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Funky Turn Signal & Mouse Flatulence
- Thread starter Todd Burch
- Start date
Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
I'm pretty sure mine is the same issue. However, it's never intermittent and the turn signal actually flashes. Just much faster than the right side. I get no green icon with white arrow, and no blinking sound. With the lights on it all works as advertised. But I'm pretty certain I am showing other drivers a signal light. Is this different, or does the same issue just take slightly different forms in different cars?
Don't be upset. I hear it happens to lots of guys. And, yes, for some it probably helps to turn off the lights.
See?
mknox
Well-Known Member
Al, mine is just on the left side, and I get very erratic behavior. The green background around the arrow goes on and off, the cadence of the turn signal itself is all over the place (fast, then slow, then skips a beat etc.). I have observed my front light reflecting off of the car in front, and it is flashing, but erratically just like the dash display and corresponding clicker sound in the car. The right signal seems fine, and both seem fine when the headlights are on. What I haven't noticed is the so-called mouse flatulence sound. I get the normal blinker sound, just erratic.
Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
I just got an email from my SC manager. He said mine is a firmaware issue. We don't have 3G out here so I guess I'll get it when I drive into town this evening? Is this 4.3, or just a fix for my problem? Both maybe, or either? It's all new.:smile:
Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
Thanks Dave. I'll see what happens when I get to town this evening. Yes, I'm driving just for the fun of it. I've never done that in my life. Already given 5 or 6 rides. I went to the electric coop to pick some equipment up for the HPWC installation. When I got there the piece was too big to get in the car. The three guys that were standing there said "that's ok, just give us a ride in your car and we'll deliver it this afternoon." They loved it. Just cleaned him up for the guys at bowling league tonight!
The mouse fart doesn't come through the speaker like the turn signal. It was very quiet...had to be stopped with no radio playing to hear it. Might not be present in all cases.
Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
+1. How freaking amazing is this? Drinking coffee with a buddy while Tesla fixes my car without touching it. Are you kidding me!?
Fixed here, too!
I have to say, I'm kinda shocked. When the service center took a look at the problem (just a week or two ago) and told me that it would be fixed in an upcoming software upgrade, I *really* thought they were full of it! I knew that others on the forums have been getting replacement tail light units for the same problem. I was totally sure that whenever the next upgrade came, it would have no effect, and that I'd then have ammo to put more pressure on the service center to replace hardware. But low and behold... yesterday I received 4.3. And finally, for the first time since I've had the car (Oct delivery), I have a reliable turn signal beat even when my headlights are off!
Too cool.
I have to say, I'm kinda shocked. When the service center took a look at the problem (just a week or two ago) and told me that it would be fixed in an upcoming software upgrade, I *really* thought they were full of it! I knew that others on the forums have been getting replacement tail light units for the same problem. I was totally sure that whenever the next upgrade came, it would have no effect, and that I'd then have ammo to put more pressure on the service center to replace hardware. But low and behold... yesterday I received 4.3. And finally, for the first time since I've had the car (Oct delivery), I have a reliable turn signal beat even when my headlights are off!
Too cool.
What most people don't realize is that "firmware" isn't just software; these days it's also hardware. Non-engineers probably aren't aware of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), which are how most logic is now implemented. You can literally change the design of the hardware via download. Most of the products I design these days use FPGAs.
One possible scenario is that they had an "edge race" condition somewhere. This is a situation where two clock edges are arriving at almost the same time. If one arrives first, everything works; if the other does, it fails. Since all these devices have tolerances (and temperature sensitivity of those tolerances) it can result in a design that works on some units, doesn't on others, and works sometimes on others. So replacing the hardware might well fix the symptoms, even if it doesn't solve the root problem.
The solution is to modify the hardware design to eliminate the edge race. And since hardware can now be modified by firmware download, voila!
mknox
Well-Known Member
Very cool indeed. I haven't had a chance to call about my turn signal issue yet, but maybe it will be as easy as this!
Turn Signal Blinking Intermittent
I have had the car for over 3 weeks now. I started noticing last week when I use my turn signals (left or right), the blinking is intermittent, skips beats and sometimes "double clicks" . I reported the problem to TM and they have not heard of this. They are looking into it. Service center was able to duplicate the issue but were unable to fix it. It bugs me a lot now that I notice it.
Has anyone had this issue or is there another thread on this?
I have had the car for over 3 weeks now. I started noticing last week when I use my turn signals (left or right), the blinking is intermittent, skips beats and sometimes "double clicks" . I reported the problem to TM and they have not heard of this. They are looking into it. Service center was able to duplicate the issue but were unable to fix it. It bugs me a lot now that I notice it.
Has anyone had this issue or is there another thread on this?
Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
Most of the problems do not seem "identical" but do seem to be the same general problem which is apparently a firmware fix.
Are you still on 4.2? I described mine in detail to the SC and he said Fremont believes it is a firmware fix. I updated to 4.3 and it completely fixed the problem.
Initial thread: Funky Turn Signal Mouse Flatulence
Subsequent thread: Turn Signal Problems
Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
Exactly. I was probably out of sequence (whatever that is:smile
for 4.3. I called my SC to tell the manager about the turn signal and see if he had any thoughts or quick fixes. I even told him it was an LED circuit board since that was an early conclusion in the mouse flatulence thread. He checked with Fremont and called back to say it was firmware. I had my doubts but he said he would have them push me 4.3 immediately so that's how I got it. It was truly impressive how they fixed it over 3G. I understand the process but it's just amazing still that they fixed my car without touching it! Sounds as if the new improved 4.3 is out to those that had the major charging problems so maybe it wont be long til we hear if the other turn signal problems get fixed through 4.3 also.
mknox
Well-Known Member
I was at the SC yesterday on another matter and they told me my turn signal issue would have to wait for the 4.3 software update, Not sure if it was coincidence or something done on my behalf by service, but the software update notice was on my screen this morning. Not going to run the update at work, but I'll run overnight tonight and see if that fixes it.
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