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Tesla Dash Cam Install and Now Tesla wants $420 to UnDoIt
- Thread starter dratifk
- Start date
jjh1234
Member
It seems like Tesla service will try to shift the blame to anything you've changed on your car when there's a problem. I had MetroMile insurance and it required plugging their dongle into the OBDII port. I started having "Power Reduced" on my MS75D and they blamed the dongle immediately. After multiple service visits and temporarily removing the dongle, they finally found it was a bad wiring harness between the accelerator pedal and the rear motor. Moral of the story is be ready to fight Tesla when you have a problem with a car that's not 100% stock.
The no sound or no bass issue has been around for 6 months. It’s random and comes and goes. You should not have even brought it in for that. Could be hardware but wait until there is a long term resolution.
I tapped the rear amp for radar detector power. When I had to have rear glass repaired, I completely removed it to avoid issues like this. They probably would have blamed the glass cracked on the wire. This is not just Tesla that claims foul on any 3rd party connection or devices. They have no idea what these devices can do to the car. Can’t really blame them. They have enough variables to deal with the car alone.
If you tapped the battery on an iPhone do think Apple would honor your warranty on a bad speaker? Doubt it.
I would not replace the harness and hope they didn’t put a note on your account. I can almost guarantee you will have more problems if they start replacing wiring harnesses.
I tapped the rear amp for radar detector power. When I had to have rear glass repaired, I completely removed it to avoid issues like this. They probably would have blamed the glass cracked on the wire. This is not just Tesla that claims foul on any 3rd party connection or devices. They have no idea what these devices can do to the car. Can’t really blame them. They have enough variables to deal with the car alone.
If you tapped the battery on an iPhone do think Apple would honor your warranty on a bad speaker? Doubt it.
I would not replace the harness and hope they didn’t put a note on your account. I can almost guarantee you will have more problems if they start replacing wiring harnesses.
Bill Foster
I'm going home!
As of now, I have not paid for anything. I had approved the harness change and module change but only cause they had my car and it was more or less held hostage. Since they didn't have those parts in stock they gave me the car back. !st thing I did was remove the T taps and undo the connection to the overhead module. Then I installed my Radar and Dash CAm using a Cigaerret lighter plug using the 12 V power wires to the Center Console Cigarette Lighter. I hope this is ok as we have to get power from somewhere. The sound issue has not returned. The only way I'll have them replace the harness and module is if the sound issue returns otherwise I'll refuse to take the car in when they get the parts in. On a side note my actual dash was not even - not sure if anyone has noted this but besides all the misaligned panels the dash was messed up to it was hitting the right door and the gap on the left side was big. They tried to adjust that but barely had any change when I go the car. They did forget to reinstall all the clips under the passenger side dash cover. Now I have to bug them to get me those clips
There is nothing special about 12V circuits in a Tesla!
Or any other EV, for that matter.
I've T-tapped 12V in my TM3 with zero side effects.
As I had previously done in BMWs, Hondas, MINIs, and MBs.
None of the above wiring arrangements had any negative warranty impacts, or push-backs from those dealers.
Then again, all of the above brands managed to deliver a far more competent dealership service experience then Tesla does.
It does not.
There is zero evidence that it does anything to the car.
The only data point we have is that a clueless and incompetent Tesla service rep tried to take <dratifk> for a ride blaming lack of sound (a known recurring Tesla malady) on his 12V power tap.
a
Glamisduner
Active Member
I have read tons of posts warning not to use a direct 12v connection to the battery. I guess some people get away with it, but the draw causes errors for other people.
arcus
Active Member
It is true, it's highly unlikely tapping 12V will cause any issues. It does not matter to apply logic. The problem is convincing every technician that might touch your car that it's not a problem.
My Jeep has a standard plug for plugging in an Electric Brake Controller under the dash. The receptacle under the dash is basically wired into the Trailer Hitch receptacle. Brake controller gets power from the trailer hitch wiring and sends proportional power to a brake lead on the trailer hitch to operate the brakes on the trailer. It's a very common standard. Most trailers with electric brakes and trailering vehicles have a receptacle for it. My Jeep threw an ABS error code (like a bad ABS sensor, not while a trailer was even hooked up). Jeep refused to work on it because I had a non Mopar Brake Controller plugged in. Mopar OEM's the cheapest junkiest brake controller made. I bought one of the best most common ones folks recommend. Boy, did I lose it with this tech. I now remove the brake controller every time I bring it in for service. Luckily that isn't often.
