch 1 has fatigue break in the wire, which happens, alot... then handle doesn't know when to stop and continues to motor on out to hit the physical limit switch 2, so it thinks you pulled the door.

The result is when handles present you get an auto-pop opening door.

FYI if you get a fatigue break on the other microswitch, then handles will present, but pulling it won't open the door. This was the case for me.

I believe there can be a fail safe design, done in software, to compensate for a single wire (break / open) fault such as this. For either switch.
I can describe the algorithm... and offered that to Tesla.