MY disabled 1000 miles from home ... twice. Any ideas?

[kiler129]

Hey!

Long time lurker here and until yesterday a very happy 2022 MY owner here. So, a bit of a background story:

I am (was?) on a road trip, currently 1000 miles from home. Went to the gym for 30 minutes and my Model Y was unable to be unlocked, didn't react to the app nor waving in front of USS or tapping the charge port. Towing took 2h, which by itself was much longer than quoted, but it's a 3rd party. Jumping the low voltage started the infotainment but car wouldn't even react to the keycard. The towing guy opened the door via manual release so I was able to check if the car will drive - nope. After disconnecting the jump the car died immediately.

After towing to the service center they just shrugged it off saying they're overbooked and it may be a few days... didn't even pull the logs as they were leaving. As the doors were open and unable to be closed without damaging the glass we were forced to spend the night in the car essentially.

On the morning the SC took it to the service. In 5-6h they found drained LV battery, charged it, reminded us to always disconnect all accessories before leaving the car (none were connected). They didn't find anything else wrong.

---

We drove 40mi, supercharged, and wanted to continue the trip. Well, 5 minutes after leaving the charger, the car started dying with all sorts of errors (BMS_a170, VCFRONT_a447, DI_a246, DI_a245, DI_a138), no turn signals, no speedometer, sluggish acceleration etc. After driving back to the SC and stopping in front of the building the car applied parking brake and was impossible to move. They had to use a special fork lift to move it.

---

I obviously cannot see any logs from the service menu. My suspicion was on the LV battery originally. But since it started disabling itself again while driving, I'm less hopeful now, as I'm assuming the PCS would be keeping everything powered on and charging the LV battery.
The SC is severely overbooked and we don't even know when they will look at it

Anyone can maybe chime in? A trip planned for close to a year is most likely destroyed now anyway.

 

[jcanoe]

Tesla Service should provide you with a Tesla loaner vehicle or a rental voucher if it will take longer than a day to make the needed repairs.

 

[kiler129]

Tesla Service should provide you with a Tesla loaner vehicle or a rental voucher if it will take longer than a day to make the needed repairs.

The only thing they offered was Uber credits, which in my case isn't really that helpful, especially that nobody can even tell me if it's gonna be a day or 30.

 

[Tha_Ape]

I would have replaced the LV battery, not just "charged it". Sounds like a bad 12V that even if it seems like its charging, it isnt. I'd get a new 12V myself just so I could drive and fight the battle with Tesla later. At least you'll have a car to drive.

 

[fholbert]

On the morning the SC took it to the service. In 5-6h they found drained LV battery, charged it, reminded us to always disconnect all accessories before leaving the car (none were connected). They didn't find anything else wrong.

In a ICE vehicle when you have just a hint of battery issues, get a new battery ASAP. If it's not holding a charge, bench charging it is a band-aid at best.

If the LV battery needed to be charged, something else is wrong. I'm not the smartest guy here, but maybe it's the LVB?

Don't cancel your planned trip. If Tesla isn't giving you a loaner, rent a car and finish your vacation.

 

[jcanoe]

The only thing they offered was Uber credits, which in my case isn't really that helpful, especially that nobody can even tell me if it's gonna be a day or 30.

If you have already started your trip, don't expect a Tesla loaner vehicle as the loaner vehicle may be limited to a specific range for daily driving only. You could take the high road, politely ask Tesla Service to let you know when a loaner vehicle becomes available. In my experience I was able to obtain a loaner Model S after Tesla had my 2020 LRMY from Friday to the following Tuesday with no resolution to the HVAC compressor leak that had occurred. I drove the loaner Model S for a week before Tesla was able to complete the needed repairs to my Model Y.

 

[fholbert]

The only thing they offered was Uber credits, which in my case isn't really that helpful, especially that nobody can even tell me if it's gonna be a day or 30.

Enough Uber credits to get home?

 

[jcanoe]

Hertz, other rental firms now have inventory of Tesla Model 3, Model Y vehicles. Tesla should enter into an agreement with Hertz to provide discounted price Tesla rental vehicles to Tesla Service customers if the repair to the customer's Tesla vehicle will take longer than a day.

 

[kiler129]

I would have replaced the LV battery, not just "charged it". Sounds like a bad 12V that even if it seems like it's charging, it isnt. I'd get a new 12V myself just so I could drive and fight the battle with Tesla later. At least you'll have a car to drive.

I was surprised by that as well. It's weird however there were no LVB codes triggered, especially that it's the new 16V one with integrated BMS. Nothing about LVB the first time it died, nor after it went into limp mode the second time.

If the LV battery needed to be charged, something else is wrong. I'm not the smartest guy here, but maybe it's the LVB?

