That very loud and painful "clunk"

[Zextraterrestrial]

I put my new pack #'s on the wiki the day I got my car back.
part # - 1025273-01-B

negative contactor was the culprit in my other pack.

 

[FlasherZ]

I put my new pack #'s on the wiki the day I got my car back.
part # - 1025273-01-B

negative contactor was the culprit in my other pack.

I just added the part # information to the wiki as well, so that we can track differences between remanufactured and new packs, which could theoretically have different revisions between them. For example, rev J remanufactured packs could be equal to rev H new packs, if the process for remanufacturing changes more than the underlying pack. I'd imagine they want to keep them equal to each other but you don't know / can't guarantee.

 

[scaesare]

No clunk, but similar to the other issues reported here: I was accelerating (about 3/4 pedal for 5-10 seconds) when all of the sudden the console beeped at me. All the "drive indicators" went red, and I got a "Needs Service - Pull Over Safely" message. Accelerator pedal dead.

As I was now coasting at speed on an empty 1/4 mile stretch of road to my house, I let it coast while I tried to **** to Neutral and back to Drive, as well as a couple of tries depressing the accelerator. After about 5 seconds of foobling, it came back to life and I drove home.

It so happens that I had a service appointment today. The Service Center is about 40 miles from my house. Not wanting to get stranded, I made sure to apply mild acceleration only, until I got within the last 1/2 mile of the center. I floored it several times to try and re-create the issue, and could not.

Reported it when I brought the car in, and they asked me about time of day when the even occured, so I assume they'll pull logs to take a looksee...

I asked about what happens should I get a replacement pack, knowing it would likely be a re-manufactured one.... letting them know I was being relativity careful by charging to only 60-70% during the week, etc... they asked me what kind of range I was seeing on typical charges, etc...

So.. I await the verdict...

- - - Updated - - -

Aaaaaand, I just got a call from the Service Center....

It turns out there was a logic fault in the pedal module somewhere. Apparently that module is in the drive unit, so they are determining if it's a bad connection, sensor issue, etc...

Perhaps not so coincidentally my drive unit was replaced a few weeks ago...

 

[JRP3]

I tried to **** to Neutral ....

Apparently the nanny software caught a typo :biggrin:

It turns out there was a logic fault in the pedal module somewhere. Apparently that module is in the drive unit, so they are determining if it's a bad connection, sensor issue, etc...

I would guess the pedal itself was a dual hall effect sensor setup that sends a signal by wire to the inverter, which is attached to the motor. The two hall effect sensors send two different signals to the inverter which must agree with each other, to prevent errors and unintended acceleration. If one hall effect sensor fails that should shut down the inverter. A loose connection could mimic that. Or I could be wrong.

 

[scaesare]

Apparently the nanny software caught a typo :biggrin:

I would guess the pedal itself was a dual hall effect sensor setup that sends a signal by wire to the inverter, which is attached to the motor. The two hall effect sensors send two different signals to the inverter which must agree with each other, to prevent errors and unintended acceleration. If one hall effect sensor fails that should shut down the inverter. A loose connection could mimic that. Or I could be wrong.

Hehe, I guess I confused what I SAID with what I DID.

I'd suspect your dual sensor theory is very likely...

 

[JakeP]

Just got the dreaded clunk today, returning from an Easter trip to Carlisle, PA, 200 miles or so. Had just charged at Somerset for maybe 120K miles of range, got the clunk when accelerating to merge onto I-79 about five miles from my house. Car restarted fine and got me back home and into the garage. Unfortunately it went into lockdown mode as the 12V started to drain, and wouldn't let move move it out of the garage and onto the street, to make loading onto the flatbed easier. At least I was able to get it into Tow Mode...gonna be a project to get her onto the flatbed when it arrives as midnight. In retrospect I don't know why I even parked in my garage...but then again, the car was operating normally at the time. I should have moved it as soon as I unloaded, and never turned it off.

