2018 Tesla Model 3: lane keeping assist jerks the wheel

Filed Oct 27, 2026 · Driver assistance · TX

Following Tesla's over-the-air deployment of FSD 14.1 Lite, the HW3 Autopilot computer in my 2018 Tesla Model 3 failed. FSD / Autopilot worked normally before the update and stopped working immediately afterward. Tesla Service diagnosed the vehicle XXX and verified the alerts APP_W207, APP_W462, APS_W182, APS_W188 and APS_W185. The technician attempted hard and soft resets and a firmware reinstall, and verified power and ground to the car computer. All attempts failed. The technician's notes state the secondary autopilot processor is no longer communicating and "a new car computer is needed." The failure has disabled Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning and Lane Departure Warning, as well as FSD / Autopilot. Tesla denied a goodwill replacement in writing on XXX, stating there was no evidence linking the failure to a software update, after the technician confirmed the computer had failed. Tesla provided a written estimate for the replacement of $2,616.37 total (invoice dated XXX). I have not authorized the repair. Tesla also confirmed in writing that my vehicle is not currently eligible for the HW4 upgrade. I sent a formal Notice of Dispute to Tesla at [XXX] on XXX and received no response; I sent a follow-up on XXX. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Aug 16, 2026 · Driver assistance · MA

After Tesla pushed software update 2026.20.6.11 or “FSD 14 lite” the self driving feature stopped functioning. Also all of the driver assistance safety features stopped working at the same time, forward collision warning, emergency braking, lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection have all stopped working as well. It appears one of the two “self Driving” ECU was damaged or disabled by the update. Without these features the drive is not notified in advance of a collision and the emergency braking does not function to stop the car. The car is awaiting inspection and repair by the manufacturer.

Filed Feb 7, 2026 · Driver assistance, Electrical · FL

Description of the Defect: While driving with Full Self-Driving (FSD) engaged, the vehicle's primary computer shuts down and reboots, causing a sudden loss of all safety features, including Blind Spot Monitoring, Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collision Warning, and the driving visualization. The cameras go black while the vehicle is in motion. The Trigger: The failure is triggered by high electrical load. If the Cabin Heater (HVAC) and Seat Heaters are active while FSD is fully computing, the 12V power supply to the computer drops below critical voltage, causing a "Turbo A" processor lockup and system crash. Evidence of Defect: Service Center diagnostics confirmed the specific error code APS_w169_TurboA_SCS_LKUP (Computer Crash) occurred at the exact same timestamp as VCLEFT_a302_blowerGeneralFault (HVAC Blower Failure). This proves a common-mode voltage drop affecting multiple critical systems simultaneously. Manufacturer Response: The manufacturer (Tesla) acknowledged the logs but refused to inspect the wiring harness or ground connections, instead recommending a replacement of the computer unit. However, the failure can be mitigated by unplugging external cameras to reduce load, proving the root cause is an insufficient power delivery design (Wiring/Grounding) rather than a component failure. The computer is running at full load with the newest FSD software and it can no longer keep up with additional loads. Safety Risk: This defect causes a sudden, uncommanded loss of driver assistance and situational awareness tools (cameras/visualization) while the vehicle is maneuvering in traffic. The vehicle’s power distribution system appears insufficient to support the electrical load of the software (FSD) and the hardware (HVAC) simultaneously.

Filed Oct 7, 2025 · Driver assistance, Electrical · GA

No warning messages at all, all cameras/sensors stopped working all at once while driving, full self drive stopped working, lane assist, safety features of full self drive was degraded by this. Car software v12 (2024.44.25.2 288ce84bb43e), according to the dealership the computer fried randomly.

Filed Apr 24, 2025 · Steering · IL

Upon entering my vehicle, which was in my garage, I put it into reverse. I found the steering wheel extremely difficult to turn and upon viewing the screen I saw a message stating "Steering assist reduced. Steering may require increased effort". I backed up about 10 feet and still was unable to turn the steering wheel. I noticed another message advising "Lane Departure Avoidance features unavailable. Features may be restored on next drive". I pulled back into the garage and rebooted the car to no avail. I let the car sit for several hours before trying again. This time the steering was fine. I am scheduled to have the manufacturer inspect the car on Tuesday April 29, 2025.

