The dreaded "door handle won't present."

[DC Doc]

Hopefully this DYI is helpful when the rear door handle will not present. It is very common for the white wire on the microswitch to break.

 

[YellowSpringer]

I have a slightly different experience with failed door handles. Both rear handles on my 2013 S became intermittent within a month of each other before eventually failing to present. When I removed them from the doors I expected to find the usual suspects (broken micro-switch wires and/or gears) but my problem was neither. Not only had the connectors to the motor gone bad (they looked perfectly fine but measured open), even after bypassing them the motors still wouldn't turn due to the radial brush springs inside the motors being rusted in half.

Before you jump to the conclusion that faulty window seals had allowed water to drip in, I should add that the damage wasn't visible before I broke the shrink boot seals and removed the end caps. I can only assume that a batch of motors were exposed to water somewhere on the way to Fremont and it took 5+ years for them to fail. The odds against the springs and connectors going bad at the same time has to be astronomical but that they did - on both sides!

I'm a retired engineer with experience repairing all sorts of things so, other than finding only one 1 spring in my collection small enough for the job and having to buy a half-dozen tumbler springs from a locksmith (and cutting the plastic from a spray-paint cap down to size to use as insulators) the repairs weren't terrible - but they weren't exactly easy. if you've never re-assembled a miniature brush style DC motor before (doing so requires drilling tiny holes thru the plastic ends to insert straight-pin sized wires to hold the brushes back) you may not want to do it the way I did.

I snapped a few pictures, and can upload them if there's any interest, but chances of anyone else having my exact problem is probably about as poor as anyone else wanting to tackle the job instead of just buying a used door handle or having them replaced by their local service center. Fingers and toes are now crossed in hopes that the front handle motors are from a different batch!

Ron in Ohio

 

[eteyemd]

Just had this happen. Currently leasing so still under warranty. It happened Monday morning and they were at my house fixing it for me Thursday morning. I'm 3+ hours away from service center so ranger service took care of it. I've had 3 issues over 3 years and their responsiveness and service have been the best I've ever had for any product. I know this isn't the case for everyone but for me its been fantastic.

 

[EVTuning]

I have upgraded both the microswitch/harness and the "paddle gear". I also have a complete rebuilt kit with hardware available for anyone looking to DIY repair their handle. Also happy to help walk people through how to diagnose what failed and how to decipher which door handle revision you have.

Here's a link to the rebuild kit and individual pieces. Door Handle

 

[Volans]

Here's one more way the door handle unit can fail and not present. First some background. Model S 85 delivered March 2013. Bought used in March 2017 just out of warranty. Right rear door handle assembly replaced at service center July 2017 and I kept the old unit sans paddle gear. Common paddle gear failure.

The paddle gear problem is well known and I have been able to fix it with a new paddle gear from my local Tesla service center May 2018 (left side rear.) Within a couple months of that fix the left rear door handle again failed to present. Upon removal I found the gear on the motor that drives the paddle gear had cracked along its entire length, the paddle gear was intact. I had the old door handle unit from the other side that had been replaced last year so pulled the gear off the old motor and slid it onto the motor from the left side. (OK, did need a little prying to remove and then tapped on with a hammer. The broken gear made a good tool to tap it on the last quarter inch.) Note that these motors turn opposite directions - the left and right units are mirror copies of each other so putting a right side motor on the left side doesn't work.

Unlike the paddle gear, the drive gear alone is not a part that Tesla will provide. I checked. I am posting this as an additional failure mode, but one that involves failure to present the handle. Oddly, the crack is along the thickest part of the gear that aligns with the flat on the motor shaft.

 

[robby]

Wow, haven't seen that one before. It's crazy how much force these pieces are absorbing given their function.

 

[EVTuning]

Here's one more way the door handle unit can fail and not present. First some background. Model S 85 delivered March 2013. Bought used in March 2017 just out of warranty. Right rear door handle assembly replaced at service center July 2017 and I kept the old unit sans paddle gear. Common paddle gear failure.

The paddle gear problem is well known and I have been able to fix it with a new paddle gear from my local Tesla service center May 2018 (left side rear.) Within a couple months of that fix the left rear door handle again failed to present. Upon removal I found the gear on the motor that drives the paddle gear had cracked along its entire length, the paddle gear was intact. I had the old door handle unit from the other side that had been replaced last year so pulled the gear off the old motor and slid it onto the motor from the left side. (OK, did need a little prying to remove and then tapped on with a hammer. The broken gear made a good tool to tap it on the last quarter inch.) Note that these motors turn opposite directions - the left and right units are mirror copies of each other so putting a right side motor on the left side doesn't work.

Unlike the paddle gear, the drive gear alone is not a part that Tesla will provide. I checked. I am posting this as an additional failure mode, but one that involves failure to present the handle. Oddly, the crack is along the thickest part of the gear that aligns with the flat on the motor shaft.

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I started seeing an uptick in this as well. I have you covered with a replacement gear now. Replacement door handle motor gear

 

[Cape Coddess]

2016 MS 90d
Just had the driver side handle become unresponsive. Already had a Ranger appointment in Fort Lauderdale for Wednesday due to navigation system failure. Hopefully they'll throw this in at the same time as I added it on to the service needed in the app. Meanwhile I'm going to try plastic pry and string trick. It's embarrassing being in a parking lot and not being able to get in the car with people watching.

 

[Cape Coddess]

Pancake flipper and a strip of velcro works great.

 

[jotarou1]

I don’t think I saw a comparison of original (probably revision A) compared to revision B. Below are some pics. I can also confirm that the new paddle gear does stick to a magnet.