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Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues

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Rain Sensing Wipers have not worked properly since day one release back in 2012. In fact, they have gotten worse as of a more recent update, where the first 3 clicks on the stalk don't even do anything anymore. Just, regular multiple interval setting wipers would be such a welcome right now. Dedicated Rain Sensor did work "better" but still did not properly work.
"Just, regular multiple interval setting wipers would be such a welcome right now." You have that - just turn off beta wipers. That is what I have done for years...
 
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"Just, regular multiple interval setting wipers would be such a welcome right now." You have that - just turn off beta wipers. That is what I have done for years...
Option not available on my AP1 MS, I've had it off on my FSD MX, even with beta wipers off, it still speeds up and slows down randomly. And as of a recent update, beta wipers on or off, the first 3 clicks do nothing, at, all now, both cars, AP1 and FSD, and the auto wipers are either off or full speed, both cars.
 
Option not available on my AP1 MS, I've had it off on my FSD MX, even with beta wipers off, it still speeds up and slows down randomly. And as of a recent update, beta wipers on or off, the first 3 clicks do nothing, at, all now, both cars, AP1 and FSD, and the auto wipers are either off or full speed, both cars.
Interesting. Sounds like there is something wrong then...
 
I much prefer using a glass treatment product (ie, RainX). It rains a decent amount where I live, and I rarely need my wipers.
The occasional single swipe in mist/sprinkle environment at low speed. But not much at all. Would highly recommend applying a glass treatment to everyone. The water just beads up and rolls right off. The harder it rains, the better it works.
And in the warmer seasons, it makes cleaning off bug guts super easy too.
 
Rain Sensing Wipers have not worked properly since day one release back in 2012. In fact, they have gotten worse as of a more recent update, where the first 3 clicks on the stalk don't even do anything anymore. Just, regular multiple interval setting wipers would be such a welcome right now. Dedicated Rain Sensor did work "better" but still did not properly work.
This has been the case with my 17MS also, sadly.
 
2012 Model S.

Heating blowing only on the Drivers Side and not on the passenger side. Passenger side is cold air as if the A/C is on. Tesla diagnosed it as a faulty PTC heater. I bought the PTC heater elsewhere and replaced it at another shop. The symptoms are the exact same, leading me to believe the fault is not related to the PTC heater and it was changed unnecessarily. Took it back to Tesla who says unless I buy the PTC heater from them for $2K+ they will not diagnose it - claim the PTC heater was broken and do not accept that they could have misdiagnosed it.

I do not believe 2 PTC Heater's can have the exact same symptoms like that and the third one is the charm as Tesla seems to suggest. Any idea where to look? I changed the front passenger temperature actuator (from Tesla) and they refuse to look at if it's done right either.
 
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2012 Model S.

Heating blowing only on the Drivers Side and not on the passenger side. Passenger side is cold air as if the A/C is on. Tesla diagnosed it as a faulty PTC heater. I bought the PTC heater elsewhere and replaced it at another shop. The symptoms are the exact same, leading me to believe the fault is not related to the PTC heater and it was changed unnecessarily. Took it back to Tesla who says unless I buy the PTC heater from them for $2K+ they will not diagnose it - claim the PTC heater was broken and do not accept that they could have misdiagnosed it.

I do not believe 2 PTC Heater's can have the exact same symptoms like that and the third one is the charm as Tesla seems to suggest. Any idea where to look? I changed the front passenger temperature actuator (from Tesla) and they refuse to look at if it's done right either.
I have this EXACT issue in my Model S AND Model X too! Though slightly different. I run with Range Mode on, of course, since then the car wastes astronomically less power heating the battery (left it off couple weeks ago by accident, was trying to figure out why my battery died so dang fast).
With range mode on, and the reduced heating (almost never an issue, Range mode on is ~2kw for heat VS ~5-6kW for Range Mode Off, yet, unless temps are near 0*F, it's no issue at all). Anyways, with Range Mode ON, I only get heat on drivers side and passenger window. No heat on passengers left vent. Range Mode OFF heat blasts everywhere. Recirculation ON and Range Mode ON, I get heat everywhere. Again, Both Vehicles (2016's). Also was exactly the same on my 2013, and the current 2012 I maintain for a friend.
And it's not blowing just cabin air, it's blowing freezing cold outside air, so we keep that vent shut.

Now, with AC on, doesn't matter the season, range mode on or off, all vents blow cold.
 
as useless as an ejection seat on a helicopter

I had to think about this one for a second but LOL.

Also, with the latest update, I find the wipers worse than ever. They activate now whenever I start my car (even if it's a bright blue sunny sky). Almost useless in the rain, I often have to go to the preset interval options or repeatedly press the manual wipe button to clear the windshield.
 