Filed Feb 13, 2024 · Driver assistance · CA

I got a recall notice from Tesla and Tesla is still in safety violation and is refusing to fix the issue, so I need your help to force Tesla to fix their abusive ways. The recall 23V‑838 is related to "when Autosteer is engaged". Autosteer/Autopilot/FSD now DISABLES even when NOT engaged, alleging "improper use" when it wasn't even being used. It also disengages Autosteer/Autopilot/FSD while driving if it detects "improper use" (even if it's detection system itself is buggy), forcing the car to slow down like in the middle of the freeway! When the battery is low and there's only a mile or two to go to a charger, the software will slow down and force the car to pull over to get a tow, taking on average 2 hours to get a tow truck to go 2 miles, rather than allowing the driver to reach the charger with the remaining battery it shows. Tesla keeps changing the battery percentage for when it shuts down. It used to be 0%, then 3% and recently 6%. This randomness creates "range anxiety" and distrust in the battery percentage being a useful indicator. Tesla should use 0% as "shut down" and leave the rest of the battery as "drivable" to reach a charger to have an accurate indicator. It also flashes alerts on the SCREEN to "Pay attention to the road", which is ironic to have a screen display to distract attention to the screen... rather than pay attention to the road. Tesla took AWAY my Autosteer/Autopilot improperly, and no one in the Service Center or Support at Tesla knows how to fix this BUG or give it BACK to me, so I can drive SAFELY like with lane centering. I paid $10,000 for this "safety" that Tesla takes away at random, claiming they can do whatever they want because they've now labeled it BETA software! This is an abusive practice the federal safety agency should force Tesla to stop doing and give the power back to responsible drivers like me. Tesla abuser names include [XXX] and [XXX] . Teslas also don't detect cars in blind spots and still phantom brakes. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORM

Filed Mar 15, 2023 · Driver assistance, Visibility · NJ

The issue is with autostart, enhanced auto pilot and lane departure warning. I paid for Enhanced auto pilot. This car totally relies on cameras. 1. In the slightest occurrence of rain, it complains about one or more cameras malfunctioning or out of vision. This doesn't happen often in Full Self Driving version. For early adopters of Model3 FSD, manufacturer updated the cameras. However they did not do that for early Enhanced Autopilot customers. 2. For the same reason, on a 3 lane or more highway, on autopilot when one moves from speed most lane and if there is a truck on the slowest lane, the camera shows somehow that the truck is on the middle lane when it is not, and hence the software assumes an impending crash and pulls you back to the speed most lane, giving no time for anyone behind you to think anyone, and leaves yourself in a dumbfounded state. 3. Without the upgraded cameras, Autopilot is prone to accidents. 4. Car tent to automatically brake when sun directly shines on the driver or there is a bridge in front of you while on autopilot. I believe this has something to do with the older version of cameras.

Filed Feb 7, 2023 · Driver assistance · CA

Near miss: intervention by Emergency Lane Assist almost caused a collision. Location- southbound Highway 99 near Turlock, CA, around 9 am (sun low and ahead). Construction is underway on the highway. Traffic id two lanes in each direction with narrow lanes and concrete K rails dividing the highway. My vehicle was in the fast lane going around a left hand bend with the temporary concrete divider close to the left side of the car. The barrier is uneven in this area and was relatively jagged rather than smoothly paralleling the highway. As I rounded the bend the emergency lane assist sounded a warning and simultaneously turned the wheel sharply to the right as if to avoid striking the center barrier (I was not on an impact trajectory). At that moment I was slowly passing a semi-trailer the was close to my vehicle in the left hand lane. I was roughly 3/4 of the way back from the from the front of the truck. The sharp right swerve from the Emergency Lane Assist put me onto a collision course with the side of the semi- if I had not reacted quickly to counter-correct I believe I’d have gone into the side of the truck. Autopilot or lane assist was not engaged (I don’t have it) and my hands were on the wheel allowing quick reaction. Lane departure warning was not active (turned off), Emergency Lane Assist was active. I did not try to recreate the issue and it has not been confirmed.

