Symptoms of ? Feel like something is about to happen....

[PaulR]

My S85 is about 10 months old. No major problems (other than replacing a charge port door shortly after I took delivery last March).

Strange things just started happening:

1) Stopped at parking pay station window, put into park to pay and when I tied to put it into drive the screen said "key not present" (or something like that). After 2 frustrating minutes, it decided to allow me to go from Park to Drive. Thought maybe the battery in the key was bad, but I had just replaced batteries in both keys a month before, proactively.

2) Had a BlackVue Dash cam installed a couple of days ago. Utilized the 12v inside the microphone compartment to power it. They had the car a few days and charged it to my normal 80%. Camera works well (both front and back). They claimed that they did nothing to the electrical system of the car other than tap that unused 12v source in the microphone compartment. The front camera is right under the rear view mirror just as many have placed it. The coax to the rear camera was run to the back window.

BUT, I noticed several other things too:

3) The GPS in the car is stationary on the Google map on the large screen, but in the wrong place. Shows the car at a location 10 miles or more away from me, and nowhere near the shop that did the work. Thought maybe it was a temporary glitch. Re-booted both screens.... to no effect. Thought if I drive for a while it might just re-orient itself. It has not moved after 3 days. Because of this I cannot use the GPS as it always thinks the starting point is as displayed on the map, but, of course, I am not there.

4) The Tesla app on my phone also shows that same incorrect location. Confirmed this also with Visible Tesla.

5) Noticed that when I try to plug in the HPWC at home, the charge port door doesn't open unless I hold the charger cable near the rear window antenna. For the past few months it has always opened quickly and without having to do that.

6) Noticed that when I approach the car the handles don't immediately present as they had done in the recent past. They present, but just not as quickly.

I have not had a chance to call the local service center yet. Just wondering if all this might be symptoms of impending 12volt battery failure?

 

[JPP]

Lots of issues. I would have said that your fob is having problems. Are you keeping your fob away from other metal (key chain, coins in your pockets, purse, cell phone)? I have intermittent issues in this regard. There are many possible ways for interference to rear its head. Any new cell towers nearby? Neighbors with new drones, radios, CB, microwave oven, WiFi etc?
Blackvue draws very little power. I have dual cam versions in both cars with no issues.
GPS--I have had GPS problems in my S85 necessitating an antenna replacement. Symptoms similar to yours.
Charge port door issues--maybe interference. Same as above--any sources of interference.

I really doubt that this is a 12V issue. However, maybe call Service and have them pull the logs and see if your 12V is out of spec.

 

[jerry33]

Fob battery is the first thing to change.

 

[PaulR]

Yep, you both may be onto something.... I keep a key for my BMW X5 (it's a massive key!) in the same pocket and will move it to the other pocket to see if it makes a difference. I went out to dinner tonight and though I have not yet moved the key to the other pocket, the handles presented themselves o.k. and the charge port door opened as it should when I got back home.

I will move the key to the other pocket for sure, and though I replaced the batteries on both of the keys a couple of months ago, I will do it again.

If there is interference I believe it would be from something inside the car as I noticed the frozen Google GPS problem everywhere I have been for the past few days. I am a ham operator and none of that equipment has been a problem as far as I can tell.

The thing I am most confused about is the frozen Google GPS on the main screen. I was wondering if the front dash cam might be interfering with the car's GPS, so I unplugged the camera and have taken it out of the car to see if that makes a difference.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[mspohr]

My S85 is about 10 months old. No major problems (other than replacing a charge port door shortly after I took delivery last March).

Strange things just started happening:

1) Stopped at parking pay station window, put into park to pay and when I tied to put it into drive the screen said "key not present" (or something like that). After 2 frustrating minutes, it decided to allow me to go from Park to Drive. Thought maybe the battery in the key was bad, but I had just replaced batteries in both keys a month before, proactively.

2) Had a BlackVue Dash cam installed a couple of days ago. Utilized the 12v inside the microphone compartment to power it. They had the car a few days and charged it to my normal 80%. Camera works well (both front and back). They claimed that they did nothing to the electrical system of the car other than tap that unused 12v source in the microphone compartment. The front camera is right under the rear view mirror just as many have placed it. The coax to the rear camera was run to the back window.

