Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues

[ckessel]

If I look at the lines on the road, for example, at that angle (my eye looking through the windshield at its very bottom) the lines curve and are distorted (kind of as if the glass there is not flat but curved). I would love to know if anyone else has noticed this or if this is just a defect in my windshield.

Yep, mine too. Noticed it right away when I got my car, but it doesn't bother me so I never thought about it much.

 

[znino]

Yep, mine too. Noticed it right away when I got my car, but it doesn't bother me so I never thought about it much.

I do not know how i didnt notice it before. Now that i have it's all I can see! Argh!

 

[Stoneymonster]

Left front door speaker died today. Standard audio so I'm down to six

 

[Todd Burch]

If I look through the windshield at the place just above where it meets the dash (so the lowest part of the glass that you can see through to the road) I notice that the image is distorted. If I look at the lines on the road, for example, at that angle (my eye looking through the windshield at its very bottom) the lines curve and are distorted (kind of as if the glass there is not flat but curved). I would love to know if anyone else has noticed this or if this is just a defect in my windshield.

This I believe is on everyone's windshield. I believe the glass tapers toward the bottom, which is causing the distortion (it's not a uniform thickness). Certainly not a defect. I don't notice it unless I'm really looking at it. It's far enough toward the extreme bottom of the windshield that it doesn't affect visibility in any way.

 

[brianman]

In all honesty, I think the Model S could have gone through another 6 months of refinement and testing before it went to market.

It did. In the hands of Founder and Signature owners.

Roughly June through December.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Dare I say that the quality has gone up a notch in the new year after the mad rush in December?! There, I've surely jinxed it for myself

 

[Bound466]

At the Tejon Ranch supercharger today, I came back to my car to leave, and the driver door was stuck. The rear driver-side door opened no problem. I lowered the windows down via the FOB, and then tried to open the driver door again from the outside. It opened!!

I encountered the problem a couple more times after I got home.

Then later tonight I noticed something. The door handles all light up at night, but the driver door was not lighting up. It extends normally, and retracts normally, but wasn't lighting up. So I think there is a short or a wire loose that supplies power to the door for the LED light and the sensor that allows it to open.

I will call service tomorrow, and may even bring it in (I was going to be close to the area anyway).

BTW: I am so loving and enjoying this car. These little things are just part of the package - such a pleasure being on this side of the future. Love it!!!

 

[yobigd20]

It did. In the hands of Founder and Signature owners.

Roughly June through December.

Yes, a big thank you from rest of us for being the gunniea pigs and beta testing it and getting all the bugs out for us. lol

 

[STARR X]

I received my Model S on Monday, January 21 and loved it for the week! That weekend, I got the message to upgrade from 4.1 to 4.2 which I did. I am only charging at work as do not have a 220/40 at home yet. So on the following Monday, I go to plug in the car at work and the circle of light goes from blue to green to flashing green and 10 seconds later, solid red. On the mobile charging cable itself, I got two flashing red lights. Without going into all the trouble shooting details that was tried, my car is currently sitting in the Tesla service center waiting for a new charger as this is what they think is the problem. I noted the upgrade from 4.1 to 4.2 above because that is the only thing that changed during the week I had the car. But I also know I charged the car at work once or twice after the software update before that Monday morning fail. Needless to say I am very bummed as I am without my car and was told the charger is on back order. Has anyone else had a charger fail? Could 4.2 be the problem?

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

That's a real bummer, STARR X. But, this does sound like genuine hardware failure and the software update timing is probably coincidental. In any case, I don't think you should accept the "back order" bit lightly; we are not talking about missing chrome trim on the UMC here! There are chargers being installed in cars on the assembly line in Fremont and I'd argue that Tesla should prioritize an active (and now 'disenfranchised') owner over a new, yet-to-be-delivered car and overnight a charger to your designated service center.

 

[Todd Burch]

It did. In the hands of Founder and Signature owners.

Roughly June through December.

6 MORE months.

 

[kcveins]

6 MORE months.

Its called company survival - I don't think that they would be able to financially survive if they prolonged deliveries for smaller tweeks - and they still would not have been able to find all the flaws...

