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2015 P90DL Fan Behaviour (Please Save my Sanity)

Discussion in 'Model S' started by BCTS, Feb 17, 2021.

  1. BCTS

    BCTS Member

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    Good Morning from Australia:
    Purchased a Used P90DL a couple of weeks ago. Amazing Vehicle.

    Sorted through some minor dramas with ownership transfer but have one issue that's driving me utterly insane.
    When the Car is parked, The Fans start up at almost full intensity for extended periods of time (in excess of 5 minutes).

    This can occur at any time, including 3am in the morning when they suddenly start up etc.
    I have logged a support request with Tesla but I thought I'd check here if anyone else has similar experiences.

    I have gone through and completed the following
    - Disabled Climate Control through App
    - Disabled Cabin Protection Mode
    - Disabled Bluetooth from Phone
    - Disabled Wifi in Car
    - Turned Car Off Completely through the Safety/Security Screen

    None of this seems to make a difference. The only thing I can do to stop the fans coming on is actually have the Car connected to a Charger and be charging. If the Car finishes charging the fans will spool up again at some stage.

    But if the Car is charging the Fans won't come on.
     
  2. Tam

    Tam Well-Known Member

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    Your HVAC is not only for humans but also for the car itself.

    That means when the car has no humans, the HVAC still has to service and please your car at all times when your own car demands it.

    That's how it's set up. If you disable its automatic HVAC system to serve the car itself, you might damage your car permanently.
     
    • Disagree x 5
  3. BCTS

    BCTS Member

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    Tam:
    This Noise is soo loud that my Neighbours can hear the car from their driveway. It would exceed allowable EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Laws for allowable noise at night.

    The fact that the Car doesn't make the noises at all under Charge makes me believe it can't be related to Battery Health..
    Honestly the noise is even louder than the Noise you hear when Supercharging at 150KW+ Charge Rates.
     
  4. aerodyne

    aerodyne Active Member

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    It seems there is a problem.

    Until the SvC looks at it try not charging the car over 70% SoC when it is parked.

    Cars of this age will turn on the cooling pumps 100% over 70-80%SoC...due to updates last year.
     
    • Like x 3
  5. BCTS

    BCTS Member

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    Service is hopefully looking remotely.
     
  6. aerodyne

    aerodyne Active Member

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    A good tool for your car is a CAN bus reader with an App like SMT, Scan my Tesla.

    You can see hundreds of parameters about your cars workings.
     
    • Like x 1
  7. BCTS

    BCTS Member

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    Had contact from Tesla Service...
    They have requested I take the Vehicle to Service Centre in Melbourne on an Afternoon so they can observe the Car charging overnight from a state of charge of around 50% or similar.

    They've indicated that the behaviour I'm seeing is by design to prolong the life of the battery at Higher Charge Levels.
    Seems bizarre to me that the Fans etc don't operate when the Car is charging at those levels or above.. just when it is "Sitting" not charging.

    It seems however that Tesla are expecting me to use my P90D as an almost P60D if I want a quiet Car at night.. which seems somewhat ludicrous.
     
  8. pts260

    pts260 Member

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    I haven't experienced this myself. And definitely does not sound normal. When you say fans, I'm assuming the both the internal AC/ventilation fans and then there is an external heat exchanger fan.
    What is the behaviour in the cabin when this happens? Any lights / screen on?
    On the app (glad you finally got it working) is it showing that the climate control is on?
    My thoughts are that this is what typically can happen when you open a door, so in the app, are any doors showing open (could be intermittent fault with door close sensor)
    Is the key in range of the Car (possibly keeping it active)
    Cabin overheat protection typically only comes on when cabin is above 40C and battery above 20%
    Apart from that, let us know how you go with the above.
     
  9. dannycamps

    dannycamps Member

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    Is it really hot where you are right now? The cabin overheat protection feature and battery coolant systems will run if the temp outside is too hot.
     
  10. BCTS

    BCTS Member

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    It's around 25 Degrees Centigrade, but it's been lower than that when the issue occurs.
    It's not anything to do with in Cabin Temps etc... The Climate Control is off when the Front Fans are running loudly.
     