BUT, I noticed several other things too:

3) The GPS in the car is stationary on the Google map on the large screen, but in the wrong place. Shows the car at a location 10 miles or more away from me, and nowhere near the shop that did the work. Thought maybe it was a temporary glitch. Re-booted both screens.... to no effect. Thought if I drive for a while it might just re-orient itself. It has not moved after 3 days. Because of this I cannot use the GPS as it always thinks the starting point is as displayed on the map, but, of course, I am not there.

4) The Tesla app on my phone also shows that same incorrect location. Confirmed this also with Visible Tesla.

5) Noticed that when I try to plug in the HPWC at home, the charge port door doesn't open unless I hold the charger cable near the rear window antenna. For the past few months it has always opened quickly and without having to do that.

6) Noticed that when I approach the car the handles don't immediately present as they had done in the recent past. They present, but just not as quickly.

I have not had a chance to call the local service center yet. Just wondering if all this might be symptoms of impending 12volt battery failure?

These problems all have a common thread. The GPS, Fob, charge port door all use radio frequencies to act. If all of these were working fine before the camera install, I would suspect that the front/back camera installation is causing problems. This could be by interference (cameras generate radio frequencies which can feedback through the 12v wiring or directly from the cameras and connections. It could also be that the installers disturbed some of the antenna wiring causing poor connections or exposing them to interference.
You could try disconnecting the power to the cameras (there should be a fuse) and see if that helps. However, if the Tesla antenna wires were disturbed, that may not make a difference.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

If all of these issues started after your dash cam installation, I think you know the source of the problem.

 

[PaulR]

If all of these issues started after your dash cam installation, I think you know the source of the problem.

Actually I was aware that could possibly be the problem, but based on so many threads in this forum and other Tesla oriented forums where the discussion is about their success installing this particular camera, it was easy to rationalize that I had just done what so many others had done successfully.

Turns out after searching the web and some experimenting I realized that the dash cam coaxial cable which ties the front and rear cameras together is poorly shielded and has the reputation of giving off EMI. The camera works fine, but when that cable is within an inch or so of the rear view mirror (or the black plastic housing above the mirror) it interferes with the GPS. Move the wires away an inch or so from that housing and the problem goes away.

mspohr stuck a chord by pinpointing the problem as an antenna problem. I am going to try putting ferrite clamps on the ends of the cable and see if that help also.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Jhall118]

It's super easy to test whether it's the camera. Just unplug it temporarily. The cord feeds into the camera unit itself. Not a big deal to unplug it.

 

[Andyw2100]

Actually I was aware that could possibly be the problem, but based on so many threads in this forum and other Tesla oriented forums where the discussion is about their success installing this particular camera, it was easy to rationalize that I had just done what so many others had done successfully.

Turns out after searching the web and some experimenting I realized that the dash cam coaxial cable which ties the front and rear cameras together is poorly shielded and has the reputation of giving off EMI. The camera works fine, but when that cable is within an inch or so of the rear view mirror (or the black plastic housing above the mirror) it interferes with the GPS. Move the wires away an inch or so from that housing and the problem goes away.

mspohr stuck a chord by pinpointing the problem as an antenna problem. I am going to try putting ferrite clamps on the ends of the cable and see if that help also.

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm pretty sure what you are referring to applies to earlier versions of the cable. Unless I'm mistaken, Blackvue made significant improvements to the cable some time back.

On the other hand, if your installers took shortcuts, and actually cut the coaxial cable, to route it more easily, I think that could definitely be causing your problems. I believe when researching my installation I read of some installer who had done that, causing problems for their client.

 

[PaulR]

Andyw2100,

Right on! Turns out that the installer did, indeed, cut the cable in two places and soldered it and covered the splice with shrink wrap (but not insulation) .

I ordered and replaced the cable with a new style "better insulated" cable without splices and "voila" the problem disappeared. The intermittent key fob and charge port door problems seem also to have normalized. I tested the new cable without trying to hide it so only after I get the installer to change out the cable will I know for sure. Thanks.

 

[Andyw2100]

Andyw2100,

Right on! Turns out that the installer did, indeed, cut the cable in two places and soldered it and covered the splice with shrink wrap (but not insulation) .

I ordered and replaced the cable with a new style "better insulated" cable without splices and "voila" the problem disappeared. The intermittent key fob and charge port door problems seem also to have normalized. I tested the new cable without trying to hide it so only after I get the installer to change out the cable will I know for sure. Thanks.

Happy to have been able to help!