The Open Source Tesla Service Manual

[robby]

I started a little project tonight -- a public domain Tesla Service Manual. The idea was born out of two realizations:

1. I've found lots of great DIY tips for issues I've had (mostly on TMC, but also on reddit, skie.net, and the Comma.ai slack channel), but they're generally scattered and lack the helpful, self-referential steps of an official manual (e.g. having "remove door panel" described once in detail rather than briefly in seventeen places where a door panel must be removed).
2. Given the pace at which Tesla makes hardware changes, I'm skeptical that a publisher like Haynes will ever deliver a useful manual. I think the tinkerers among us will always will be ahead of them, and it's high time we get all that info in one place so that it's easy to find, sort through, and improve.

It's just a shell of a site right now, but I think there's enough there to convey the idea. If you're a Tesla DIYer or tinkerer, I hope you'll consider contributing.

Unofficial Tesla Service Manual

P.S. I've reached out to some folks to ask if I can include things they've written up; I'll add those things as I receive permission. Thanks to @mmccord and @Xenoilphobe for their contributions and for getting back to me so quickly!

 

[pilotSteve]

Great project! Please keep adding to it. Thank you.

 

[appleguru]

Great idea!

As long as this remains non-commercial, feel free to use anything I’ve posted... here’s a few things that might be helpful:

Have my MS AP2 bumper fascia off...

12V Accessory Circuit connection?

I probably have other photos of my car in pieces that might help somebody, so let me know if you need anything!

(Consider my content covered by CC BY-NC)

 

[Takumi]

How to get this stickied?

 

[mmmk]

Don't forget to Google
site:service.teslamotors.com filetype:PDF - Google Search
"site:service.teslamotors.com filetypeDF"

 

[Quick2Judge]

I didn't see a way to upload videos. Is it there/can it be?

 

[deonb]

I didn't see a way to upload videos. Is it there/can it be?

The "Remove Interior Door Panel" post has a Video.

 

[Duffer]

Thank you for starting/maintaining this project.

 

[robby]

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. My hope is that this can become a community project with a lot of third party contributions. I am happy to kickstart it but realistically, I'll never be able to keep up with the amount of info out there by myself.

The current site is written in Markdown/jekyll, but I'm happy to move it to a wiki or some other model if that makes it easier for others to contribute. In the meantime, if anybody here is interested in importing or adding content, please let me know and I can add you as a maintainer on Github.

Great idea!

As long as this remains non-commercial, feel free to use anything I’ve posted... here’s a few things that might be helpful:

Have my MS AP2 bumper fascia off...

12V Accessory Circuit connection?

I probably have other photos of my car in pieces that might help somebody, so let me know if you need anything!

(Consider my content covered by CC BY-NC)

Noted, and thanks!

I didn't see a way to upload videos. Is it there/can it be?

I'd rather not host the videos directly, but if you upload them to something like YouTube, we can embed them.

 

[Krash]

You can include the diagnostic port index and summary details like max power and torque from the performance index. Not exactly repair instructions but likely useful to the same audience.

 

[NerdUno]

@robby If you need a mirror site, just let me know.

 

[MDR SEA]

Here's a good video regarding interior piece removal -

 

[mspohr]

I think it would be good to use will software to make this an easily edited resource. (Like Wikipedia)
It's a bit too complicated for many people to do a GitHub pull, especially for minor edits.
Lots of good wiki software.
Comparison of wiki software - Wikipedia

 

[KenTez]

Great idea Robby! Thank you for starting.

 

[MWMiller]

Great idea - I'm waiting for delivery of my first Tesla (Model S 100D) in March but will bookmark the site and come back to it in the future.

 

[David.85D]

And link / grab all the service bulletins posted onto nhtsa website. Lots of good details hidden in those - photos, part numbers, torque specs, etc.

 

[dogphlap]

Unofficial Tesla Service Manual

A brilliant idea Robby.
Thank you so much for this initiative.

Best regards.

 

[GenSao]

Awesome Idea! I suggest using a Wiki format. Primarily break down items by Model and by common topic. There can even be an area for home charging and the Powerwall.

 

[northWETwa]

I'm definitely not the one to do it, but......would love to see a "Did You Know" section in there! Like.....did you know you can pull up a pic of the developers on your MS screen?.......did you know you can put Santa & his reindeer on your dash at xmas?........did you know you can put a fishtank screensaver on your MS???......ok, so I made the last one up, but you get the idea! Not super "techie" information, but I would have never known about the first two if it hadn't been for reading posts on this forum.

 

[Rotarypower]

I would say this is a great idea! One thing, you guys are all MS owners, hey but Tesla is now shipping their 4th product. So this really needs to be expanded to the other 3 models. I have a roadster, and I think that car, due to the very few produced, would benefit greatly from this project as there are so few owners, the car is really a black box.

Also for the MS, MX, and now the M3, how are you going to delineate versions, as Tesla is making so many updates to these cars that do not correspond to model years. Maybe list the vin and/or production date of the car being used for the info? I think this would be something to consider. You should have a required standard form that has some basic data for every entry (vin, production date, options, etc....)