2012 Model S P85 - Door handles stuck and motors keep running

[pepsundar]

The door handles of the driver and passenger side in the front are not presenting. When it happened with the driver side door a month ago, I used the simple method of wrapping the handle with a red ribbon (It's holiday season anyways) after prying it open with a credit card and I simply pull that string to open the door. Last week, the front passenger door handle stopped presenting itself. I could do the same ribbon technique for that door as well. I hear the motors running all the time with a grinding noise.

Tesla quoted $300 per handle.

Curious to find out of any friends have done DIY fixes.

Thanks in advance.

 

[livesmith]

Yup. You need one of these:

Amazon.com

Or:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BJ1JG148/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Personally I pulled a fuse so the motor didn't wear itself out. But it was the same thing. That metal pawl breaks.

You pull the door panel off, then the door handle assembly out, and then do the internal repairs.

 

[Brass Guy]

You can also get the Tesla part from a service center, it's called a Paddle Gear. It was $1.22 when I needed one in 2018, and they had them in stock. I bought 2 to keep one on hand.

 

[pepsundar]

Yup. You need one of these:

Amazon.com

Or:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BJ1JG148/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Personally I pulled a fuse so the motor didn't wear itself out. But it was the same thing. That metal pawl breaks.

You pull the door panel off, then the door handle assembly out, and then do the internal repairs.

Thank you. This is very helpful. I thought of pulling the fuse, but wasn't sure if that would disable the handles and I wouldn't be able to open the door at all. I saw a Youtube video that shows where the fuses are

Here the door handles were present and stuck in that position. All he had to do was to pull the fuse and put them back in. He didn't do anything on the door panel or handles. In my case, since you mentioned about pulling the door panels off and then the handle assembly, I'm not quite sure if I can do it myself and if any special tools are needed. I'm searching for some DIY tutorials. Thanks again.

 

[livesmith]

Thank you. This is very helpful. I thought of pulling the fuse, but wasn't sure if that would disable the handles and I wouldn't be able to open the door at all. I saw a Youtube video that shows where the fuses are

Here the door handles were present and stuck in that position. All he had to do was to pull the fuse and put them back in. He didn't do anything on the door panel or handles. In my case, since you mentioned about pulling the door panels off and then the handle assembly, I'm not quite sure if I can do it myself and if any special tools are needed. I'm searching for some DIY tutorials. Thanks again.

Yeah, on my 15' when I pulled the fuse for the back doors... Ah, I can't recall for sure. I remember it doing slightly more than I wanted... Maybe it just disabled BOTH rear outside handles... I'm pretty sure the inside handles and the front doors still worked...

I just kinda browsed this video but it looks like it goes over the process. Pretty standard tools, especially for the Tesla... I think it's like metric sockets, wrenches, torx bits... It's not exactly a fun job, but it's not THAT bad...

 

[SneepeZ]

If you fix it yourself definitely swap out the paddle gear and the microswitches at the same time. You don't want to have to open everything up again because the microswitch craps out. Also a good opportunity to adjust the handle depths if they don't sit flush with the car. Mine were recessed from the factory.

First time doing the front door handle repair took me about 2.5 hours but the second time around was the rear handle and took maybe 1.5 hours, including replacing the puddle lights. It's not super difficult if you follow the YouTube instructions. The front handles are harder to replace than the rear because one of the bolts for the front is right beneath the glass and it's a pain to get to plus there's a safety strap attaching the door trim to the door that's annoying to work around. If you pay Tesla to do it you get the newer version door handles that seem to last much longer, so there's a benefit for going that route.

 

[PCMc]

Another way I found to keep the motor from running was to take a microfiber cloth, fold it a few times, then insert it through the handle. You can find a spot where the handle is pulled out enough that the motor stops running but the door stays latched. That was my approach for when I parked the car at home in my garage for extended periods of time. Not a very elegant fix, but did the job for me for the few days in each case while I was waiting to have the handle repaired.

 

[livesmith]

Another way I found to keep the motor from running was to take a microfiber cloth, fold it a few times, then insert it through the handle. You can find a spot where the handle is pulled out enough that the motor stops running but the door stays latched. That was my approach for when I parked the car at home in my garage for extended periods of time. Not a very elegant fix, but did the job for me for the few days in each case while I was waiting to have the handle repaired.