However, one thing to be careful of is tapping anything that is "always on" in the Tesla because it could confuse the BMS that periodically charges the 12V. Car might not sleep correctly or not charge the 12V correctly or something. One person on the forum hooked directly to the battery for a dashcam. The battery went bad and Tesla replaced it (on good faith for free) and removed the dashcam connection. And told the customer don't hook it up again if you want things covered.
There is no way the harness is causing the sound to not work. Even if you cut the wire or shorted it and blew the fuse it's not gonna stop the sound from "temporarily" working.
Search the forum for the sound loss issue. And any other issue you see before letting service at it. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches. I find this true for ANY car.
It has nothing to do with the release itself. This has been happening to folks since November. Around when V9 came out.
Random events since V9 include:
Backup camera long lag.
Backup camera complete failure.
Reboots while driving.
Reboots when you first start up.
Total loss of sound (blinkers, everything).
Loss of bass and rear speakers.
Soft Reboots, Hard Reboots or Power down usually recover from the problem most of the time.
In some cases it does not and you just have to wait and it will fix itself, usually not more than a day.
Updates in general seem to aggravate the random issues being more prominent or not from one release to the next.
I've been lucky I've only had the camera issues, including it being gone for a day. But there have been numerous reports on the other issues coming and going like the wind. It is frustrating that they have not been addressed and appear to be software bugs.
If you've been lucky to never have one of the issues and you update and it's broken, it looks like that specific release broke it. It's not that release, it's just your turn to have that issue.
People need to understand the 12V system in the M3 is not like those in Jeeps. Their hardware can constantly monitor current draw and reports the values to the software stack. Without knowing exactly what the software defined limits and checks are, you don’t know whether or not adding current with adversely affect the system. People are too used to thinking the 12V system in the model 3 is pretty independent like in every other car. It’s not. Blanket statements that tapping the 12V lines should/will not affect anything else are false.
The 12V power port is the only source where you can assume you’re safe to tap that I’m aware of.
Um did you read my post. I suspect you stopped half way.
1) I didn't compare Jeep to Tesla at all. I was just giving an example that in ANY car for ANY reason a service tech may reject warranty work for ANY 3rd party gadget. Period. Doesn't matter who installed it, or if it's logically safe. Or even tapping a cigarette lighter circuit. It's not just Tesla.
2) I said in my post you have to be careful with a Tesla for Exactly the reasons you wrote.
3) I did say tapping 12V where he did WILL NOT cause his known loss of audio issue. And since it is constant, #2 applies.
4) I also disagree the 12V power port is the only safe source. Safe according to whom? I think a Tech might reject you tapping ANY wire on any circuit including the power port. And I think it's just as safe tapping some other switched circuits (with low watt stuff DashCam/RD). They are not on when the car is "off". But you may still have a tech reject working on it.
5) The OP's car did not fault (audio loss) because of what he did.
6) The OP wanted constant power. As I stated, before you did, any constant power tap may cause problems in a Tesla. If you want to take that chance that's up to the owner. But I would remove/hide it when getting service on anything. I choice the rear amp (switched) circuit because it was very easy to conceal. To, me the rear amp was "Safer" because it's easier to hide, "safer" for my wallet. Wouldn't you know it, my first service is the rear window where the wire runs right along it. I yanked it out before showing them the crack. Constant power tap can cause problems in other vehicles beside Tesla as well.
You need to be careful on warranty work when you have any 3rd party accessories hooked up to the 12v. Last time we took our MX in to fix an auto present problem, the first thing the supervisor said was "If you have anything hook up to the 12v, there will be a charge for our technician to look at it, and we will not do any warranty work on your vehicle." Since I don't have anything hooked up, I told them to go ahead with it.
Absolutely correct. You have no way of knowing if a 12 v tap will cause problems. EVERYTHING in a Tesla is monitored. The 12 v socket is the only safe place.
srredbeard
Blue MS 75D and Black M3
Yep, the built in is nice but not great. I witnessed an event today that I would have liked to have saved but I didn't think of it until about an hour later, too late already deleted. With my Blackvue that isn't an issue, with my memory card i save about 3 days of video.
All modern cars have BMS monitoring their 12V battery, and rate of charge/dis-charge.
Some BMWs even use Lithium Ion 12V batteries these days.
Tesla's 12V batteries are still old fashioned lead-aced type.
There is nothing unique, or special, about Tesla's 12V wiring and charging that I am aware of.
If you know different, please share the data points.
Do you have any data that substantiates this claim?
Or are you just spreading FUD?
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