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Brake System Malfunction & Limp Mode - 19MPH

rivpop

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Anyone have a "Brake System Malfunction" causing their R1T/S to go into limp mode?
TL/DR version:
Couple of weeks ago, my R1T showed a "Brake System Malfunction" on a road trip. Was presumably fixed and returned to me and after a couple of days, the same issue came back. This error causes the truck to go in to limp mode with 19MPH max.

Long version:
After having my R1T for a little over a month, I made a last minute decision to take it on an ~750mi drive instead of my Jeep Grand Cherokee to attend my daughter's college graduation. The drive up to Nashville from Florida was largely uneventful until I was about an hour from my destination. First thing was the adaptive cruise control stopped working. I presumed it was the setting sun messing with the camera/sensors which I recall having read before. Make it to where we're staying for the week. Next day doing some errands, it looks like almost every indicator on the driver's display goes off and I get the warning "Brake System Malfunction - Pull over immediately and call a tow truck". I pull over, and noticed both the regen brake and friction brake are working fine. However, the truck is now in limp mode and won't exceed 19MPH.
I figured I had nothing to lose with a hard reset and it came back up without error. Started driving again, but within a few blocks the error popped up again. I was able to limp a few miles via back roads to where we were staying. Called Service and they arranged a tow to the Franklin TN SC the next morning (after initially asking if I would be OK with driving it in that condition). The Franklin SC had my R1T for a couple of days but no comms. More on that later. Finally got someone in service to respond but they ended up having to ship it back to FL. Drove fine for a couple of days until I got the exact same error after going on a longer excursion. Again, hard resets did nothing. Error popped up immediately going into drive mode. Now getting flat bedded to Orlando SC and given what I've heard elsewhere on these forums don't have a lot of confidence they'll figure this out quickly.

Additional info:
Service experience has been a mixed bag, but mostly negative. While Rivian was able to get a tow to the SC quickly, the truck sat there with no activity for 2-3 days with no activity and the service ticket stating that I still need to drop off the vehicle. No updates on progress and calling the SC directly is a waste of time I've never had anyone pick up there. Calls to central service were moderately better but I got conflicting updates. Finally got a supervisor who said she would take over this issue and would keep me up to date regularly on progress. I did get an email a couple days later that the truck was fixed. However, at my insistence (they reluctantly relented) the vehicle was kept to deal with other service items (body panels, tonneau track that had a hole from the cover coming out janked before I even took possession, etc). They initially also said I would have to come back to TN from FL to drive it home. Again, had to argue to finally get them to agree to flat-bed it back to me. I had a business trip the next week and upon landing in CA, I notice texts and voice mail that my truck was returned to me and they left it in my condo parking lot locked with the keys in the truck. I was out of town for a week so I wouldn't get to check if everything was fixed (and hate to not have it garaged for that long). No coordination to let me know when it was coming.
Now with the recurrence of the brake system malfunction a few days after my return, again had to tell central service that I'm not driving to the SC that's 68 miles away in limp mode at 19MPH with a brake malfunction error on a highway (no other way of getting there). They finally agreed to the tow but I'm shocked they would even consider having the car driven in that condition for safety reasons. With all the long scheduling lead times I'm hearing, I'm starting to wonder how long it will be out of service (and how will I know that it's actually fixed or they "couldn't recreate the problem". Starting to think about lemon laws...
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If they aren't able to fix the issue, definitely worth returning it as a lemon. No-one should have to put up with an unreliable vehicle on a serious issue like that.

Several folks have had good luck on their second Rivian. We haven't had any serious issues on either of ours but definitely agree that Rivian service is not as quick as they should be to fix issues.
 

240vPlug

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This sounds frustrating for sure! Sorry to hear your going through this.

Many state lemon laws....I know MD is one of them.... stipulate the mfr only has one chance to fix an issue with the steering or brakes.

What did service replace when it was returned to you the first time? Please excuse if you already posted that info.

It's possible they may fix it correctly the 2nd time around. I would certainly ask more questions of the supervisor such as why wasn't it fixed? What is the plan this time?

They are a new car company and unfortunately service will be a challenge in the short term. Rivian does seem to be good about providing loaners from what I hear.

Please keep us updated with what happens to your truck.
 

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Yeah this is unacceptable. I will be taking my truck to ATL instead of Nashville when it needs service. Nashville is slightly closer but all of my work has been done in ATL and I think that’s one of Rivian’s best service centers. They were one of the OGs so that might be why.
 