My symptoms sound exactly like FlasherZ's original description. My VIN 2547 was a Dec 2012 delivery, with a B battery pack...one of the lowest VINs with a B-pack, if I recall correctly from the spreadsheet. Hopefully service will be able to swap my pack, install Tank Mode, and have her back to me tomorrow evening. They have already assured me I will not be given a 90kW-limited A-pack, but I asked for them to send a pic of the S/N before they installed it. Service responsiveness is of course incredible, though the whole situation is a bit unsettling, as I have not had any real issues for 15,000 miles over fifteen months. Very thankful, however, that we were able to complete our trip uninterrupted. Cannot help but wonder if Supercharging had something to do with it? Though I have Supercharged before without incident, actually charged for roughly the same time at the same stall on Friday, in fact.

 

[MikeL]

. . . 120K miles of range,

Ha! Sure would like to have THAT battery :wink:

Hopefully it will work out in your favor, even if you're limited to a couple hundred miles or so.

 

[jrreno]

JakeP
How far away is your service center? Are they providing a loaner?

 

[JakeP]

Service Center was out of loaners and the tow truck was already dropping off a car near Buffalo, so he is picking mine up on the way back to Columbus, which is four hours from me. Boy, do I wish the Cleveland SC was open, it would be less than half that distance. No worries on the loaner, I work from home and just de-winterized my old Boxster.

 

[JakeP]

Ha! Sure would like to have THAT battery :wink:

Hopefully it will work out in your favor, even if you're limited to a couple hundred miles or so.

Haha, 120K miles...no idea why I typed that! Meant 120 miles, of course.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Ouch, Jake, sorry to hear this. Hope your green beaut will be back and healthy real soon.

 

[Kraken]

Had just charged at Somerset for maybe 120K miles of range

i think you may have over charged the battery. I suggest keeping it under 270 miles next time.

 

[JakeP]

i think you may have over charged the battery. I suggest keeping it under 270 miles next time.

I blame it on the "new" 135MW Supercharger!

- - - Updated - - -

Ouch, Jake, sorry to hear this. Hope your green beaut will be back and healthy real soon.

Thanks G_G, we just loaded her up and sent her off, she'll be at the Columbus Service Center by 5AM!

 

[Kraken]

I blame it on the "new" 135MW Supercharger!

See, now that's how rumors start...

 

[Newscutter]

See, now that's how rumors start...

This is how he did it:

Seriously-- Reading through the thread I don't see anyone with a repeating failure of the main pack, so the question I have is:

Whatever the cause of failure, have new packs (and refurbished ones) had it "engineered out" or is it still Russian roulette?
I'm concerned about wildly throwing off the TCO calculations if this happened out-of-warranty and without any assurance it wouldn't repeat... over and over.

I should probably just stay off these threads while waiting for delivery!

 

[JakeP]

Columbus confirms internal fault in HV battery, replacing and testing. Hopefully no Drive Unit replacement required, and I can keep my blissfully silent motor.

 

[JakeP]

Despite my repeated explanations and requests to ensure that my B battery was not replaced with an A battery, and in fact to send me a picture of the new battery S/N and P/N before the car was returned, my car was sent back this morning with a T12J "A" battery, as a replacement for my T12L "B" battery. And with pen marks on my front seat, and with a 12" crack in the windshield...bad luck all around. Going straight back to Service Center as soon as a new battery is in stock, and I prove the 90KW limitation on the new battery (need to take some miles off to get low enough to need 120KW). Service Center is extremely apologetic and willing to make everything right, which is nice, but I can't help but feel it all could have been prevented. First World Problems, I guess.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Not First World problems at all, Jake. What a mess. These A refurb packs are floating around at every service center, it seems. Beware the clunk!

 

[JakeP]

Yeah it is definitely a bummer, Beware the Clunk, indeed! I should add that Service Center is waiting to hear back from Engineering on the battery, I assume to confirm or deny that this is a 90KW limited pack, but also perhaps whether or not they will give me a different pack. I am not thrilled about getting a refurb at all, but at the very least I would like a refurbed "B" or better...that is what was in my car when I bought it.

 

[apacheguy]

These A refurb packs are floating around at every service center, it seems. Beware the clunk!

I don't think that's a coincidence at all. It's an indication of the relatively high failure rate of A packs.

Sorry to hear about your service experience, JakeP. Hope they fix your MS all up.