# M3 not charging. Panel flashes yellow.



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

Our 2000 M3 Has suddenly stopped charging. The charging box color starts grey then turns to flashing yellow.
Once in a while the green color appears, and I attempt to connect to the car, the car light turns yellow and the connection hums. we also tried the 120v adapter and when plugged in the connection light on the car turns yellow and the car hums intermittently. So currently dead in the water. Any suggestions?? Thanks.
Also, FYI the alignment from the factory was so bad the front left tire was totally worn out on the inside after only 15K miles. 
Our mechanic said he has seen this issue on new Tesla's before.


----------



## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

First, you should be able to open a ticket with Service to get them to do the remote diagnostics.

I'm not sure what lights are "grey" that's a new one to me. It sounds as if you are using the mobile cord, but unclear.
Have you tried charging at a Supercharger, Destination charger or J-1772 location? 
Also, try plugging your mobile cord into another plug on a different circuit.


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

Ed Woodrick said:


> First, you should be able to open a ticket with Service to get them to do the remote diagnostics.
> 
> I'm not sure what lights are "grey" that's a new one to me. It sounds as if you are using the mobile cord, but unclear.
> Have you tried charging at a Supercharger, Destination charger or J-1772 location?
> Also, try plugging your mobile cord into another plug on a different circuit.


Thanks, Blue light flashing on the charger box.
Seems to be charging now. Any software updates that could cause this issue?


----------



## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

Which charger box?
Software updates are probably not the problem, did you have an update?


----------



## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

Yellow indicates a connection fault. Either the plug isn't being fully inserted into the charge port for some reason, or you have a connection fault in the circuit somewhere.

Examine the pins in the charge port and make sure they aren't missing the plastic dowels that are supposed to surround the pins, or that there isn't extra plastic jammed in there.

Bring the 120 volt charging adapter (mobile connector) to another location and try plugging in. If everything works, your 120 volt circuit in the garage might be wired incorrectly or have insufficient wire gauge to charge. If you get the same result somewhere else, the mobile connector or on-board charger in the car might be faulty.

To test the on-board charger, find a public level 2 charging location like ChargePoint and see if you can get the car to charge there. If not, it's time to schedule service.

If the mobile connector is refusing to charge the car at any location, but the public one works, the mobile connector might still be covered by warranty.


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

JasonF said:


> Yellow indicates a connection fault. Either the plug isn't being fully inserted into the charge port for some reason, or you have a connection fault in the circuit somewhere.
> 
> Examine the pins in the charge port and make sure they aren't missing the plastic dowels that are supposed to surround the pins, or that there isn't extra plastic jammed in there.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your reply. Update to the issue: We drove to a local Tesla charging station and the car still would not charge thus eliminating any issues with our home charging system. The problem seems to be with the car itself. 
I cleaned all of the terminals both male and female pins and coated each with dielectric grease. No cracked plastic dowels damaged. Pins all seem to be located tightly. Tried the 120V charger same result.
I am down to locating and opening the fuse box cover under the dash. Can someone point me in the direction as to how to check the appropriate fuse(s)?


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

happ2behere said:


> Thank you for your reply. Update to the issue: We drove to a local Tesla charging station and the car still would not charge thus eliminating any issues with our home charging system. The problem seems to be with the car itself.
> I cleaned all of the terminals both male and female pins and coated each with dielectric grease. No cracked plastic dowels damaged. Pins all seem to be located tightly. Tried the 120V charger same result.
> I am down to locating and opening the fuse box cover under the dash. Can someone point me in the direction as to how to check the appropriate fuse(s)?


Ok, I guess I need directions on how to open the fuse boxes. 
Service call. We were asked to drive the car to Albany, our closest service center. The car does not have enough power to drive that far, and it won't charge. Thanks in advance for your any help.


----------



## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

happ2behere said:


> I am down to locating and opening the fuse box cover under the dash. Can someone point me in the direction as to how to check the appropriate fuse(s)?


There are no fuses to check, you either need a charge port replacement or an on-board charger replacement. Time to schedule service.


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

happ2behere said:


> Thanks in advance for your any help.


Have you tried charging at a Supercharger? Those bypass the car's on-board charger, which is most likely the part that's failing, so I would expect that you'll still be able to supercharge successfully.


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

The car s currently in a deep sleep state...


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

JasonF said:


> There are no fuses to check, you either need a charge port replacement or an on-board charger replacement. Time to schedule service.


