Touchscreen malfunctioning on long trips

[eab6287]

Recently took a trip from NYC to NC, about 9 hours, and on the way back the touchscreen malfunctioned. At first, it was just unresponsive but then it began registering my touches in random areas of the screen, with the map rotating wildly, zooming in and out on its own, audio blasting, and even Navigate on Autopilot being activated due to one of these 'phantom touches'. I stopped and did the steering wheel button reset, which stopped the erratic behavior, but the touchscreen was still less responsive than usual for about another hour before fixing itself.

This has only happened one other time to me, about 6 months ago, and it was also on a long road trip. Both times it really freaked out my husband even though I know the computer governing the car's critical driving functions is totally separate from the one controlling the display. It was particularly concerning to have NavOnAP activate (and initiate a lane change) without any user input to do so.

Is this a known issue (maybe a display part overheating due to the length of the drive and/or warm weather)? I scheduled a service appointment for about 2 weeks from now and would like to be prepared if they just tell me to do another soft reset since the issue is not replicable on demand (although I do have a video of the behavior).

Thanks!

 

[eab6287]

Adding videos:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Temiatwork]

Good you already have an appointment. Make more video clips and show it to them, that is proof enough to ask for a replacement screen.

 

[ngogas]

Let us know what SC says.

 

[Tam]

...registering my touches in random areas of the screen...

I heard of oversensitive Model 3 screen that results in phantom touches but I am not sure whether that's common or not.

 

[eab6287]

Updating this after quite a while - this instance was a year and a half ago; once I had the appointment the SC did indeed replace the full display without any trouble and that seemed to fix the issue, including on several similar long road trips.

This past weekend, we did another road trip and the exact same issue occurred again! I guess I need to have the display replaced a second time? I noticed that the display was quite warm to the touch as well (despite the cold weather on the east coast). Anyone else having this repeated issue? Seems like some kind of design defect...

I'm concerned that after the warranty expires this could be a pricey issue.

 

[nvx1977]

I recall hearing a handful of phantom touch issues due to heat when Model 3 was ramping up during spring of 2018. Here's an example:
Screen Goes Berserk (Phantom Touches)

Some of the short sellers even picked up on the forum reports and suggested this issue was going to be widespread and will require recalls. Clearly that didn't come to pass. I would ask the service center if there could be another underlying cause for your screen woes, given that the replacement screen developed the same issue.

FWIW, I have a Feb 2018 build and never had this issue.

 

[CDN-Build]

Just to eliminate this as a source; if you’ve cleaned your screen, you may not know that some disinfectants (especially alcohol based) will cause the screen to act exactly as you’ve described.
Does’t last too long, but this is a possible source.

 

[eab6287]

Just to eliminate this as a source; if you’ve cleaned your screen, you may not know that some disinfectants (especially alcohol based) will cause the screen to act exactly as you’ve described.
Does’t last too long, but this is a possible source.

Haven't used anything other than just the cleaning cloth thankfully!

 

[eab6287]

Just dropped off for service so will see what they do; the employee handling the drop off said it's not a common issue at all FWIW but seems like pretty bad luck to have the same issue happen twice.

 

[Zirak]

You should probably try replacing the factory screen protector with a new tempered glass one. That seems to do the trick as well. (At least for me).

 

[eab6287]

Interestingly, the service center is stating that the phantom touches are being caused by...my jump drive for sentry/dashcam being too high capacity (it’s 256gb). Apparently they recommend 128gb max or, optimally, 64gb. Has anyone ever heard this storage size recommendation? Any thoughts as to whether this could possibly make sense? He gave an explanation that somehow having larger flash storage is causing the computer to work harder, leading to the phantom touch issue....seems very odd to me.

 

[run-the-joules]

You should probably try replacing the factory screen protector with a new tempered glass one. That seems to do the trick as well. (At least for me).

The factory plastic film isn't meant to be left on during usage, FYI

 

[run-the-joules]

Interestingly, the service center is stating that the phantom touches are being caused by...my jump drive for sentry/dashcam being too high capacity (it’s 256gb). Apparently they recommend 128gb max or, optimally, 64gb. Has anyone ever heard this storage size recommendation? Any thoughts as to whether this could possibly make sense? He gave an explanation that somehow having larger flash storage is causing the computer to work harder, leading to the phantom touch issue....seems very odd to me.

That's ridiculous. No.

 

[Zirak]

The factory plastic film isn't meant to be left on during usage, FYI

Interesting, didn't know that. Although, I had the factory film removed and got it replaced with new film when I had my car wrapped with PPF few years back... though that was also giving me weird touch screen issues, so just recently I replaced it with tempered glass and has been working fine since.