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A Simple Screen Adapter Install Turned Into a "Dead In The Garage Cybertruck," But Tesla Kindly Gave Me the Internal Playbook to Re-activate Any “Bricked” Cybertruck

A Florida man bricks his Cybertruck trying to add an aftermarket modification. Here is the internal step-by-step guide Tesla gave him that restored his truck and can also re-activate any other dead Cybertruck.

Dave is a Cybertruck owner from Florida and says he accidentally bricked his Cybertruck while trying to add a simple touchscreen modification.

The retired Florida man was attempting to modify his Cybertruck center screen so that it could tilt. This modification would allow him to move the 18-inch screen a few degrees left and right.

However, the supposedly simple job ran into a problem. After reconnecting everything, the screen failed to turn back on.

This is bad enough; however, Dave’s attempts to get the screen working again caused even more problems, eventually causing his truck to become completely unresponsive.

Dave says he’s thankful he kept the windows open, or else he would’ve been completely locked out of the truck.

The confused Cybertruck owner shared his story on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum.

Here is what he wrote…

“A simple tilt/swivel screen adapter install turned into a dead in the garage Cybertruck.

What can go wrong when connecting two bolts and a video cable?

After the scroll wheel reboot failed to activate the touch screen, a Tesla service tech explained to me how to do a low-voltage system reboot.

I think this is where it went south for me. I was not able to disconnect the blue wiring harnesses (photo below) to complete the reboot sequence. The truck went dead immediately upon disconnecting the first red wiring harness on the firewall.

I plugged it back in, but it did not restore power. I put a 48v charger on the two jump lugs, but nothing happened.

Thankfully, I left the windows open and I'm near a Tesla-certified repair shop that can probably sort this out for me.

My question is, since the truck is both dead and in Park, how can the tow operator move this thing? I backed it into the garage so the hooks are exposed. However, with no power, I can't put it in tow mode. Should I expect large skid marks on the garage floor, and what about potential damage to the driveline?”

Below his post, Dave included two pictures showing the red and blue wire harnesses, when removed, that caused his truck to die.

Having a non-responsive Cybertruck is bad enough. However, Dave also has to worry about getting the truck towed without damaging his garage floor or the truck’s drivetrain.

Thankfully, before Dave called a tow truck, a fellow Cybertruck owner from the forum gave him simple instructions that restored enough function to allow him to drive his truck to the repair shop.

In response to Dave’s post, a fellow Cybertruck owner, Scott from Georgetown, responds, writing…

“The blue connector is the fireman’s loop. Grab it and pull it. It will come loose from the chassis. 

Then, pull back the little tab and squeeze to disconnect. Then, slide the Mid-voltage battery center tab to the left.

When reconnecting, connect the foreman loop first, then the mid-voltage battery.”

Elaborating on what Scott said a bit more, I see that what he’s suggesting here is a low-voltage system reboot. This is one of the first things Tesla technicians do when working on a bricked Cybertruck.

However, it’s simple enough that if any Cybertruck owner finds himself/herself in a similar situation, they would be able to attempt it on their own.

Opening the frunk before the Low-voltage system reboot

The first thing to do is to open the frunk. If the Cybertruck is completely unresponsive, you can easily do that by attaching an external battery source to jump open the frunk.

You can access the positive and negative terminals that will open the frunk by pulling down a rubber gasket located behind the front bumper on the driver's side.

After you find the terminals, simply attach an external battery source with 9 to 16.5 volts, and that should open the frunk.

Accessing the blue and red wire harness for the reboot

The blue wire harness connects the Cybertruck’s “low-voltage” 48-volt system. Tesla calls the 48-volt system the “mid-voltage” system because it’s higher than the regular 12-volt “low-voltage” system in virtually all other cars.

This differs from the red wire harness, which connects to the 800-volt high-voltage system that powers the main drivetrain.

To access the blue and red wire harnesses, first open the service panel. This is the black plastic piece in the frunk between where the windshield ends and where the frunk storage bin starts.

You don’t need any tools to open the plastic covering; just pull it up, and it should pop off.

Performing the low voltage reboot.

Here, as the Tesla technicians instructed Dave, you first need to remove the 48-volt blue harness.

This should stop any vehicle functionality, and then you can proceed to remove the 800-volt red wiring harness.

Here, Dave removed the red wire harness before removing the blue wire harness, which caused his Cybertruck to become completely unresponsive.

To complete the reboot process, you simply plug the wire harnesses back in; however, this time, start with the red harness and then move to the blue harness.

The fact that the blue harness is not connected ensures that the 800-volt system does not immediately power on when you plug in the red wire harness.

These steps completely take the Cybertruck offline and bring it back online in an orderly manner, bypassing any error that could be causing the truck to be stuck in a loop. This completes the reboot process and, hopefully, can restore your bricked Cybertruck.

At least for Dave, after following these steps, he was able to restore power to his Cybertruck.

Once he got his Cybertruck to working condition, Dave wrote…

“Thanks for your assistance. I did that, and the reboot sequence reactivated the truck. The downside is that the touchscreen is still not working. I drove it to a Tesla-authorized repair shop for them to troubleshoot. I'm sure glad there is a directional indicator above the rearview mirror. This was the first time I ever used it.”

Overall, looking at Dave’s case, it’s wonderful he was able to reactivate his dead Cybertruck, and hopefully, the rest of you can use the same procedure if you find yourself in a similar situation.

Please let me know what you think in the comments. Share your ideas by clicking the “Add new comment” button below. Also, visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.

Image: Courtesy of Tesla, inc.

For more information, check out: Tesla Cybertruck Owner Celebrates 3 Months Without Any Issues – Says “I Won’t Downgrade to Any Other Vehicle, Even Another Tesla”

Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.