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Why you should skip the powered frunk and grab a Satonic soft close frunk
- Thread starter ngng
- Start date
The auto frunk has been working beautifully, and I've been using the frunk all the time since installing it. Zero issues until today when I tried to open the frunk to grab my ski boots. I heard the frunk unlatch, but the latch didn't seem to release. Odd. I've had this happen a few times in my X when the frunk was too full. In those cases, I've been able to press down on the hood to release any tension on the latching mechanism. That didn't work today. I moved on to some trim removal tools to try to pry the latch open but found no success.
Accepting my fate, I put the car on the lift and removed fender liners and underbody tray in order to gain access from the bottom. With everything removed I could see the OEM latch opening, but the hood was not releasing. I used a very large pry bar to manually relatch the hood from under the car. When I pressed the hood release, I noticed there was still tension on the Satonic latch cable. I tried a variety of other things over the next few hours but could not open the hood. At this point I was planning on unbolting the latch from below the car, but before doing so I decided to cut the cable. Low and behold, it worked!
So what do I think happened? Cold weather. I took a the car skiing and it sat outside for a few days. My current hypothesis is some moisture entered the cable sleeve, poorly sealed control unit, or the motor unit and froze. Over the next few days the ice melted during the day when the temperatures were warmer, then refroze overnight. Whatever the case, tension was applied to the Satonic cable and something fried the electronics. With this tension, the hood would never be able to release. I can confirm there was some type of electrical short since the fuse was blown.
Do I think the emergency release would have helped here? Not really. All of the releases I've seen either attach to the OEM latch which was working properly. An emergency release on the Satonic latch would not have helped since pulling down, which is how an emergency latch would pull, would simply pull the hood down into the latched position.
Accepting my fate, I put the car on the lift and removed fender liners and underbody tray in order to gain access from the bottom. With everything removed I could see the OEM latch opening, but the hood was not releasing. I used a very large pry bar to manually relatch the hood from under the car. When I pressed the hood release, I noticed there was still tension on the Satonic latch cable. I tried a variety of other things over the next few hours but could not open the hood. At this point I was planning on unbolting the latch from below the car, but before doing so I decided to cut the cable. Low and behold, it worked!
So what do I think happened? Cold weather. I took a the car skiing and it sat outside for a few days. My current hypothesis is some moisture entered the cable sleeve, poorly sealed control unit, or the motor unit and froze. Over the next few days the ice melted during the day when the temperatures were warmer, then refroze overnight. Whatever the case, tension was applied to the Satonic cable and something fried the electronics. With this tension, the hood would never be able to release. I can confirm there was some type of electrical short since the fuse was blown.
Do I think the emergency release would have helped here? Not really. All of the releases I've seen either attach to the OEM latch which was working properly. An emergency release on the Satonic latch would not have helped since pulling down, which is how an emergency latch would pull, would simply pull the hood down into the latched position.
E90alex
Active Member
Yeah at this rate I’ll just continue not using the frunk
We can only hope Tesla will come up with a retrofit, like the did for the motorized trunk.
As much as I enjoyed the product, this one will be going into the garbage.
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
This seemed like a good idea from the start of the thread until you confirmed there was another failure mode where the frunk can get stuck, even when the OEM latch is working properly. That's exactly the worry I think most people have on the auto frunk, and I guess this soft close isn't immune to it.
I wonder if the V2 would have a similar issue.
amoney805
Member
In my case im hoping the cold weather hypothesis is correct since im not in a frozen climate, but hopefully you can email Satonic and get their thoughts on what the failure point was.
If I were to do this again I'd probably open up the control box and see if it would benefit from some additional potting. It looks like they used some glue to prevent water ingress and it looks shady. I'm going to take apart the motor and control box when I have some more time.
I had Hannshow frunk/trunk on my '18 LR3 and had moisture problem with both units. Their fix was to provide heavy, waterproof bags for the electronics, which I installed with the opening toward the back. I quickly found out they had to open to the bottom, so if any moisture got in, it would eventually drip out. After that, it worked great, although I still didn't use the frunk enough to pay for itself. With my wife's wheelchair in the back of my PX most days, I figured the frunk would be a great place for groceries and things picked up on errands. FWIW, I ordered V2.
amoney805
Member
Apparently V2 is IPX7 and can be completely submerged in water. Probably the better option going forward.
Could you please clarify what you had installed? You've described here an auto frunk, but your photos show what appears to be a auto soft close unit rather than the full auto frunk (open & close type). Was this a Satonic brand V1?
When did you install it? If it was last year (2023), then it was probably a V1. I've just had the V2 delivered... debating if & when to install it.
That V1 is significantly different than the V1 that I just received. No blue box on mine, it is integrated into the motor unit. I think the motor mount is different as well, I'm not sure how it will mount but it has been too cold and wet to start working on it.
I feel your pain. Add to the 4 seasons, frequent car washes. I had the frunk open during a carwash twice with my LR3 and Hannshow frunk/trunk.
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