Initially I even suggested I can just buy it and replace it at my own risk, as this isn't a big price to pay to try. But now if it failed after recharging... it's strange. I would expect the tech to check if it's charging after he put it back, as this seems too simple to be the problem after it left SC.
In other words I'm afraid it may be something bigger than just LVB in this case.

If you have already started your trip, don't expect a Tesla loaner vehicle as the loaner vehicle may be limited to a specific range for daily driving only.

Fortunately it happened in Colorado and when we were 4 miles from the SC, so plenty of things around even with a short distance.

Enough Uber credits to get home?

Nope, not in the slightest. If it's gonna take them a day or two it's worth just waiting around.... but if it's something like PCS with backorder for a month then we just have to fly home and come back when it's fixed.

Tesla should enter into an agreement with Hertz to provide discounted price Tesla rental vehicles to Tesla Service customers if the repair to the customer's Tesla vehicle will take longer than a day.

As a customer, 100% agreed. Today, sitting in the lobby, I even overheard a conversation between a guy from Hertz (located literally across the street) suggesting that to the service team... but obviously something like that has to come from the huger ups.

 

[jcanoe]

Tesla Service could arrange to have your Tesla Model Y shipped to your local service center once repairs have been completed. This would probably less expensive than a one-way plane ticket and driving, meals and lodging.

 

[Sans-gas]

Hey!

Long time lurker here and until yesterday a very happy 2022 MY owner here. So, a bit of a background story:

I am (was?) on a road trip, currently 1000 miles from home. Went to the gym for 30 minutes and my Model Y was unable to be unlocked, didn't react to the app nor waving in front of USS or tapping the charge port. Towing took 2h, which by itself was much longer than quoted, but it's a 3rd party. Jumping the low voltage started the infotainment but car wouldn't even react to the keycard. The towing guy opened the door via manual release so I was able to check if the car will drive - nope. After disconnecting the jump the car died immediately.

After towing to the service center they just shrugged it off saying they're overbooked and it may be a few days... didn't even pull the logs as they were leaving. As the doors were open and unable to be closed without damaging the glass we were forced to spend the night in the car essentially.

On the morning the SC took it to the service. In 5-6h they found drained LV battery, charged it, reminded us to always disconnect all accessories before leaving the car (none were connected). They didn't find anything else wrong.

---

We drove 40mi, supercharged, and wanted to continue the trip. Well, 5 minutes after leaving the charger, the car started dying with all sorts of errors (BMS_a170, VCFRONT_a447, DI_a246, DI_a245, DI_a138), no turn signals, no speedometer, sluggish acceleration etc. After driving back to the SC and stopping in front of the building the car applied parking brake and was impossible to move. They had to use a special fork lift to move it.

---

I obviously cannot see any logs from the service menu. My suspicion was on the LV battery originally. But since it started disabling itself again while driving, I'm less hopeful now, as I'm assuming the PCS would be keeping everything powered on and charging the LV battery.
The SC is severely overbooked and we don't even know when they will look at it

Anyone can maybe chime in? A trip planned for close to a year is most likely destroyed now anyway.

The only thing they offered was Uber credits, which in my case isn't really that helpful, especially that nobody can even tell me if it's gonna be a day or 30.

That’s not right! Make noise.

 

[yellowr6]

Sorry OP! This sucks!

my worst fear in the middle of a road trip is u can’t charge ur EV! Or it cannot moved! we go 1k miles RT 3-4x a year. Alway in my mind, what if! And pray that a SC is near and hopefully they will squeeze u in priority bc you are so far from home. That’s what u call service but I have no hope in tesla. Lol

 

[SO16]

I had my 12v battery go bad on me about 1.5 years after purchase with my model S. There was a bad batch from the supplier as others had the same issue around the same time. Fortunately it did give a warning and still worked for a couple weeks until mobile service came out. Was replaced and been fine for the 5 years since. Hopefully that’s all it is for yours as well.

 

[TesLEEZ]

Many of the computers run on the 12volt system. So if that system goes down(bad LV battery), you can get all kinds of spurious faults to show up, that are really related. I wouldn't be too alarmed. As system voltage drops, some computers will drop out before others as they drop out at different voltages.

 

[kiler129]

So, update time: they actually went above and beyond, with tech staying until 11pm yesterday. They were thinking it's fixed after replacement of front subframe harness and a steering ECM. The tech REALLY tried, went on multiple test drives, we did too. The car seemed perfectly normal.

The car died again today but this time 200 miles from the SC. I did a U-turn and after about a mile it happened again. Literally every single thing besides MCU was inoperable, including hazards..... but the car was driving. It drove for 150 miles and I started slowly loosing acceleration (overheating?). It stopped on a steep-ish hill and.... started rolling back. Welp. Towed back but since it's Friday nothing will happen today.

