Should I duct tape the passenger door to keep it closed?

[Zextraterrestrial]

I wonder if turning off auto present handles would help in the short term.

yes!

& the last post abover is very informative

 

[Skotty]

I am going to deviate from other posters here and hope I don't get burned too much for it.

I completely agree that this is a serious problem and Tesla should treat it as such. However, I disagree that they should drop everything else and "fix it on the spot". What they should do (IMO) is send out a tow to flatbed the car in and provide you a loaner (even if its an ICE). It may take them two weeks to get to your car in the queue, but they shouldn't have you driving it like this. I doubt once they realize the seriousness that they would take two weeks on it, but I think the more reasoned approach is for them to get the car off the street and you into a safe alternative immediately. Driving to the SC would be a similar option. Park it there and make them give you a loaner/rental. That said, I still would prefer if they came and flatbeded it away to avoid the risk of it opening while driving.

I'm one of the ones who thought this matter should be handled with extreme urgency. However, I agree with you; I think a loaner would be perfectly reasonable, so long as it is provided sooner rather than later.

 

[LetsGoFast]

This is the kind of thing -- one of the only things -- where traditional car manufactures have an advantage over Tesla. With decades of experience, their car doors don't pop open and they don't have orange ooze that comes out from under the hood (to pick a couple oops items). Embarrassing things for the company that demand an immediate and thorough response if they want to remain a superstar company.

for some reason, this just flat out disturbs me. cars have issues but having a unexpectedly door pop open is not something you think you would see in this day and age. i would imagine a handle failure in a regular car would fail close and not allow the door to open; if not, it should be mandatory.

Its actually not that unusual. BMW has had a persistent problem with doors coming open:
Rear Door Opens While Driving (By Itself!!!)
Right door opens by itself...while driving!!
Help needed - Doors unlock automatically??
Passenger Door Pops Open During Driving
Door Opened While Driving!!!

There was also a huge recall by Ford earlier this year for doors popping open. It is a serious issue and Tesla should fix it promptly, but to say it doesn't happen to other automakers is just wrong.

 

[thegruf]

erm - can't software detect car moving so disable door handle - seems a fundamental line of safety code unless i am missing something here

 

[artsci]

I wonder if turning off auto present handles would help in the short term.

I'm going to out to the car right now and give that a try.

I did hear from HQ service. They recognize the urgency of the problem and are trying to find the nearest SC that can deal with it right away. That's the appropriate response.

- - - Updated - - -

Regrettably turning off Auto Present Handles makes no difference.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm going to out to the car right now and give that a try.

I did hear from HQ service. They recognize the urgency of the problem and are trying to find the nearest SC that can deal with it right away. That's the appropriate response.

- - - Updated - - -

Regrettably turning off Auto Present Handles makes no difference.

HQ service just called and ironically my iPhone ran out of power just at that moment. I'm sure they're calling with a solution so I'll get back to them ASAP.

 

[FlasherZ]

erm - can't software detect car moving so disable door handle - seems a fundamental line of safety code unless i am missing something here

The doors won't open if the car is in motion. However, the moment you put the car in park, they can pop open.

 

[artsci]

HQ has been working with my SC to get this fixed ASAP. Looks like it will be on Monday -- either a Ranger will come to me or they'll send a driver with a loaner. Either one is a great solution.

 

[FlasherZ]

HQ has been working with my SC to get this fixed ASAP. Looks like it will be on Monday -- either a Ranger will come to me or they'll send a driver with a loaner. Either one is a great solution.

Great to hear, the way it's supposed to be.

 

[tezco]

Wait time for a non-urgent appointment in Denver was up to about a month and a half at the beginning of summer, -- too long IMHO.

 

[ToddRLockwood]

I have looked closely at this problem gen2 driver's door pull mechanism.

There are 2 micro switches in play here, one on each side of the handle.
1. One of them detects an appropriate point at which to stop the handle from emerging and coming to rest waiting for a pull. This switch has an adjuster screw.
2. The other detects your pull. Switch closes when the physical limit of the movement mechanism is reached.

If switch 1 has fatigue break in the wire, which happens, alot... then handle doesn't know when to stop and continues to motor on out to hit the physical limit switch 2, so it thinks you pulled the door.

The result is when handles present you get an auto-pop opening door.

I'm not sure I completely agree with your cause & effect. I had the same problem as Artsci on my car, where the passenger door latch was activated by opening the drivers door from the inside—well after the handles had already already presented. This would make one think that the problem is actually somewhere in the car itself, and perhaps software related. Tesla upgraded one of my handles, then another, and finally all four of them. Since then, the glitches have been a lot less frequent.

 

[dsm363]

mod note: posts about when to report things to NTHSA moved here
When to report NHTSA issues? - Page 11

 

[supratachophobia]

I'm not one to gratuitously criticize Tesla but my current situation is cause for real concern. Before I drove to California and back for TMC Connect, the front passenger door was occasionally springing open when I put the car in park and opened the driver's door. Weird. I called Tesla service about the problem, told them I'd be driving to CA, and they told me the Fremont Service Center would contact me about fixing it while I was there. Never heard anything from Fremont (a disappointment) but as the problem did not occur frequently on the 3,600 mile drive I wasn't concerned.