Interesting... Could swear I tried that and my motor just kept spinning no matter the handle position... But maybe I'm forgetting.

 

[pepsundar]

Yeah, on my 15' when I pulled the fuse for the back doors... Ah, I can't recall for sure. I remember it doing slightly more than I wanted... Maybe it just disabled BOTH rear outside handles... I'm pretty sure the inside handles and the front doors still worked...

I just kinda browsed this video but it looks like it goes over the process. Pretty standard tools, especially for the Tesla... I think it's like metric sockets, wrenches, torx bits... It's not exactly a fun job, but it's not THAT bad...

Fantastic video. I also watched two more videos - one from Rich that was referred in another thread. The more watch, the less complicated it feels. Thank you very much. Appreciate the responses.

 

[pepsundar]

If you fix it yourself definitely swap out the paddle gear and the microswitches at the same time. You don't want to have to open everything up again because the microswitch craps out. Also a good opportunity to adjust the handle depths if they don't sit flush with the car. Mine were recessed from the factory.

First time doing the front door handle repair took me about 2.5 hours but the second time around was the rear handle and took maybe 1.5 hours, including replacing the puddle lights. It's not super difficult if you follow the YouTube instructions. The front handles are harder to replace than the rear because one of the bolts for the front is right beneath the glass and it's a pain to get to plus there's a safety strap attaching the door trim to the door that's annoying to work around. If you pay Tesla to do it you get the newer version door handles that seem to last much longer, so there's a benefit for going that route.

Thank you very much. I'll certainly keep that microswitch replacement in mind if I decide to fix it myself. Tesla quoted $600 plus taxes for both handles fix. I agree, getting it done by them is stress free. It's just that I'm up against another big spend (HV battery replacement) and paid for the RDU replacement and infotainment upgrade just last year. So trying to save as much as I can. Thank you.

 

[pepsundar]

Another way I found to keep the motor from running was to take a microfiber cloth, fold it a few times, then insert it through the handle. You can find a spot where the handle is pulled out enough that the motor stops running but the door stays latched. That was my approach for when I parked the car at home in my garage for extended periods of time. Not a very elegant fix, but did the job for me for the few days in each case while I was waiting to have the handle repaired.

For now, I've tied a ribbon on the driver side door handle for me to be able to simply pull open the door. I tried pulling the handle as far as I could with the ribbon, but the motor continues to keep running. I will try with the microfiber cloth this evening when I get back home. Alternatively, can I just pull the fuses for those two doors so the motors stop running and I should still be able to open the doors from inside - right?

 

[PCMc]

For now, I've tied a ribbon on the driver side door handle for me to be able to simply pull open the door. I tried pulling the handle as far as I could with the ribbon, but the motor continues to keep running. I will try with the microfiber cloth this evening when I get back home. Alternatively, can I just pull the fuses for those two doors so the motors stop running and I should still be able to open the doors from inside - right?

I never bothered to pull the fuses as others have described, but I know many have used this approach. I also had tied a velcro strap around the handle to have as a pull to open the door.

I will say that there is a very definite sweet spot of having the handle held out far enough for the motor to stop, but not too far to trip the switch to open the latch. I don't recall exactly how I discovered that originally, just know I used it for two different handle failures several months apart; first driver door and then driver rear door. It takes a bit of finesse to figure out how many times to fold the cloth to get it to the right thickness, but worked for me.

 

[pepsundar]

I've ordered the parts in Amazon and am planning to try fixing the handles early next week. Have another question. I've tied a ribbon around the driver side handle and am able to pull it open. The motor in this door handle keeps running non-stop, I can hear the noise. The front passenger side door handle is not presenting itself when unlocked, but the motor is NOT running in that door. I didn't try to pry open it yet and am opening that door from inside. Would that possibly be a fuse problem as it seems like 'dead' with no movement or noise? What if the paddle gear is not broken in that door?

 

[pepsundar]

Opened the panel to access the fuse box but unable to get the cover off. Tried pushing the two plastic clips outwards but they were too tight. I didn’t want to use too much force as I’m afraid I might break it.