Towing vehicle flashing up on rear sensor....

[Speedynelson]

Hi there, can anyone tell me if Tesla are looking at turning off the rear sensor when towing? For as soon as i hitch anything up to my MYP the sreen flickers showing another vehicle close up behind me which is obviously the item im towing!!

It would not be too bad if it were constantly showing on the screen but its not and flickers sometimes randomly which can be very off putting when driving as i can see it out of the corner of my eye!!

Lets hope its a simple software fix on a future update or does anyone have a workaround till that happens?

 

[QtownTaxiGreg]

Sounds to me like a bad tow sensor send. It alternates from knowing there's something hitched to not knowing which sets off the alert.

 

[karkrazy]

Why don’t you put it into “Tow/Trailer Mode”? It’s designed to do exactly that.

From Tesla:

Trailer Mode must always be active when towing a trailer.

While in Trailer Mode, the following features operate differently:

1. Traffic-Aware Cruise Control increases the following distance from the vehicle in front of you.
2. Side collision warnings are active but automatic steering interventions are disabled.
3. The braking force provided by Automatic Emergency Braking may be limited. Therefore, stopping distance may increase.

Note: Some Autopilot features such as Autopark and Autosteer, as well as rear parking sensor functionality, may not be available when Trailer Mode is enabled. Refer to your owner’s manual for more information

Trailer Mode can be manually enabled or disabled from your touchscreen by selecting ‘Controls’ > ‘Pedals & Steering’ > ‘Trailer Mode.’

If you bought the tow hitch package from the factory or from Tesla directly, the software will be included. If you didn’t…

 

[Speedynelson]

Why don’t you put it into “Tow/Trailer Mode”? It’s designed to do exactly that.

From Tesla:

Trailer Mode must always be active when towing a trailer.

While in Trailer Mode, the following features operate differently:

1. Traffic-Aware Cruise Control increases the following distance from the vehicle in front of you.
2. Side collision warnings are active but automatic steering interventions are disabled.
3. The braking force provided by Automatic Emergency Braking may be limited. Therefore, stopping distance may increase.

Note: Some Autopilot features such as Autopark and Autosteer, as well as rear parking sensor functionality, may not be available when Trailer Mode is enabled. Refer to your owner’s manual for more information

Trailer Mode can be manually enabled or disabled from your touchscreen by selecting ‘Controls’ > ‘Pedals & Steering’ > ‘Trailer Mode.’

If you bought the tow hitch package from the factory or from Tesla directly, the software will be included. If you didn’t…

I bought the tow hitch from the factory and the tow/trailer mode used to be automatic as soon as i plugged something in, but seems to not be working as it should now as without anything plugged in its showing red on the tow icon until i turn off the mode, which i never had to before...

 

[Speedynelson]

I bought the tow hitch from the factory and the tow/trailer mode used to be automatic as soon as i plugged something in, but seems to not be working as it should now as without anything plugged in its showing red on the tow icon until i turn off the mode, which i never had to before...

But ive always had the problem with a flickering vehicle behind me when towing!! A message to Tesla service me thinks...!!

 

[karkrazy]

I bought the tow hitch from the factory and the tow/trailer mode used to be automatic as soon as i plugged something in, but seems to not be working as it should now as without anything plugged in its showing red on the tow icon until i turn off the mode, which i never had to before...

Ah, if that’s the case, it sounds like you’ll need a service center visit then… bad sensor, harness or wiring… should be taken care of under warranty.

 

[Speedynelson]

Just had the mobile service engineer out to check the vehicle wiring which was fine. Short of towing with it and showing him the fault nothing could be found, so going to take a video of the problem when we next tow as anything regarding the rear sensors is a full on bumber off job which can only be done at a sevice centre!

 

[WheresMyKeys]

It's not the rear bumper sensors, if you have them. It's the rear facing camera and the car's software. If your trailer is the right size, shape and distance the software visualizes the trailer as a car running right up your butt.

I agree it shouldn't do this in tow mode. But I'm certain it's a software thing where the cameras and whatever is rendering the environment isn't smart enough to recognize what's behind you as your own trailer.

This doesn't affect how the car drives. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to get it addressed in the future. Until then I'd recommend to try and look out the windows and in the mirrors instead of at the back of your car on the screen. Not trying to be smart - there's just nothing broken and to be fixed short of a software update to address the issue.

 

[sidewinder]

have the same issue when i tow the jetski and figured its a software thing. there must be a reason why it keeps the rear camera visualization even in tow mode.

 

[QtownTaxiGreg]

If it was software it would affect all vehicles with that software version.

Some software is not registering the presence of the trailer. How does that happen unless something is broken?

What tells the computer there is a trailer on aside from tow mode engagement ?

 

[WheresMyKeys]

Tow mode is turned on when trailer wiring harness is connected. Tow mode affects some drivers' assistances and disables auto steer. It doesn't change visualizations. If you have USS they are disabled, but the cameras are not disabled in vision only cars.

When the circumstances are right, the camera sees a big object about the size of the front of a car and puts it on the display because that's what it assumes it must be. There clearly isn't a link between tow mode and visualizations to disable the rearward functionality.

I'm not saying it's right or ideal. But no amount of complaining, inspections or service calls is going to rectify this because there's no issue or error to correct by a technician. It's for the software coding people to figure out and implement in a future software update.

 

[QtownTaxiGreg]

Just like the wipers every man and his dog would be complaining of the same problem if it was simply software. Has to be a fault.

 

[gtae07]

Mine does it too. I just laugh about it and drive on. There's nothing in the software to tell the visualization software "don't draw a vehicle behind me because there's a trailer hooked up".

 

[Speedynelson]

have the same issue when i tow the jetski and figured its a software thing. there must be a reason why it keeps the rear camera visualization even in tow mode.

Well after i take a video and send it to the engineer, i guess he will be able to tell me what it may be! It might be that the problem with the software or the sensors is more common than we think... I will keep you updated my friend

 

[Speedynelson]

Just had confirmation from the Tesla service centre that indeed it is a software fault and that hopefully the more people that register it as such then one day there will be a fix in the OTA updates...!!

 

[QtownTaxiGreg]

Would be a good idea for the thread to be stickied and the OP edited so it reflects the need for ongoing community action.

 

[QtownTaxiGreg]

You probably have to DM the admin for that.