Trying to sort out another wrecked Tesla

[dustinh]

I have one that I bought with a little light damage and now im having a hard time getting it online. We replaced the front and rear passenger control arms and the dc/dc converter behind the front fender. Before the converter was replaced and afterward the symptoms are the same. I cant get the air suspension to try to work, and the car is not getting any high voltage and refuses to go into gear. I know pyro fuse is good and its had no blown bags or anything like that so Im not sure if its something simple or something tragic. Anyone have any advice on this? I read some of the threads in here and although they are helpful they did not seem to be the same type of issue that I am having with this one. I feel like if it was just reset it would be fine but I cannot get ahold of the previous owner so I cannot make that happen without getting it registered first which is a problem because the car cannot make a road test to get an inspection currently without it running. Any help or ideas where to look would be very appreciated.

Thank you,
Dustin

 

[mongo]

I have one that I bought with a little light damage and now im having a hard time getting it online. We replaced the front and rear passenger control arms and the dc/dc converter behind the front fender. Before the converter was replaced and afterward the symptoms are the same. I cant get the air suspension to try to work, and the car is not getting any high voltage and refuses to go into gear. I know pyro fuse is good and its had no blown bags or anything like that so Im not sure if its something simple or something tragic. Anyone have any advice on this? I read some of the threads in here and although they are helpful they did not seem to be the same type of issue that I am having with this one. I feel like if it was just reset it would be fine but I cannot get ahold of the previous owner so I cannot make that happen without getting it registered first which is a problem because the car cannot make a road test to get an inspection currently without it running. Any help or ideas where to look would be very appreciated.

Thank you,
Dustin

Basic thoughts you may have already covered:
12V and pack fuses are both good?
Service/ emergency loop in the frunk installed/ intact?
All the covers reinstalled on the HVJB and such?
Charger port ground secured?
12V battery charged?
Fob working/ paired?

What errors/ warnings show up?

 

[Tozz]

How contact HV contactors? Early packs are prone to contactor failure.

 

[dustinh]

Basic thoughts you may have already covered:
12V and pack fuses are both good? Yes they all appear to be good.
Service/ emergency loop in the frunk installed/ intact? emergency loop is intact
All the covers reinstalled on the HVJB and such? Yes as far as I am aware they are all installed correctly
Charger port ground secured? Could you explain what you mean by this?
12V battery charged? Yes
Fob working/ paired? Yes it does recognize the key

What errors/ warnings show up? It says take to tesla service, parking system disabled, low coolant, airbag system needs service, car may shut off/ or fail to restart. The dash says the hv battery has almost a full charge but everywhere I have looked so far there is no high voltage to be found. We have removed the engine to service the rear cradle as well as some other high voltage areas and there seems to be no power actually coming out of the battery to any of the systems. That has me thinking that somewhere in the HVJB there is a blown fuse maybe? Am I to understand correctly that if there is a blown fuse in there that the car would not charge? Also would the system have a fail safe to shut down because of low coolant? I have not tried to run it or charge it yet I have just been trying to get it to go into gear.

Another problem that I am having is that the air suspension is fully compressed because we had to replace one of the air shocks (front rt) and I cannot get the car to raise ride height. I have learned that the tank has to be refilled with nitrogen by Tesla to make that work. I am wondering however if I can put compressed air in there just to get it to where I can move it around the shop and get it on a tow truck if needed. If so whether it is nitrogen or air I cannot find anywhere how much pressure it should have? Any Ideas?

I have read a lot on here already and I am happy to have found this group for help so thanks in advance for the time spent helping to find this issue. I will update with progress as we move forward on it.

 

[dustinh]

How contact HV contactors? Early packs are prone to contactor failure.

Where do I need to look to check the HV contactors?

 

[dustinh]

Ok i checked the fuses in the hvjb under the rear seat and all appears to be ok and none of them blown. What the dash says is the following:

Traction control disabled
Regenerative braking disabled
park assist disabled
stability control disabled
car needs service
Park brake not set
Abs inop

 

[mongo]

Basic thoughts you may have already covered:
12V and pack fuses are both good? Yes they all appear to be good.
Service/ emergency loop in the frunk installed/ intact? emergency loop is intact
All the covers reinstalled on the HVJB and such? Yes as far as I am aware they are all installed correctly
Charger port ground secured? Could you explain what you mean by this?
12V battery charged? Yes
Fob working/ paired? Yes it does recognize the key

What errors/ warnings show up? It says take to tesla service, parking system disabled, low coolant, airbag system needs service, car may shut off/ or fail to restart. The dash says the hv battery has almost a full charge but everywhere I have looked so far there is no high voltage to be found. We have removed the engine to service the rear cradle as well as some other high voltage areas and there seems to be no power actually coming out of the battery to any of the systems. That has me thinking that somewhere in the HVJB there is a blown fuse maybe? Am I to understand correctly that if there is a blown fuse in there that the car would not charge? Also would the system have a fail safe to shut down because of low coolant? I have not tried to run it or charge it yet I have just been trying to get it to go into gear.