Since I've arrived back in MD the problem has worsened to the point that the passenger door now releases, unlatches, and opens whenever I put the car in park, use the fob to extend the handles, or open any other door. This is an unsafe situation. A few times the passenger door has swung wide open as I drove out of a parking space. Last night it was open the entire evening after I thought I had locked the car.

I recontacted service about the problem today and they seemed not to treat it as a serious problem -- couldn't make arrangements to fix it for more than two weeks. Thinking it might invoke more concern, I said that for safety I'd just have to use duct tape on the outside of the door to prevent it from opening. This comment resulted in no response whatsoever.

I think this is a real safety issue and deserves a more urgent response from Tesla Service. I'm half serious about the duct tape idea even though it will embarrass me and Tesla to have duct tape on the side of my car. Am I over reacting? How do I get a more serious response from Tesla?

1st, your ductape idea is awesome; we need pictures. 2nd, have them check for water getting into the door control harness and causing a short circuit. Both sides.

 

[reddy]

Art,

My MC Red was built about the same time as yours, and the exact same problem started 2 weeks ago for me.

It was sooooo annoying....

I'm 350 miles from the nearest service usually, but had a planned a trip through Austin, TX last week and the service center there fixed it immediately.

They looked super busy, but did my whole 2 year service work too.

 

[yobigd20]

I've had this problem. Glitchy doors. I don't see it being a major hazord though unless you were driving in reverse where then it could swing open and catch something. then again if someone is inside of it they can fall out of it too soooo ehhh yeah i guess its a major safety issue - doors shouldnt release themselves. I just had an incident with mine tonight, much worse, read here: Door crushed on my 3yo daughter's hand, door handle failure to release lock, STUCK

 

[FlasherZ]

I've had this problem. Glitchy doors. I don't see it being a major hazord though unless you were driving in reverse where then it could swing open and catch something. then again if someone is inside of it they can fall out of it too soooo ehhh yeah i guess its a major safety issue - doors shouldnt release themselves. I just had an incident with mine tonight, much worse, read here: Door crushed on my 3yo daughter's hand, door handle failure to release lock, STUCK

I also commented on your other thread - that sucks. I've seen it mentioned in a few places that there are a lot of car models no longer using mechanical releases from the outside - and even some inside on the high end cars. I'd fully support the use of a crowbar.

It's a concern to me, but it's not a grave concern. It's not like the doors will randomly open and fly off... to have the doors come open in reverse or drive (aside from pulling the inside handle), the door had to have released when you hit park or unlocked the car, then you have to ignore the triple-chimes going off every 3 seconds and warning on the dashboard that says "door open, drive carefully", along with the picture of the car on the left that shows a door open. It's more of a nuisance from my perspective, to have to either reach over or get out and re-shut the door.

Be glad you can still use first-gen handles, when my passenger handle stopped responding to a pull, they were unable to find a replacement and so all four of mine had to be replaced. No problems since. I thought the first-gen handles were considerably more elegant.

 

[thegruf]

The doors won't open if the car is in motion. However, the moment you put the car in park, they can pop open.

ah - thanks for putting me rght on that.

- - - Updated - - -

HQ has been working with my SC to get this fixed ASAP. Looks like it will be on Monday -- either a Ranger will come to me or they'll send a driver with a loaner. Either one is a great solution.

Great news, lets just hope it's a minor glitch in the SC response.

 

[Johan]

Art,

My MC Red was built about the same time as yours, and the exact same problem started 2 weeks ago for me.

It was sooooo annoying....

I'm 350 miles from the nearest service usually, but had a planned a trip through Austin, TX last week and the service center there fixed it immediately.

They looked super busy, but did my whole 2 year service work too.

Do you know what the fix was?

 

[hpham007]

Wait time for a non-urgent appointment in Denver was up to about a month and a half at the beginning of summer, -- too long IMHO.

Lucky you don't live in Norway. Unless your car is dead in the water, wait time for non urgent fixes is three to four months and that's with eight service centers.

 

[artsci]

ah - thanks for putting me rght on that.

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Great news, lets just hope it's a minor glitch in the SC response.

My initial mistake was in my first conversation with a young staffer at my own SC, who didn't see the urgency of the situation. I failed to be more forceful which, with the benefit of hindsight, was a mistake. I was just too nice a guy when I was told it would be two weeks before they could address it.

Live and learn. Next time if anything like this happens again I'll be more insistent.

Then again when I think back on the other cars I've owned, there was never a way to reach service about anything on a weekend. One had to rely totally on a dealer for these things, and we all know what that means.

 

[wk057]

Somewhat OT: I don't know about everyone else's car, but my P85D refuses to let me move if I have the driver's door open. It's super annoying, actually. If I open the door while in drive or reverse at a low speed (like creeping up to grab the newspaper on the way out of the driveway, still fully seated) the car will jump to park by itself. This is one feature I really really dislike because I do run across occasions where I would like to have the door open at low speeds.

It doesn't seem to care about other doors, however... in an absentminded moment, I thought I heard the rear passenger door close after a swing by pickup (was already in drive ignoring the beeping to begin with) and I started to pull away before it was closed. Car didn't slam into park like it does with the driver's door.

That said, I've never had any issues with the doors popping open by themselves on any of my Model S or loaners. *shrugs*