Now I am really confused. Am i looking for fuse boxes that don't exist?? thanks


----------



## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

happ2behere said:


> Ok, I guess I need directions on how to open the fuse boxes.
> Service call. We were asked to drive the car to Albany, our closest service center. The car does not have enough power to drive that far, and it won't charge. Thanks in advance for your any help.


When you say a Tesla charger are you talking about a SuperCharger ot a destination charger, big difference. The Supercharger doesn't use the onboard charger while the destination charger does. And that on0board charger does periodically have problems.

You mentioned cleaning the negative and the positive terminals. On what? If you are doing it to the battery in the front, that's not the battery in trouble. If you did it to the battery under the back seat, I'm surprised you didn't' kill yourself.

It's time to put a ticket in, before your battery completely dies and can't get to the service center.


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

happ2behere said:


> Now I am really confused. Am i looking for fuse boxes that don't exist?? thanks


Correct. Teslas don't have any fuse box, nor any fuses.

They use efuses.


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Ed Woodrick said:


> You mentioned cleaning the negative and the positive terminals. On what? If you are doing it to the battery in the front, that's not the battery in trouble. If you did it to the battery under the back seat, I'm surprised you didn't' kill yourself.


I think when they said "terminal" they're talking about the pins on the Tesla plug and socket. They mentioned "male and female" rather than "negative and positive".


----------



## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

happ2behere said:


> Now I am really confused. Am i looking for fuse boxes that don't exist?? thanks


Yes, Tesla uses e-fuses (electronic re-closable circuit breakers). But that doesn't matter in this case, because the issue is either in your charge port or the on-board charger beneath the back seat. The charge port itself doesn't have a fuse, and the on-board charger does, but it's generally not replaceable without servicing the entire on-board charger unit (it's on the circuit board).


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

garsh said:


> I think when they said "terminal" they're talking about the pins on the Tesla plug and socket. They mentioned "male and female" rather than "negative and positive".


Correct. Pins and receptacles. Do not know use for each pin. Assume the larger the pin/socket & wire size determines use. High voltage/current requires larger wires, 
Not an issue now. we have been told that we need to bring the car to the service center in Albany. 90 miles.
thanks for your reply


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

JasonF said:


> Yellow indicates a connection fault. Either the plug isn't being fully inserted into the charge port for some reason, or you have a connection fault in the circuit somewhere.
> 
> Examine the pins in the charge port and make sure they aren't missing the plastic dowels that are supposed to surround the pins, or that there isn't extra plastic jammed in there.
> 
> ...


Thanks. It all seems to point to the connector located under the tail light. A service call resulted in us needing to take the car to the service center in Albany. Thanks


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

garsh said:


> Have you tried charging at a Supercharger? Those bypass the car's on-board charger, which is most likely the part that's failing, so I would expect that you'll still be able to supercharge successfully.


Unfortunately the local charger is not a super charger, and now there is not enough power to go very far. Thanks


----------



## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

happ2behere said:


> Unfortunately the local charger is not a super charger, and now there is not enough power to go very far. Thanks


There are, I believe, two modules in the car that convert the AC power that you plug in, into high voltage DC for the battery. As I mentioned, these can be a problem. A quick way to kinda diagnose it is to go to a Supercharger. A Supercharger doesn't use these modules, doesn't need to.


----------



## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

Ed Woodrick said:


> There are, I believe, two modules in the car that convert the AC power that you plug in, into high voltage DC for the battery. As I mentioned, these can be a problem. A quick way to kinda diagnose it is to go to a Supercharger. A Supercharger doesn't use these modules, doesn't need to.


Each one is 16A, so there are 2 or 4 depending on what model you have. Unfortunately they cascade in a particular order and can't skip broken ones, so if your first one is bad you can't charge at all, if the second is bad you can only charge to 16A, if the third is bad you're capped at 32A, etc.


----------



## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

JasonF said:


> Each one is 16A, so there are 2 or 4 depending on what model you have.


2 or 3*


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

JasonF said:


> Each one is 16A, so there are 2 or 4 depending on what model you have.


I think you meant 2 (standard range) or 3 (long range), correct?


----------



## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

garsh said:


> I think you meant 2 (standard range) or 3 (long range), correct?


Oops, math fail. But yes, it's 32A or 48A depending on model.


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

Ed Woodrick said:


> There are, I believe, two modules in the car that convert the AC power that you plug in, into high voltage DC for the battery. As I mentioned, these can be a problem. A quick way to kinda diagnose it is to go to a Supercharger. A Supercharger doesn't use these modules, doesn't need to.