Another problem that I am having is that the air suspension is fully compressed because we had to replace one of the air shocks (front rt) and I cannot get the car to raise ride height. I have learned that the tank has to be refilled with nitrogen by Tesla to make that work. I am wondering however if I can put compressed air in there just to get it to where I can move it around the shop and get it on a tow truck if needed. If so whether it is nitrogen or air I cannot find anywhere how much pressure it should have? Any Ideas?

I have read a lot on here already and I am happy to have found this group for help so thanks in advance for the time spent helping to find this issue. I will update with progress as we move forward on it.

Warning: all of this is a best guess, I'm not the voice of an expert.

I think there is a ground stud that the charge port connects to, I'm read one case where (post rebuild) this was loose and prevented HV (or it may have been charging).

I'm not aware of low coolant preventing contactor activation, but that could be an/the issue.
If you don't hear any clunks when tying to 'start' the car, then it likely isn't a failed contactors (at least one would still activate even if the contacts were bad).

I'd be wary of trying to use standard air compressor to recharge the suspension. Moisture and oils from standard type may be bad long term. Plus ,not knowing what the pressure is, your compressor may not have the ability to overcome the system pressure.

 

[dustinh]

Warning: all of this is a best guess, I'm not the voice of an expert.

I think there is a ground stud that the charge port connects to, I'm read one case where (post rebuild) this was loose and prevented HV (or it may have been charging).

I'm not aware of low coolant preventing contactor activation, but that could be an/the issue.
If you don't hear any clunks when tying to 'start' the car, then it likely isn't a failed contactors (at least one would still activate even if the contacts were bad).

I'd be wary of trying to use standard air compressor to recharge the suspension. Moisture and oils from standard type may be bad long term. Plus ,not knowing what the pressure is, your compressor may not have the ability to overcome the system pressure.

Where can I find the ground stud? Is there a picture anywhere of what it looks like?

 

[mongo]

Where can I find the ground stud? Is there a picture anywhere of what it looks like?

Sorry, not finding the page though this one might be helpful:
Attempting to Repair Front Collision Salvaged Tesla
I tend to search using the following in Google:
site:teslamotorsclub.com followed by your keywords

 

[demundus]

This REALLY feels like HVJB issues. But if you've sorted that out with confidence, you're going to be hunting grounds down, @mongo 's lead is the best start. Perhaps @Btr_ftw can shed some light.

 

[dustinh]

Sorry, not finding the page though this one might be helpful:
Attempting to Repair Front Collision Salvaged Tesla
I tend to search using the following in Google:
site:teslamotorsclub.com followed by your keywords

I want to agree with you but I am looking everywhere for evidence of a problem and cannot find one.

 

[demundus]

Oh also, the fuse block ontop of the 12v battery is a really good "recheck" spot. I had a blown one during a MCU change for who knows why reason. Caused alot of headache... seriously, check and check again.

 

[mongo]

I want to agree with you but I am looking everywhere for evidence of a problem and cannot find one.

Have you seen this thread?

No contractor noise means either the SW is not trying to activate them/ HV or there is a break somewhere in the safety loop... Without the service manual/ wire harness diagram, it's going to be a pain.
If you have a SC nearby, maybe start with refilling the coolant?

 

[mongo]

I want to agree with you but I am looking everywhere for evidence of a problem and cannot find one.

Need some help figuring out my salvage model S
Post 91, turned out to be moisture in the frunk area...

 

[dustinh]

Need some help figuring out my salvage model S
Post 91, turned out to be moisture in the frunk area...

Ya I read that. Mine doesnt appear to have any though

 

[Ketchups]

which model is it and how much did you pick it up for?

 

[dustinh]

which model is it and how much did you pick it up for?

its a 13 S model and since im planning to probably sell it soon as its fixed respectfully i'd like to keep what I paid for it confidential.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

I would recommend PM'ing a user by the name of Ingineer.

I haven't seen him around here lately, but it's my understanding that he was/is actively helping people who own damaged cars. I believe it might even be a side business.

Ingineer

Salvage Car Owners Support Group.

 

[dustinh]

I would recommend PM'ing a user by the name of Ingineer.

I haven't seen him around here lately, but it's my understanding that he was/is actively helping people who own damaged cars. I believe it might even be a side business.

Ingineer

Salvage Car Owners Support Group.

Thank you

 

[Yaro]

What year is your car? How many fuse boxs do you have in the frunk area?