I have this EXACT issue in my Model S AND Model X too! Though slightly different. I run with Range Mode on, of course, since then the car wastes astronomically less power heating the battery (left it off couple weeks ago by accident, was trying to figure out why my battery died so dang fast).
With range mode on, and the reduced heating (almost never an issue, Range mode on is ~2kw for heat VS ~5-6kW for Range Mode Off, yet, unless temps are near 0*F, it's no issue at all). Anyways, with Range Mode ON, I only get heat on drivers side and passenger window. No heat on passengers left vent. Range Mode OFF heat blasts everywhere. Recirculation ON and Range Mode ON, I get heat everywhere. Again, Both Vehicles (2016's). Also was exactly the same on my 2013, and the current 2012 I maintain for a friend.
And it's not blowing just cabin air, it's blowing freezing cold outside air, so we keep that vent shut.

Now, with AC on, doesn't matter the season, range mode on or off, all vents blow cold.

Have you tried playing with the settings? This is actually how my issue started.

At first, before last winter - I'd have heating in 3 of my 4 vents (all except passenger left) when I had the air directed at face only. I noticed when I changed the positions of the heat to include both face and feet- all 4 vents would blow hot air (A/C on or off). I changed the front passenger temperature actuator (as this is known to fail in the car and was getting stuck) and then all 4 vents worked as they should. Turning on the footwell heating always fixed my issue, the others one didn't (face or windshield).

Later on in the winter, when I turned my climate control on or off I would hear a knocking like an actuator was getting stuck for a few seconds when I turned my climate on or off. Eventually I turned it on and it sounded like something broke and the knocking went away - and since then I only get heat on the drivers side. I'm pretty confident one of the actuators that opens the heat valve just got stuck - which is usually the passengers front temperature actuator.

Anyway, Tesla is useless and has no idea how their cars work. They made me replace the PTC heater for no reason (Tesla diagnosed it and I bought the part and replaced it elsewhere and it didn't work) so they want me to replace it again with them and even told me I would still have to pay when it doesn't fix the issue (it won't) - so now I'm going to take it to another mechanic for a diagnosis. Tesla refuses to refund my diagnostic fee even though changing the PTC heater did not change the symptoms at all - claiming there was an error code that they're not allowed to show me which is the reason they diagnosed it that way.

I'm leaning towards one of the actuators that controls the heating valve and redirects the air not working as it should. I believe on the S that -should- be the front passenger temperature actuator that Tesla replaced for me (it was actually chipped so at least part of the problem) - but I got to go in and check with a real mechanic because Tesla is useless. They even refuse to go in and check if the actuator they installed themselves is installed correctly - even though they're the ones that installed it because there's no error code.

If I were you, I would start with the actuators (front passenger temperature is a common failure on the S's) if it's a problem you want to look into. Don't let Tesla talk you into changing your PTC heater because they want to make money. The other mechanic I went to said it's very unlikely to be the PTC heater because it either works or doesn't and because my car is getting heat (drivers side) he finds it extremely unlikely that the PTC would be the issue. Tesla was adamant and I paid for the diagnosis so I tried it anyway and of course it was not the issue and now Tesla refuses to re-examine it or even look at the repairs Tesla did unless I pay again and/or replace the PTC through them even though the repair was for the actuator and not the PTC. They refuse to move forward with any diagnosis related to heat unless they replace my PTC heater for 2K+ as a starting point - which is going to be non-refundable when it doesn't work.
 
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Have you tried playing with the settings? This is actually how my issue started.

At first, before last winter - I'd have heating in 3 of my 4 vents (all except passenger left) when I had the air directed at face only. I noticed when I changed the positions of the heat to include both face and feet- all 4 vents would blow hot air (A/C on or off). I changed the front passenger temperature actuator (as this is known to fail in the car and was getting stuck) and then all 4 vents worked as they should. Turning on the footwell heating always fixed my issue, the others one didn't (face or windshield).

Later on in the winter, when I turned my climate control on or off I would hear a knocking like an actuator was getting stuck for a few seconds when I turned my climate on or off. Eventually I turned it on and it sounded like something broke and the knocking went away - and since then I only get heat on the drivers side. I'm pretty confident one of the actuators that opens the heat valve just got stuck - which is usually the passengers front temperature actuator.

Anyway, Tesla is useless and has no idea how their cars work. They made me replace the PTC heater for no reason (Tesla diagnosed it and I bought the part and replaced it elsewhere and it didn't work) so they want me to replace it again with them and even told me I would still have to pay when it doesn't fix the issue (it won't) - so now I'm going to take it to another mechanic for a diagnosis. Tesla refuses to refund my diagnostic fee even though changing the PTC heater did not change the symptoms at all - claiming there was an error code that they're not allowed to show me which is the reason they diagnosed it that way.