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rivpop

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If they aren't able to fix the issue, definitely worth returning it as a lemon. No-one should have to put up with an unreliable vehicle on a serious issue like that.

Several folks have had good luck on their second Rivian. We haven't had any serious issues on either of ours but definitely agree that Rivian service is not as quick as they should be to fix issues.
Thanks for the quick response. I'm really hoping this gets addressed but I will need more than "we really got it fixed this time". I don't think I'm going to be confident for anything more than a trip to the grocery store for a while when I get it back.
 

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rivpop

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This sounds frustrating for sure! Sorry to hear your going through this.

Many state lemon laws....I know MD is one of them.... stipulate the mfr only has one chance to fix an issue with the steering or brakes.

What did service replace when it was returned to you the first time? Please excuse if you already posted that info.

It's possible they may fix it correctly the 2nd time around. I would certainly ask more questions of the supervisor such as why wasn't it fixed? What is the plan this time?

They are a new car company and unfortunately service will be a challenge in the short term. Rivian does seem to be good about providing loaners from what I hear.

Please keep us updated with what happens to your truck.
Agree about getting more info, but getting someone to provide it is the challenge.

As for loaner, standard enterprise car rental. I ended up getting a Tacoma as I needed a pickup. Wish they provided a Rivian loaner, especially now that they're catching up with orders.

Will provide updates as they occur.
 

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I would not be surprised at all if it's a sensor problem and there's really nothing wrong with fundamental braking system and operation. Of course, there's no way to know so you must assume it's a safety hazard. The fact that Cruise Control failed and then you got this message seems to indicate something like that. I had a similar issue with my Avalanche where Cruise Control would not engage. It was a broken wire on the secondary contact of the brake pedal switch. Brake lights worked, but Cruise Control thought the brake pedal was pressed all the time.

Hopefully it's a sensing switch such as this and they find it quickly.
 

Craigins

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One thing to note, does a hard reset clear the logs? You may have been deleting the information they needed to diagnose the cause of the errors.
 
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rivpop

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One thing to note, does a hard reset clear the logs? You may have been deleting the information they needed to diagnose the cause of the errors.
Not to my knowledge. I forced a log capture before a hard reset (which I think of as a full reboot rather than a reset as all my configs are kept such as driver list, garage door setup, etc).
 

240vPlug

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I agree or it could be an issue with a wire harness. Doesn't sound like anything mechanical to me....just electronics or electrical...but of course I'm just guessing here. I would give them another chance to try and fix this issue.
 

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rivpop

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That's my lay-person assessment too, but if it were that simple:
1) That should have been an easy fix the first time, and
2) why does the vehicle seem to work fine for a while after it goes to sleep (no errors when getting into drive) but a hard reset after an error didn't clear the issue.

A loose connector or similar would be sensed regardless of the state of the vehicle IMHO which is why I think it may be a bit more complex.

I'm sitting in the car now waiting for my tow and all seems fine, even after a quick drive around the block.
 

240vPlug

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That's my lay-person assessment too, but if it were that simple:
1) That should have been an easy fix the first time, and
2) why does the vehicle seem to work fine for a while after it goes to sleep (no errors when getting into drive) but a hard reset after an error didn't clear the issue.

A loose connector or similar would be sensed regardless of the state of the vehicle IMHO which is why I think it may be a bit more complex.

I'm sitting in the car now waiting for my tow and all seems fine, even after a quick drive around the block.
Sometimes what should be an easy fix isn't either because of multiple possible causes or inexperience. Your second question is a good one.

Unfortunately this is one of those problems that is intermittent....those are the worst kind to diagnose. Hopefully since it's coming in the 2nd time now they will be authorized to spend more time on it.
 
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rivpop

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Quick update - vehicle at Service Center since 30 May and I did get a call today (01 June) to say they are working on diagnosing, but not much more. I did state that I do not intend on accepting the vehicle back unless I get a full run down on root-cause analysis and the exact actions that were taken.

I very much appreciate the feedback here and the knowledge I've gotten from the community here.

Does anyone think this might be related to not supporting CarPlay or Android Auto?
( :) had to toss that in as it seems to find its way into almost every thread).
 
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Dark-Fx

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Does anyone think this might be related to not supporting CarPlay or Android Auto?
( :) had to toss that in as it seems to find its way into almost every thread).
hmm. Has Rivian ever fired a customer before?
 

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hmm. Has Rivian ever fired a customer before?
Based on how Rivian service behaves I think they are more likely quite quitting some customers.
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