The mystery of the open door

[mkinsocal]

Ok - first time posting, but you all are such a wealth of knowledge, I know for certain someone will step up and solve this.

Mystery Summary:
Drove to work this morning, parked, worked, got in car to go to lunch, put in reverse and warning "Car door open." Huh? Opened and closed door again, since I was clearly just too weak to close it the first time, put in reverse "Car door open". Got out of car and .........front passenger door was open. (Mysterious music plays now). What the funk?

Facts:
Left for work at 8:24. No warning of door open. No Passenger
Parked at work and exited vehicle through the driver's door -- the door I usually use when exiting. Occasionally will role down window and exit Dukes of Hazzard style, but only when I really want to impress people.
Never opened / closed the passenger door in question
Walked away from car, trusting this fine piece of engineering would sense my lack of presence and retract handles.
The door was not wide open, but was not flush with car either.
Nothing of value taken, which primarily consisted of facial tissues (used and new), gum / candy wrappers from kids, oh and my son's tooth which he took out yesterday and thought he would just leave on the back seat. Amazingly, all of that remained in the car untouched
Called Tesla Support - they state logs show no alarm, etc. Only thing that showed was the Door Open warning.

Possibilities:
Door was never fully closed so when I closed my door at lunch time, it forced the passenger door open (would have expected door open warning on way to work??)
Someone was hiding in the bushes waiting for the 5 seconds when I walked away before handles retracted (however, as mentioned previously, my son's tooth was not stolen)
Door magically just opened?
Or maybe my ego is so large it just forced it open....

Anyway, just wondering if anyone has had issues with doors just opening. No clue, but it actually does worry me a bit. Will probably just start locking car w/ the fob rather than just walking away, since in the back of my mind I always wonder if it locked. Yes, this is all that's happening in my mind.

First person to solve the mystery wins a prize. Timer starts...……..now!

 

[Tommy Bahama]

Had a similar issue. Problem was a sticky door handle. Someone would open the door, the force of pulling on the handle would put it slightly out of alignment. The handle then would not be able to retract. The next time the handles would auto-present the extended handle would trip the mechanism and slightly pop the door open. Quick visit from a ranger to align the handle fixed the problem.

I suggest pulling firmly on the door handle in question to open, then closing the door. Watch to see if the handle retracts or gets stuck in the out position.

 

[Rbcnr]

Faulty door handle due to microswitch failure, easily replaced at service center or mobile repair.

 

[Benjanos]

The Tooth Fairy has got something to do with this, I am sure.....

 

[JasJ]

Happened to my MS last year on the passenger rear door. You need the door serviced - either adjustment or replacement handle mechanism by the SC. It will keep happening and while it usually unlatches when you get in, it sometimes will do it when you park and then the car NEVER ever locks. In my case, the door was hypersensitive to the opening force needed compared to the other doors on the car. Compare the 'pull' force needed to open your door, I bet it is lighter than the other three doors.

 

[mkinsocal]

Boom! Look at that ya'll In less than 30 minutes, mystery solved. Tommy B - you win. After locking and unlocking car multiple times (took about 10 minutes, but fun time had by all), the passenger door just popped open after the handles presented. OK, that I NEVER would have guessed. Ever. But thank you!

Rbcnr (you need a vowel, BTW), is the microswitch the same thing to which Mr Bahama suggests or is that another problem I'll need to worry about in the future?

And Benjanos, I'm not totally ruling out your answer, as she may be still be opening the door -- especially now that I've seen the door just open by itself. For those who have not witnessed - it is freaky.

 

[Benjanos]

Massive congrats to "Tommy da B Man"!

mkinsocalI quote "First person to solve the mystery wins a prize". Dude whats the prize and do you intend to offer more prizes going forward?

 

[mkinsocal]

Oh yes, the prize. His choice of an official Tesla Detective Badge, which he may wear at all times, or a Detective decal to be placed on bumper -- will be no more tacky than state issued carpool sticker. Plus, he gets my eternal gratitude. All of these are priceless (or is it worthless? I forget). But please do not let this be a disincentive to participate in future mystery challenges, as there will likely be more. Prizes may become **even** more valuable.

 

[Benjanos]

OK, man those are pretty awesome prizes. Given this new prize information, I will continue to help you going forward BUT I still think you need to differentiate the mechnatural and the supernatural and award prizes on both counts.

I don't have a referral code, but if I did I would now ask you 'are you thinking of a new car'.

Over and out.

 

[JPP]

What year/month is your S? Those of us with earlier builds have experienced the full gamut of exterior door handle failures:

Out of adjustment (microswitch) so when handle extends, door pops open.
Handle not working--broken wire.
Handle not extending/light on-pivot gear failure.
Handle not extending-gear on motor shaft fractured (...very rare).

Newer builds have newer revisions of door handles with declining failure rates.

What did I miss??

 

[iamhtoo]

happened to me a few weeks ago. If you are handy, you can remove that door handle part and adjust the screw that press the door handle microswitch. quite easy actually.

 

[mkinsocal]

OK - Tommy B gets badge and Benjanos the impossible to remove decal (although why would u want to remove it, ever?)

It's a March 2016 MS. First handle issue I've experienced, but good to hear about the possibilities. So I'll read up more about this, but the microswitch is responsible for the adjustment, or it just triggers the door to open when the handle extends to a certain point?

Yes, fairly handy, but also in warranty so will let them mess with it, but will also read up on how to do it once out of warranty.

Thanks again, really!

 

[JPP]

OK - Tommy B gets badge and Benjanos the impossible to remove decal (although why would u want to remove it, ever?)

It's a March 2016 MS. First handle issue I've experienced, but good to hear about the possibilities. So I'll read up more about this, but the microswitch is responsible for the adjustment, or it just triggers the door to open when the handle extends to a certain point?

Yes, fairly handy, but also in warranty so will let them mess with it, but will also read up on how to do it once out of warranty.

Thanks again, really!

Microswitch is what triggers the latch...when you pull the extended handle out just that little bit more.

I have seen the service techs pull the door handles--not all that easy maneuvering it out from the door after removing the door card, window trim, etc....if you are under warranty, let the ranger just come and fix it for you.

 

[iamhtoo]

Here for your reference. If it is self-opening, microswitch is still good, you just need to adjust the screw to the height that it doesn't push the microswitch while motor is pushing the handle to self-present.