I'm leaning towards one of the actuators that controls the heating valve and redirects the air not working as it should. I believe on the S that -should- be the front passenger temperature actuator that Tesla replaced for me (it was actually chipped so at least part of the problem) - but I got to go in and check with a real mechanic because Tesla is useless. They even refuse to go in and check if the actuator they installed themselves is installed correctly - even though they're the ones that installed it because there's no error code.

If I were you, I would start with the actuators (front passenger temperature is a common failure on the S's) if it's a problem you want to look into. Don't let Tesla talk you into changing your PTC heater because they want to make money. The other mechanic I went to said it's very unlikely to be the PTC heater because it either works or doesn't and because my car is getting heat (drivers side) he finds it extremely unlikely that the PTC would be the issue. Tesla was adamant and I paid for the diagnosis so I tried it anyway and of course it was not the issue and now Tesla refuses to re-examine it or even look at the repairs Tesla did unless I pay again and/or replace the PTC through them even though the repair was for the actuator and not the PTC. They refuse to move forward with any diagnosis related to heat unless they replace my PTC heater for 2K+ as a starting point - which is going to be non-refundable when it doesn't work.
Yah, since it's just the one vent, I'm leaving it as is for now. Changed all the settings. It's been like this in my current vehicles since just over a year after purchase (Blew through warranty via miles unfortunately). I'll wait until more issues before I swap out actuators. I was thinking the same thing. Definitely a common failure point.
 
The news does not bode well for resolving future issues....

I must've read that differently than you.

It sounds to me like they're putting together a team that will be specifically tasked with taking data/feedback from other departments, like Quality, Engineering, and Manufacturing, with the purpose of a different form of continuous improvement.
They'll have the ability to go back and forth between departments and share info (which doesn't always happen very efficiently in large organizations) with the others. I've had a similar position in the past, was a cost savings project mgr. I went between Engrg, Mfg, QC, and Accounting. Ran meetings to keep everyone on the same page regarding projects to either improve products, cut costs, or both.
And I found often that without those meetings, the departments would not have been working together in the same direction on some projects.
So, I see this step as a positive for Tesla. And since this kind of position and team will be at the 100 ft level, it also probably shows a bit of a step back of Elon to allow this to be taken off his radar a little. Rather than getting reports from each department, he can just get a consolidated review from this new Sr Mgr.
I could be way off, I don't have any knowledge of their inner structure. But it would make sense to me, since as a company gets larger, positions like this are a good addition to allow focus of others sharing these duties on top of their daily ones.

Also keep in mind, they're only 2-3 yrs away from their plan for the Model 2 being the highest selling car in the world.
Infrastructure has to be in place for that kind of growth. This position shows they're starting to plan ahead for that growth by putting a team together to identify and remedy issues before they start manufacturing the new models. Always better to catch an issue at its source rather than try to band-aid the symptoms down the road.

That's the problem with the current ICE dealership service model. The manufacturers are actually not incentivized to make big improvements in quality, reliability, because their dealerships use maintenance/service centers as a source of profit. If they built a car that lasted 20 years with no service, they'd lose a lot their dealerships.
Tesla doesn't have that problem. So they can take the approach of minimizing the need for maintenance/service.
 
It is ashamed that they don't want / get so little feedback from customers. All the correspondence and texts never make it even to the local Tesla Service records, much less alerting Tesla of potential coding errors or problems the service center cannot address. All you have is what is printed results from the service. Perhaps the chosen few can give more direct feedback.

I agree that anything they can do to make the product quality and finish better in production is a step in the right direction. Late last year, Musk said he was populating unqualified, non-service personnel to do simple tasks, like wiper changes and minor issues. That step, I believe, was in the wrong direction.
 
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Heck, even the same service center does not look back at old service requests performed by them when I reference it. Just a lot of tunnel vision.
Exactly - Forget about the service texts. My car is not even on file with the local SC. I went in to for a scheduled appointment - and they were like "why are you here?" - they did not see the appointment I made with the app. Worse, they had no record of my car existing in my account until I gave them the VIN - despite it being there for multiple repairs as little as a year ago. As if it the car was deleted from all records.
 
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Exactly - Forget about the service texts. My car is not even on file with the local SC. I went in to for a scheduled appointment - and they were like "why are you here?" - they did not see the appointment I made with the app. Worse, they had no record of my car existing in my account until I gave them the VIN - despite it being there for multiple repairs as little as a year ago. As if it the car was deleted from all records.
It's what happens when your management states:

"The best service is no service"

"The best service is zero service"

Deleting your car records is an easier way to get there than improving quality.