Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

"Cabin Camera Unavailable" Kills FSD. AP Okay.

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
I wish. Like you, my 2018 M3P’s FSD used to work great until the recall SW change where the cabin camera was enforced. Before that I used to get the “cabin camera unavailable” error displayed on a rare basis before that version, but it wouldn’t affect general FSD operation. However, as I noted in my previous message, it now errors out within the first few minutes of every drive since updating to the newer oV12 (even without enabling FSD) leaving FSD completely unusable. Some people have stated the 2024.8.x (or similar) branch potentially solves it, but I’ll believe it when I see it. There clearly is an issue with 2018 models, so I’m hoping the solution is identified sometime soon. It doesn’t seem like replacing the camera or the wiring harness is a sure thing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cyber_Kars
A week ago I replaced the cabin camera & the left door pillar trim myself, did a complete software reinstall and factory reset, and.... so far my issue is resolved. No more "cabin camera unavailable" alerts and the service alert log is completely clear. I'll give it another month or so to be 100% sure but normally by now I would've gotten several alerts & forced Autopilot did engagements so it has definitely improved a lot if nothing else. I purchased the vehicle used in January (2019 M3P) and this alert has been persistent since I bought the car. Fingers are crossed 🤞
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cyber_Kars
A week ago I replaced the cabin camera & the left door pillar trim myself, did a complete software reinstall and factory reset, and.... so far my issue is resolved. No more "cabin camera unavailable" alerts and the service alert log is completely clear. I'll give it another month or so to be 100% sure but normally by now I would've gotten several alerts & forced Autopilot did engagements so it has definitely improved a lot if nothing else. I purchased the vehicle used in January (2019 M3P) and this alert has been persistent since I bought the car. Fingers are crossed 🤞
I have not yet attempted a factory reset. This may not be a bad idea. Fixes lots of firmware problems on other computers.
 
I have not yet attempted a factory reset. This may not be a bad idea. Fixes lots of firmware problems on other computers.
Worth a shot. Driver profiles immediately restored themselves from the cloud in my case as well so I didn't really notice losing anything through the reset aside from navigation history.

Just completed a 4 hour drive along highway 101 and FSD stayed engaged the entire time with no loss of visualizations or red hands of death, so I'm considering it fixed. 👍
 
Mine is doing exactly t
Same problem with my 2018 Model 3. A temporary solution is to enter service mode, go to the Cameras tab of the driver assistance section, and reset the DAS. This reboots the ECU and camera and gets it working again until it randomly flakes out again later. The car entering sleep will sometimes fix this because this power down reboots the same system.
Mine is doing the exact same thing. Did you ever discover a permanent solution? Constantly resting the DAS is a bit annoying...
 
Worth a shot. Driver profiles immediately restored themselves from the cloud in my case as well so I didn't really notice losing anything through the reset aside from navigation history.

Just completed a 4 hour drive along highway 101 and FSD stayed engaged the entire time with no loss of visualizations or red hands of death, so I'm considering it fixed. 👍

I took our vehicle in to Tesla service and they told me the cabin camera is faulting and needs to be replaced (they ended up waiving their diagnosis fee for me). They are asking $390 (incl. labor and taxes) to replace it. I tried arguing (to no avail) that there was no way for us to know when that camera started faulting since we did not have the FSD computer installed until last month - it could have faulted within the warranty period.

Not sure if it is worth the cost. We've lived without FSD for 6 years and haven't felt the need for it. Based on the loaner cars that have FSD, it is still too tentative for most of our driving - it annoys me as much as I am sure it annoys the cars behind me.

How much was the camera you installed yourself, and how hard was the install?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cyber_Kars
I took our vehicle in to Tesla service and they told me the cabin camera is faulting and needs to be replaced (they ended up waiving their diagnosis fee for me). They are asking $390 (incl. labor and taxes) to replace it. I tried arguing (to no avail) that there was no way for us to know when that camera started faulting since we did not have the FSD computer installed until last month - it could have faulted within the warranty period.

Not sure if it is worth the cost. We've lived without FSD for 6 years and haven't felt the need for it. Based on the loaner cars that have FSD, it is still too tentative for most of our driving - it annoys me as much as I am sure it annoys the cars behind me.

How much was the camera you installed yourself, and how hard was the install?
I got one off ebay for under $150. It took me about an hour. It is very straightforward. Pop the plastic piece around the rear view mirror out, remove rear view mirror, pop the plastic assembly off its four clips, use thumb to unclip coax cable from camera, pull coax out of camera, use hex screw bit to unscrew camera from back of plastic assembly you just unclipped.

Reverse order, software reinstall, camera calibration.

For me the issue was not resolved as I was told my issue is due to excessive electrical resistence on a wiring harness inside my right passanger door.
 
Worth a shot. Driver profiles immediately restored themselves from the cloud in my case as well so I didn't really notice losing anything through the reset aside from navigation history.

Just completed a 4 hour drive along highway 101 and FSD stayed engaged the entire time with no loss of visualizations or red hands of death, so I'm considering it fixed. 👍
I did a factory reset about an hour ago as well as a software reinstall. No luck on my vehicle.

I did a software reinstall when I replaced my camera a while back as well.

I used to use FSD for every drive. Looks like I will be having my passanger door harness replaced sometime in late July when I have ~$1200 for the service. (not to be confused with the cabin camera harness that someone else had replaced for closer to ~$700 if I recall)

To me it sounds like many of the 2018 model 3s have quality control issues throughout the entire selfie camera circuit.

For anyone else reading this some drivers have had the issue resolved by replacing the selfie camera alone. This seems to have been ~$300. I would reccomend taking your car to the service center for diagnosis to determine what needs to be replaced.
 
I got one off ebay for under $150. It took me about an hour. It is very straightforward. Pop the plastic piece around the rear view mirror out, remove rear view mirror, pop the plastic assembly off its four clips, use thumb to unclip coax cable from camera, pull coax out of camera, use hex screw bit to unscrew camera from back of plastic assembly you just unclipped.

Reverse order, software reinstall, camera calibration.

For me the issue was not resolved as I was told my issue is due to excessive electrical resistence on a wiring harness inside my right passanger door.
I went ahead and just had Tesla do it. $391 with tax. I guess I had less confidence in my own DIY skills, and also I wasn't as sure of the quality of the parts available online. I got the car back and was able to engage FSD on the drive back from the service center and for the first time it did not error out of FSD with the red wheel of death. Fingers crossed that it is now fixed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cyber_Kars