Car won't charge

[srredbeard]

Our Model 3 won't charge. I just noticed the problem with afternoon. I have tried the HPWC and the portable unit. With either unit the T stays light blue and the handle does not lock. The HPWC and the portable unit both indicate flashing red.

My Model S is charging right now with the HPWC so I know it is fine.

I scheduled an appointment but that is for next week. Within 30 minutes of scheduling the appointment I got a text asking me more questions and they said they would have a tech look at it further to see what is going on.

It has been rather cold for this area, in the 20f's.

Any ideas while I wait for Tesla to figure it out would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, I have reboot using the thumb switches.

 

[RayK]

Can you try a level 2 charger (with the J1772 adapter)?

 

[MarkBrokeIt]

There's a known issue where something can break off (think it's insulation off one of the pins) in one of the ports. It's possible this happened in the port on your M3, preventing the HWPC from making a good connection.

Take a look in the port & see if anything looks unusual. Pics here might help folks compare with theirs.

 

[srredbeard]

The Tesla diagnostic technician said it appears to be a problem with the latch. I noticed that the latch does not move. It appears to be stuck all the way down. When the door on my Model S opens the latch pulls down and raises as the door closes. There is no such movement with the latch on the Model 3.

I thought about trying a level 2 charger with the adapter but since the latch doesn't move I figured the car may not charge anyway.

It is dark and cold so better pictures will have to wait until tomorrow.

 

[bbell]

There's a known issue where something can break off (think it's insulation off one of the pins) in one of the ports. It's possible this happened in the port on your M3, preventing the HWPC from making a good connection.

Take a look in the port & see if anything looks unusual. Pics here might help folks compare with theirs.

I did have this exact thing happen, in my case it was a piece of plastic that broke off the charging end.

When I inserted the charger I would hear the lock trying, but it couldn't get a lock and would give up because it wasn't inserted fully (maybe 1/4" short).

Looking really hard at the charge port I could see something in there, and with a pair of tweezers I was able to flick it out. In your case it could be jamming your latch.

Another thing you can try is to pull the charger release in the trunk, perhaps that will jostle the latch mechanism.

I have attached a picture of the charger showing the piece missing that got stuck in the port.

 

[focher]

Have you tried the manual release cable inside the trunk to see if it resets the latch?

 

[dethman]

I wouldn't bother messing around, just drive it to the service center and tell them it won't charge and you can't wait a week for a fix. You should get some priority.

 

[srredbeard]

The issue has been resolve at the Renton Service Center. They found the charge port drain tube slightly clogged which allowed a water build up on the pilot signal.

A very simple solution.

 

[Darmie]

Good to know, thanks for the update.