I’m going to use the terminology from this image:
https://i.shgcdn.com/739286e6-3f49-463f-ae61-cbc6c99d5270/-/...

And then I’m going to reference some part numbers from the Tesla parts manual you can find online.

The forward looking side cameras are embedded in the b-pillars, and are unable to image directly in front of the car. I checked my car, and cannot see the lens of these cameras when a few degrees from straight forward. The image above shows a field of view which approximately matches what I could assess.

The only cameras which can see directly in front are the main forward camera, the narrow forward camera, and the wide forward camera. All three cameras are behind the rear view mirror, in the
1143746-00-C module.

When viewing the in-car recording, it’s not clear as to which of the three is being displayed. It’s possible the other two weren’t impaired, but I find that unlikely.

These three cameras are enclosed in a small area behind the rear view mirror, bounded by the windshield in front, and the triple cam glare shield around them.
1086333-00-E <-- Triple Cam glare shield.

The entire inside of the windshield enclosed by the glare shield was coated in a haze. When I touched the surface, it was sticky. The Tesla technician (servicing Phoenix) indicated that he had never seen this failure. I sincerely believe he hadn’t.

The video I had posted previously was showing the windshield, after the rear view mirror was removed, along with the camera module by the Tesla technician. As I panned left to right, you can see that the house numbers are obscured through the haze. If I recall correctly, the haze was roughly uniform inside that glare shield. As all three forward facing cameras are looking through that same haze, I expect all three were significantly impacted. I did not have an optical acuity test sheet to validate my subjective assessment that it was hazy, and have to go by the inability to see ~9” tall house numbers from 15’ away. I haven’t done the minute of angle calculation, but I expect that level of acuity would be sufficient for an individual to be considered legally blind.

What’s even more frustrating is that when the technician was disassembling the rear view mirror assembly, he discovered that there were 2 missing screws. When he went to remove that triple cam glare shield, it fractured into many pieces, almost turning into dust.

How did it get that hot in there? We keep a reflective windshield screen in the windshield. The rear view mirror and cameras would have been sandwiched in the small space between the screen and the windshield. Coupled with the highly optically absorbent glare shield, and exactly aligned solar exposure, and high external temperatures… there must be some strange combination that caused this failure.

My biggest gripe is that Tesla may not be forced to recall, and when this happens again, I’m going to have to pay for the repair out of pocket. I’ve already purchased a replacement glare shield off eBay in case I have to replace it in the future. The glare shield appears to have some optical absorbent flocking, likely attached with glue. It’s this glue that I expect couldn’t withstand the heat.

The technician cleaned the windshield, the camera lenses, and reassembled (the new glare shield had to be ordered and was replaced on a subsequent service call). The problem hasn’t recurred in the following 4 months, even though the parking orientation, windshield screen use, etc hasn’t changed. Luckily Phoenix does cool down.

Btw, I think the three forward camera design behind the windshield is quite innovative. The cameras are looking out through an area that is swept by the windshield wipers, helping to maintain visibility. The cameras are separated by sufficient distance that a single bug shouldn’t obscure all three. The only common environmental failure mode appears to be this weird issue on the inside of the windshield. Hard to fault the engineers designing this. I’d be extremely proud of this design, if I designed it. I happen to have hit a corner case.

My wish is that Tesla enable some sort of software to detect this failure, and offer free repair for this failure for the life of the vehicle - regardless of how often this recurs.

In typically Tesla fashion, this could be a simple over the air software update, but will likely be followed by months of arguing with the service department when the fault is detected and the repair actually needs to happen.

Without this software detection, I’m afraid that this failure will go undetected by many other Tesla owners, incorrectly putting their trust into auto pilot using cameras with this failure mode.