  11. BCTS

    BCTS Member

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    Screens Off, No LIghts, No Doors Open, Mirrors etc are folded in.
    App shows Climate as disabled, however I can start and stop climate which will then turned off the Loud "Front of Car" Fans I assume at the Radiators/Heat Exchangers in the front of the Wheels for around 10 minutes or so until it toggles again.

    I have the car down to around 40% Battery charging via AC now. Will see how it goes tonight.
    I'm expecting no sounds as the Car is charging.
     
  12. pts260

    pts260 Member

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    My only other thoughts are, did you sign up for teslafi or one of those apps. If so, it could be "waking up" the car and causing the behaviour.
    Also you didn't mention the energy saving / always connected settings in are, what are these set to?
    Secondly, can agree that the scan my Tesla app and dongle could be in your shopping list.
     
  13. beatle

    beatle Member

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    Is your car in ludicrous+ mode? I've heard the car fire up its fans like it's going out of style when I turn that on. I didn't think that setting persisted through shutdown, however.
     
  14. BCTS

    BCTS Member

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    Beatle:
    Car isn't in Ludicrous Plus Mode... Just plain Ludicrous.
    I've had the Car on Charge at low rate (240V 5A) overnight and no fan noises occured.

    pts260: Energy Saving is on with Always Connected. I tried with Always Connected Off and it didn't make a difference.
     
  15. David.85D

    David.85D Active Member

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    I will second this. I’ve avoided the pumps running by reducing my normal charge limit to 75% and going higher only when needed.

    the behavior does seem a bit odd. I will guess one or more pumps isn’t working and the car has some logic to activate the fans if the temperature doesn’t drop as expected.
     
  16. BCTS

    BCTS Member

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    David.85D:
    The car has been a Tesla Trade in and access by them, so would be fairly poor form if it has a Faulty Coolant Pump etc.
    Also completely bizarre that the Fans don't operate when the Car is charging. You'd expect it to get hotter/require cooling when Current is being applied to the batteries.

    However it's actually engaging the fans when above a certain state of charge, but only when the Vehicle isn't charging.
    I purchased the Car to replace a Jaguar XKR. My commute for work is regularly between 240-280km depending on where I visit etc with Clients. I thought P90DL with Range of around 360km would cover that fairly well.

    Getting down to 70% of that figure starts cutting things really close.
    I've purchased a used P90D with the expectation that my batteries are going to be reduced around 15% from New.

    I haven't purchased a P63D (70% of 90kwh).
    I will see how Tesla go with coming back to me next week. In the meantime at least now knowing I have the workaround with charging I can keep it charging to 85-90% at night and not have it toggling fans etc.

    Thankfully Australia has fairly stringent consumer protection laws and easily accessible Small Claims Courts etc if required. One could easily argue that Tesla have implemented a range of policies designed to protect their own battery warranty liability such as..

    - Coolant Pumps Running over 70%
    - Reduced Supercharging Charging Rates on Older Vehicles etc

    I don't aim to go down that pathway, I'm really happy with the Car besides this small issue... but the avenues for recourse do exist.
     
  17. David.85D

    David.85D Active Member

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    good luck. Probably too late for you to learn this. You can’t charge that generation of batteries to 90% without having the coolant pumps run (and sometimes fans) until essentially it has reduced the charge to 75%. I know it’s nonsense. Tesla should recall the affected batteries
     
  18. BCTS

    BCTS Member

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    David.85D:
    But you can charge them to that and beyond.
    My Car is silent right now. Battery is at around 87% Charge and still charging.

    The issue only commences/occurs when the Vehicle has stopped charging.
    If it's connected to 240V AC and charging at any rate (Even 240V 1 Amp) it doesn't make noise.

    In regards to Battery Recall I think you are right. They had the same opinion with the eMMC Issues on MCU1. They stopped logging as much when they realised there was an issue, but that only slowed the rate of decline rather than solve the issue.
     
  19. pts260

    pts260 Member

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    Hope you get a solution.. In the meantime, another option / workaround to consider might be to enable scheduled departure so that it begins charging overnight (quietly) while you're sleeping (preferably on off peak tariff)
     
  20. BCTS

    BCTS Member

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    Yes I've been doing that manually with the TP-Link Power Point Controller also ;)
     
    • Like x 1

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