Stuck In Trailer Mode

[Midnightsun]

Am I missing something or is this just the way it is until Tesla makes an update? I plug in the electrical for my trailer and bingo, automatically the car switches to trailer mode which is fine I guess. Bad thing about trailer mode is cruise control and auto pilot and maybe some other features are automatically disabled which I find rather annoying. Problem is when one disconnects the trailer the car seems to be rather dumb and remains in trailer mode. Even tried a reboot but the car remained in trailer mode. There is a function in the menu in a weird place but after finding it I was able to turn off trailer mode and things were back to normal again.

Is there a glitch in the software? Why would one need to disengage trailer mode manually when the trailer is disconnected? if it can detect a connection it can surely detect a disconnection, seems rather prehistoric in such an automated smart car.

 

[wackojacko]

could it be the wire could come undone while you're driving? I had this happen when I used a dual hitch that extended the hitch 12 inches it unplugged while I was driving. I bought a 12 inch extension.

 

[Midnightsun]

Works fine while driving and trailer attached. I had the trailer hooked up the day before yesterday. Detached the trailer yesterday morning and obviously the electrical also. I then drove to an appointment I had but could not engage cruise control, message said temporarily unavailable. Tried a few times with the same results. I then noticed the little trailer icon was still there. Stopped the car, checked to make sure my 4 pin adapter was removed which is was and then tried rebooting which did not work. Used my phone and googled to find there is a trailer mode on/off switch which I finally found in the menu which corrected my issue.

 

[krcossin]

REPOST from another thread:
Yesterday I towed an aluminum cargo trailer, everything was perfect, all except the crazy hit on range, wow! I went from averaging around 230ish wh/m to a whopping 680 wh/m on same home-work-home round trip normal SOC is 80% and back home with 50-55%, this time I arrived with only 36% and I wasn't hauling anything heavy, just a generator and a couple deck chairs that wouldn't fit inside.
All the lights worked perfect.
I disconnected the trailer and I had the red trailer icon on the lower left.
I tried doing the reboot sequence, even tried the hold brake peddle with the two steering wheel buttons, it did not go off. Nothing was connected to the trailer outlet on the car.
So I searched a bit and found that the trailer mode STAYS ON. Not sure why, but as of this version it does.
Simple to just go to the car icon, driving scroll down and disable the trailer mode. I hope this helps others.

 

[Midnightsun]

I actually saw that post when I searched google however this was the case back in 2020. Surprised no one else has complained and the issue seems not to have been addressed in over a year. Are others seeing the same problem is my question.

 

[Big Earl]

I wouldn't say it's "stuck" in trailer mode, since you can turn it off in the settings. Sure, it would be great if it would automatically turn off trailer mode when a trailer is disconnected... perhaps that will come in a future software update. But for now, it takes just 10 seconds to change the settings.

 

[Midnightsun]

I wouldn't say it's "stuck" in trailer mode, since you can turn it off in the settings. Sure, it would be great if it would automatically turn off trailer mode when a trailer is disconnected... perhaps that will come in a future software update. But for now, it takes just 10 seconds to change the settings.

So are you saying you see the same thing when you detach your trailer and electrical?

 

[Big Earl]

So are you saying you see the same thing when you detach your trailer and electrical?

I have neither a Y nor a trailer. Just making the observation that the trailer mode toggle is easily accessible in the menu.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Objection is to the click bait "stuck" drama.

It is simple to turn on or off trailer mode on the center display.

 

[davidmaehle]

Objection is to the click bait "stuck" drama.

It is simple to turn on or off trailer mode on the center display.

However certain features are disabled, for example summon. In order to summon my car now I have to get into the car and manually disable trailer mode, before getting out again to use summon. Defeats the whole purpose if it’s ”stuck” in trailer mode every time to car turns on.

 

[a2t2]

Add this to list of reasons not to have a factory wire harness for towing

 

[DanDi58]

However certain features are disabled, for example summon. In order to summon my car now I have to get into the car and manually disable trailer mode, before getting out again to use summon. Defeats the whole purpose if it’s ”stuck” in trailer mode every time to car turns on.

But it's not. Once you turn it off in the car, it stays off (assuming your trailer is unhooked). I use it all the time with my bike rack.

 

[avs007]

Personally, I would rather have it require you to manually disable trailer mode, then have it try to detect the cable is unplugged based on drain that may or not be there, resulting in the brake controller in my trailer not working.

 

[Morlor]

I have the same issue with my 2019 Model 3 LR AWD. It is really annoying. The trailer icon changes colors like a Christmas tree. One thing is that it stays on after the trailer and electrical is detached, but that there is then no way to get rid of the icon is frustrating. I also had issues with it changing colors while driving. I have seen it blue, orange and red and it also effect the frequency of the direction-indicator light. Today my cam stopped working. Screen with spinning circle when in reverse. Soft reboot - hard reboot - no effect.

These typical issues (from reading various forums) should clearly be reset at i.e. a hard reboot. Is that to much to ask ?
Compared to how neat most of the other stuff works, I see these bugs seriously damaging the reputation of this car since they both are related to driving and safety.

 

[ShawnA]

Hi @Morlor ,

Welcome to TMC!!!

Normally for me when I connect the trailer - Trailer Mode engages automatically... Blue light on...
That's the easy part.

When I disconnect it the results are varied.
Usually after disconnecting the yellow/orange light is lighted
for the drive after it is disconnected.

After turning the car off, on the next drive the light is out...

There have been various reports of a failed trailer connector controllers.
You may need to visit the Service Center...

As a last resort is the "Change the wheels reboot."
This fixes a wide variety of problems.
Under Service> Change Wheel configuration
Change it to anything other than what it is now... Confirm and let the car reboot.
Then change it back to your correct wheel configuration
and let it reboot again...

Hopefully this will clear the trailer mode.

With your turn signal problem there may be something more complex
going on.

Good luck,

Shawn