Took the risk of running out of pwr. and went to a super charger. Still no charge


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

happ2behere said:


> Took the risk of running out of pwr. and went to a super charger. Still no charge


The good news is Tesla is sending a flatbed next week to pick up the car at n/c. Good thing we have extra cars.
Tesla is not providing a loaner. : + {


----------



## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

happ2behere said:


> Took the risk of running out of pwr. and went to a super charger. Still no charge


That definitely tends to suggest the charging port. Now to see how fast they can fix it, good luck!


----------



## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

Can you post a picture of your charge port?


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

iChris93 said:


> Can you post a picture of your charge port?


I can try. how hard is it to access the charging port from the inside? Is there anything visible that might be the problem if I do? Thanks


----------



## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

happ2behere said:


> I can try. how hard is it to access the charging port from the inside? Is there anything visible that might be the problem if I do? Thanks


Not looking for anything from the inside, just a picture of where you insert the connector.


----------



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Which supercharger location are you currently at?
It would suck if that particular location was coincidentally experiencing an issue. We could try to look it up and confirm that its currently working.


----------



## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

iChris93 said:


> Not looking for anything from the inside, just a picture of where you insert the connector.


And if it becomes obvious that a pin is bent, then isn't the outcome going to be the same? Remember that at this point, Tesla has already been able to look at remote diagnotics.


----------



## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

Ed Woodrick said:


> And if it becomes obvious that a pin is bent, then isn't the outcome going to be the same? Remember that at this point, Tesla has already been able to look at remote diagnotics.


I’m more thinking of a broken off dead front that could be removed.

Anyways, inquisitive minds would still like to know if it is a bent pin.


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

iChris93 said:


> I’m more thinking of a broken off dead front that could be removed.
> 
> Anyways, inquisitive minds would still like to know if it is a bent pin.


Flatbed came this AM. Got a call from the service center in Albany this PM. The car was ready.
We were told that there was a broken pin in the receptacle located on the car.
There seems to be a lot of "play" in the plug that connects to the car. The plug is heavy especially with the adapter
and puts a downward load on the plug at the receptacle. Especially up and down. The tab on the lever that locks the connection has a tooth on the end to grab the tab on the receptacle. when installed there is a gap. the two do not come together as a "lock". To me it is a very sloppy connection without enough support for the connector. It relies on the pins to absorb the downward force applied by the heavy plug. JMO


----------



## jsmay311 (Oct 2, 2017)

happ2behere said:


> There seems to be a lot of "play" in the plug that connects to the car. The plug is heavy especially with the adapter
> and puts a downward load on the plug at the receptacle. Especially up and down. The tab on the lever that locks the connection has a tooth on the end to grab the tab on the receptacle. when installed there is a gap. the two do not come together as a "lock". To me it is a very sloppy connection without enough support for the connector. It relies on the pins to absorb the downward force applied by the heavy plug. JMO


Are you talking about the J1772 adapter? 

If the latch on a J1772 connector is not latching to the J1772 adapter, that would indicate a problem with the connector or the adapter, I would think. And there shouldn't be much "play" in the connections. Maybe this is related to the problem with the broken pin.(?)


----------



## happ2behere (5 mo ago)

jsmay311 said:


> Are you talking about the J1772 adapter?
> 
> If the latch on a J1772 connector is not latching to the J1772 adapter, that would indicate a problem with the connector or the adapter, I would think. And there shouldn't be much "play" in the connections. Maybe this is related to the problem with the broken pin.(?)


We do not have a Tesla wall charger. We got a deal through our power company to install another model. This model requires another adapter between the receptacle on the car and the wall connector plug. This adds weight to the connection and creates more downward load as it is heavier. Pins can get damaged from the load..
That seems to have been what caused our issue. They had the car fixed in one day.


----------



## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

happ2behere said:


> We do not have a Tesla wall charger. We got a deal through our power company to install another model. This model requires another adapter between the receptacle on the car and the wall connector plug. This adds weight to the connection and creates more downward load as it is heavier. Pins can get damaged from the load..
> That seems to have been what caused our issue. They had the car fixed in one day.


Install an eyelet bolt (the bolt with a J or O attached to it) in a ceiling joist (or through the ceiling into a joist) above the cable, and then tie one end of a thin electrical wire or heavy string to the eyelet, and the other end around the charging cord. Make sure the string/wire has enough slack so it can still reach the wall to hang it up. That should keep the pressure off of the charge port pins.

If doing that from the ceiling would put it in the way or make it dangerous, anchor the string/wire to the wall instead so that when you pull the charge cord to the car, the string/wire carries most of the weight.


----------



## SLIDER (6 mo ago)

I had the same issue, a factory reset solved my issue.


----------