BUT that's not end of the story! After towing my wife out of habit grabbed the door handle ..... and the door opened. It is working like nothing happened - it drives and chargers with no user mode errors at all. I was able to enter the service mode and oh boy.... there's like 40-50 errors showing that a module went MIA from the CAN bus. Now it's probably a puzzle of which harness has the buses for these specific modules.

 

[kiler129]

I finally had a minute to reply to your messages guys. First of all: thank you for words of encouragement, it really helps as we're still stuck in the city, at least with a loaner now.

---

That’s not right! Make noise.

We reached the right people finally and once they really saw the situation the tune really changed. They're doing everything possible to help us in any way. I think the biggest struggle is the impossibility of contacting a service center directly. While you can reach a human while calling, the people seem to have a pretty rigid script.

my worst fear in the middle of a road trip is u can’t charge ur EV! Or it cannot moved! (...) That’s what u call service but I have no hope in tesla. Lol

Honestly, I don't worry about charging itself. There are sooo many L2 chargers even in more remote areas on PlugShare, that it's usually not a concern. In the absolute worst case scenario I always carry my mobile connector - if anything I can find a lamp post with a 120V outlet
As for the calling service, the roadside assistance seems to be slightly separated from the normal service line. They use 3rd party towing companies, and as such these are hit-or-miss, but they can always tow you to the nearest service center or supercharger.

I had my 12v battery go bad on me about 1.5 years after purchase with my model S. (...) Hopefully that’s all it is for yours as well.

We hoped for that as well, but that ship has sailed I think. The car dies even on a charger and while driving with CAN errors.

Many of the computers run on the 12volt system. So if that system goes down(bad LV battery), you can get all kinds of spurious faults to show up, that are really related. I wouldn't be too alarmed. As system voltage drops, some computers will drop out before others as they drop out at different voltages.

True, but to my knowledge when driving the PCS is keeping the voltage in check. The last two times the car started dying very suddenly while driving with a lot of HV charge left. The LVB theory is most likely a moot at this point, as not even once the car reported low voltage on any of the modules; only a ton of CAN MIA errors. I have all my fingers and toes crossed for the techs figuring this out.

---

To me, probably the most frustrating thing is I need to fully rely on the service center to figure it out - for me, as an engineer, it's hard to just wait

 

[yellowr6]

Honestly, I don't worry about charging itself. There are sooo many L2 chargers even in more remote areas on PlugShare, that it's usually not a concern. In the absolute worst case scenario I always carry my mobile connector - if anything I can find a lamp post with a 120V outlet
As for the calling service, the roadside assistance seems to be slightly separated from the normal service line. They use 3rd party towing companies, and as such these are hit-or-miss, but they can always tow you to the nearest service center or supercharger.

I meant what if the car has charging issue and won’t work with any charging station. im not concern with tesla SC, even if they finally open it up bc I know they will build more. They are not stopping anytime soon, continue to grow.

 

[kiler129]

I meant what if the car has charging issue and won’t work with any charging station. im not concern with tesla SC, even if they finally open it up bc I know they will build more. They are not stopping anytime soon, continue to grow.

True, that's always a concern. Fortunately charging is pretty redundant.

The onboard charger has multiple separate subsections, where malfunction of one doesn't usually prevent the AC charging from working completely but just cuts the rate. In addition, the DCFC charging is separate from AC one, so it's possible for the AC charging to be borked while DC working properly. In addition, for DC charging if the module doesn't fail completely there's also CAN (for superchargers) and IP over PLC (for CCS), so in theory if one is broken another one may work.

...but of course there are cases like mine where most of the things just stop working in a split second.

 

[Unclepaul]

New 12V battery is under $100 to install. If service is busy, you can simply buy one there and install it yourself.

Lots of UTube videos will show you the way.

With the recent heat wave, tons of Lead Acid batteries are dying. The heat takes out the weakened ones.

Current Tesla production has upgraded lead acid to Lithium Ion. Those should last much longer.

 

[kiler129]

New 12V battery is under $100 to install. If service is busy, you can simply buy one there and install it yourself.

(...)

Current Tesla production has upgraded lead acid to Lithium Ion. Those should last much longer.

Mine is actually the new 16V Li-Ion one (2022 car). The symptoms I believe escalated far beyond just LVB being bad now, closer to PCS or VCF maybe. It seems like it's holding a stable charge for hours but it's randomly not being charged due to CAN errors breaking the communication.

I'm not sure how the LIN communication is handled to control the new LVB charging, but for sure it is driven by VCFRONT.