 

[brianman]

Yes, a big thank you from rest of us for being the gunniea pigs and beta testing it and getting all the bugs out for us. lol

Was, and is, a pleasure.

 

[ckessel]

Well, disturbing thing today. Makes me wonder how often it happens. I backed my car out of the garage to move some stuff around, pulled back in and walked away like I always do. The music was going still, which was odd since usually when I close the door it stops. So I clicked the fob, the handles retracted and I thought the music stopped.

I went upstairs about my business. My wife comes how about 30 minutes later and comes upstairs and says "Did you know the music is on in your car?"

Uh, no, I didn't. It shouldn't be doing that. Makes me wonder how often the radio is playing 9 hours straight while I'm parked at work...

 

[goaliemanshark]

This happened to me with 4.1. Do you have 4.2?

 

[Gjacobs]

Love my car. But last week the windshield cracked. San Diego Tesla service center responded quickly and the windshield was replaced under warranty. Drove it home and a couple of hours later went to later meeting. On the way I heard a loud bang and now the left rear passenger window will not stay up.

 

[Todd Burch]

Well, disturbing thing today. Makes me wonder how often it happens. I backed my car out of the garage to move some stuff around, pulled back in and walked away like I always do. The music was going still, which was odd since usually when I close the door it stops. So I clicked the fob, the handles retracted and I thought the music stopped.

I went upstairs about my business. My wife comes how about 30 minutes later and comes upstairs and says "Did you know the music is on in your car?"

Uh, no, I didn't. It shouldn't be doing that. Makes me wonder how often the radio is playing 9 hours straight while I'm parked at work...

Are you certain that all doors were completely closed?

 

[efusco]

On 4.2, checked mine, definately locked.

 

[ckessel]

Are you certain that all doors were completely closed?

Yep. And the most recent 4.2.

 

[William3]

How to adjust headlight height:

Pop off the long black plastic pieces on either side of the frunk (they just lift off - push down on the rubber circles on either side to get them through the holes). They need to be pulled away from the frunk as to the side of the car they have a lip that goes under the frunk edge. (Trust me, if I can do this as mechanically uninclined as I am, so can you). Important: leave them off until you're fully satisfied with your headlight height, including through a test drive.

Underneath that, about a third of the way up the hood on both sides of the car (near the outer edge, under the lip), is a white plastic socket that is designed for a 6mm allen wrench. Insert wrench and turn - one way aims the headlight up (I forget which), the other goes down. You probably want to turn them the same amount on each side, so keep track of it.

I found it very hard while parked to get the headlight height exactly right (small variations in height get magnified with distance and most people - including the Tesla service center in my experience - don't have a perfectly level garage floor). I found the best option was to iterate changing the height with a brief test drive until I was satisfied.

When done, pop the two side pieces back on - putting the lip under the edge of the side of the frunk first and then gently but firmly pushing down on the plastic pieces to lock them in. You need to bend and pull the rubber circle through the hole (reverse of what you did to get them off).

QED

Thank you so much for this. This procedure worked perfectly and was easy to do. One thing you need to know, though, is that when the car lowers the ride height to the lowest setting (such as at freeway speeds) it seems to lower the rear more than it lowers the front. This results in your headlights aiming higher than they do when you are at the "standard" suspension setting. So it is best to set your suspension to the lowest setting when aiming your headlights. Design flaw for sure, but it is what it is. So set your car to the lowest suspension setting, measure how high off the ground your headlight bulb is (mine was 26.5 inches from the ground to the center of the bulb) then use a wall or yardstick that is 25 feet ahead of the car, and the top of the projected light should be about an inch lower that your headlight bulb. So I set mine to 25.5 inches high (measured 25 feet ahead of the car). You guys can go slightly higher or lower based on your personal preference, but please don't just leave it the way it is from the factory. I'd hate for the general public to hate all these Tesla jerks who drive around blinding them all the time on the freeway.

Sad thing is, when my car was in for service, I told them that the headlights were too high, and when the car lowers they get even higher. The told me that I was wrong on both counts. Clearly they didn't even check. They are super swamped right now, but that's no excuse for lying to me. Anyway, the tape measure doesn't lie. Easy to fix yourself -- thanks to wshepherd.