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Ground Stud Nut over torqued

2 weeks ago ( Feb. 12, 2017 ) my right headlight started failing. So I ordered 2 HID D3S bulbs on Amazon and scheduled to tackle that job this weekend. Then last Wednesday I got "Coolant low" message. Made appointment with Tesla service but was assured not to worry - probably a bad ground. The I got intermittent 3 beeps with a message flashing on the IP and main screen but not long enough to read. Also "Suspension needs service popped up frequently. I got worse yesterday while driving in the morning. In summary the following happened intermittently:

- message: Coolant low ( just when starting car )
- right headlight not working
- right turn signal intermittent ( for about 20 minutes, then working)
- message: Suspension needs service ( on permanently until full power off, then re-appearing)
- message: front trunk lid open (this was the 3 beeps and message happening frequently)
- phone notification: Car alarm has been triggered

I thought that there must be some commonality to this, like a bad ground. I removed the Frunk tub and Voila! a broken ground lug / stud merrily swinging in the air. Looks like too much torque was applied at the factory.

Drilled into the broken stud and tapped a thread

Then sandpapered the stud and brass lug connected to the 2 wires. Temporarily connected a jumper cable to the brass lug and low and behold the headlight worked and all warning messages disappeared.

Went to Hindle's Hardware in Clarksburg Ontario ( that is in the area where I was visiting ) and got a brass bolt with 2 nuts and special electrical paste for joining dissimilar metals. Reason for brass bolt is that the lug on the 2 wires was already brass.

That Hardware store is amazing! Right out of the 30's complete with crank cash register. If he doesn't have it then it doesn't exist.

Here is the finished job. All problems were solved by this including the malfunctioning headlight.


Total cost of repair CAD$ 5.20 ( and 2 beers and my time )
 

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This site was last updated 2018-03-15