Filed Jan 10, 2023 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · CO

When driving on the highway and using the "autopilot" lane assist feature the care will automatically change the set speed limit and hard brake which puts my passengers and I in danger of being rear ended due to the abrupt stop. For example I have been driving on the highway with the autopilot set to 65mph and all of a sudden the speed will change to 35 and execute a hard braking maneuver. To compensate for this I have learned to hover my foot over the accelerator to counteract this phantom braking. When this happens there are no alerts that there is something in my path that I need to slow for. Other times there are forward avoidance alerts, but there is nothing in the path. The manufacturer has done nothing to remedy this issue.

Filed Nov 22, 2022 · Driver assistance, Electrical · TN

Front wiring harness corrodes causing steering control to corrode. This also affects lane keep, braking, and speed control. At least 6 warnings associated with the short circuit

Filed Sep 22, 2022 · Driver assistance · WA

Tesla Model 3 (and other models) comes equipped with side cameras on the vehicle's B-pillars. Tesla has designed these components to allow cabin air to infiltrate the space between the cameras and the exterior glass. Of course, this means that humid cabin air will condense on the glass when ambient conditions cool the glass enough. This blocks the cameras, causing certain features (e.g. blind spot camera, auto lane change, lane keeping assist) to stop functioning. These features have been actively advertised by Tesla and sold for thousands of dollars as software upgrades, but do not reliably function because of this design flaw. As can be seen on many internet forums (e.g. https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/b-pillar-cameras-fogging-up.172226/page-8), this issue has been known for years, yet Tesla has provided no fix for the problem. As recently as Sep 2022, their service centers are still telling customers to run cabin heat to eliminate condensation, but the cameras are well insulated, thermally, from the cabin (see Page 2 infrared pics https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/camera-condensation.168472/page-2), so this does almost nothing, while potentially overheating the occupants. After 3-4 years, it is clear that Tesla is not interested in taking this design flaw seriously, and will only act if forced by safety regulators. This is an integral part of what Tesla has marketed as their cars being "safer than humans", and it's unable to cope with normal weather conditions (I live in Seattle, WA and routinely see this in temps as high as mid-50s to low-60s).

Filed Aug 15, 2022 · Driver assistance · CA · crash

I was driving in rain with lane keeping assistance enabled. As the car followed a curve, my tires began to hydroplane and the front end began to lose directional control and drift to the right of my direction of motion. I overrode assisted steering and attempted to keep the front end aligned with the rear so as to avoid a spin. At this moment, I felt the adaptive cruise control add torque to the rear wheels which pushed the rear tires out from behind and aggravating the planing, and defeating my effort to keep the car aligned. I suppose I then fully disabled the cruise control, but the car had already rotated too far to recover directional control, and it spun 180 degrees (front wheels trailing the rear wheels.) This continued briefly until turning tail first up an earth embankment before coming to rest. There were no cars immediately near me at the time or it might have resulted in a multi-car collision in a hydroplane zone, with a good chance of multiple serious injuries. The vehicle was inspected by the insurance adjuster and repaired. The car is available to examine. There were no indications of a system failure and Tesla did not concede to any. I contacted Tesla service and requested to examine the control system data to assess if the adaptive cruise control had contributed to the loss of control. After providing a Tesla agent with the time of the event he asked for, he reached back to me and stated that they were able to archive the data from the time of the accident. However, since I had claimed that the design might have contributed to the crash, Tesla had prohibited him sharing that data with me and custody of the data had been taken over by Tesla legal department. He added that for me to see the data, I would have to obtain it through Tesla Legal. I emailed Tesla Legal with my request on 5-25-22. I have received no response. Tesla claims the car has electronic traction control. I think this accident demonstrates flaws that can make situations worse.