While closing the driver's door, I heard a weird clanging noise which caused my heart to sink and my wallet to feel slightly lighter. I turned around to investigate and immediately noticed the door handle was flush with the body while the other door handles were still extended.
I went home to disassemble the door and diagnose. All the microswitches tested good using a continuity test on a standard multimeter. The pivot gear was toast though. My first indicator of this was when it fell out as I was pulling the handle out of the door.
So my three choices are:
- Buy a new one - part # 1030273-S0-A ($734 plus tax and the cost for the 3 cheap spacers that it comes with)
- Buy a used one on eBay for $250-$300 and roll the dice on how long a used one will last before suffering another pivot gear failure
- Reach out to the awesome community here and check if anyone has an old broken door handle that I can buy off of you (I'd be happy to buy just the gear if you feel like disassembling the handle and sending the gear alone)
Thanks fellow Tesla owners! Keeping my fingers crossed...
I went home to disassemble the door and diagnose. All the microswitches tested good using a continuity test on a standard multimeter. The pivot gear was toast though. My first indicator of this was when it fell out as I was pulling the handle out of the door.
So my three choices are:
- Buy a new one - part # 1030273-S0-A ($734 plus tax and the cost for the 3 cheap spacers that it comes with)
- Buy a used one on eBay for $250-$300 and roll the dice on how long a used one will last before suffering another pivot gear failure
- Reach out to the awesome community here and check if anyone has an old broken door handle that I can buy off of you (I'd be happy to buy just the gear if you feel like disassembling the handle and sending the gear alone)
Thanks fellow Tesla owners! Keeping my fingers crossed...