Charge port door malfunction: should I worry?

[TigerNinety]

Hey all,

This is about a 22M3LR. Last night, I went out to plug in the charger (ChargePoint Home Flex) as I do every night. Pressed the charge port door, which dutifully opened. But, the charger wouldn't insert; came to realize that the locking pin was "up," preventing me from putting in the charger. I got in the car and pressed "unlock" on the screen, and everything seemed fine. Inserted the charger, went to bed.

Got up this morning, noted that the car had charged fine, and removed the charger, but the charge port door wouldn't close. Nothing I could do electronically (either inside the car or from the phone) would close it. I restarted the car, made no difference. Eventually, I had to drive off with it half open.

Got to work, and it still wouldn't respond to any phone or screen commands, but I could tell that it was trying to (I could hear a motor or something trying to actuate). Later, around lunch, I came out to find that it had closed and was fully responsive. Same at the end of the day.

In the interim, I'd made a service appointment (for next Tuesday), in part because I have an important road trip coming up the following week.

So, what do you think happened and/or is going on? The low temperature last night was probably about 38 degrees, and it got up to about 60 today in the sun.

Ideas? Keep the appointment, even if I can't replicate the problem?

Thanks!

 

[Soul Surfer]

Hoping you are under warranty and can make this Tesla's problem.

 

[Mercimek]

I had the same thing happen to me the first week I owned the car (22 M3LR). Seemed to fix itself after a deep sleep. I figured it was a software glitch.

Wouldn’t hurt to keep the appointment to investigate just in case it’s a hardware fault.

Are there any alerts under service mode?

 

[TigerNinety]

Hoping you are under warranty and can make this Tesla's problem.

Yes, if there’s something to fix, it’ll be under warranty.

 

[TigerNinety]

I had the same thing happen to me the first week I owned the car (22 M3LR). Seemed to fix itself after a deep sleep. I figured it was a software glitch.

Wouldn’t hurt to keep the appointment to investigate just in case it’s a hardware fault.

Are there any alerts under service mode?

Thanks, none. Would definitely have shared if I had (and I read the manual to see which would have applied). I’ll probably share the update with Tesla on Monday and see which way they lean. Thanks!

 

[BigNick]

The Model 3 charge port door is a huge weakness compared to the original Model S charge port door which was a much simpler design IMO.

Edit: it looks like the new S has a similarly dumb design as the 3, so the 3 mechanism must be cheaper than the one originally on the S.

 

[brkaus]

The Model 3 charge port door is a huge weakness compared to the original Model S charge port door which was a much simpler design IMO.

Edit: it looks like the new S has a similarly dumb design as the 3, so the 3 mechanism must be cheaper than the one originally on the S.

Bigger door to handle other charge cables in other countries.

Probably also cheaper.

 

[derotam]

Hey all,

This is about a 22M3LR. Last night, I went out to plug in the charger (ChargePoint Home Flex) as I do every night. Pressed the charge port door, which dutifully opened. But, the charger wouldn't insert; came to realize that the locking pin was "up," preventing me from putting in the charger. I got in the car and pressed "unlock" on the screen, and everything seemed fine. Inserted the charger, went to bed.

Got up this morning, noted that the car had charged fine, and removed the charger, but the charge port door wouldn't close. Nothing I could do electronically (either inside the car or from the phone) would close it. I restarted the car, made no difference. Eventually, I had to drive off with it half open.

Got to work, and it still wouldn't respond to any phone or screen commands, but I could tell that it was trying to (I could hear a motor or something trying to actuate). Later, around lunch, I came out to find that it had closed and was fully responsive. Same at the end of the day.

In the interim, I'd made a service appointment (for next Tuesday), in part because I have an important road trip coming up the following week.

So, what do you think happened and/or is going on? The low temperature last night was probably about 38 degrees, and it got up to about 60 today in the sun.

Ideas? Keep the appointment, even if I can't replicate the problem?

Thanks!

So it could be just a glitch that a reboot could fix...or it could be your chargeport door going bad. I had a similar problem on my 2018 LR RWD last year on an 800 mile road trip. It had started acting up in the couple days leading up to my departure but I figured I would take it in to have it looked at when I got back...yeah well it kept acting up on the drive and i got about 100 miles from my destination and stopped to charge and that pin just wouldn't retract...After hours, kind of middle of nowhere Illinois and no Tesla service center nearby, and I had my 2 small kids with me.

It finally started working and the charge pin retracted and I was able to charge. Got to my destination and got an appt with Tesla the next day and they replaced the charge port door. I think it was only around $200 and they had me out the same day!

If they don't replace anything, keep an eye on it because as you know if they pin doesn't retract you can't do anything. The pull cord in the trunk only open the door, it doesn't pull that pin.