2016 Model S 75 - Deafening Sound while Charging

[Latorre]

Hello all,
The Fans on my Car are out of control. As the MS comes to about a 90% charge, the Fans start blowing so loud that you can’t hear yourself talk.

I have included the video link to the noise and you can actually here me say something but it wasn’t audible cause of the sound.

I saw another post up here about this but they said it requires swapping the A/C unit? Has anyone had any issues like this?

Service agreed to look at it but I’m afraid they are going to say “it’s notmal.”

This does not sound normal...

Sound up.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

doesn't sound that loud to me - except for the fact that you are not supercharging? how hot is it outside?

 

[Latorre]

doesn't sound that loud to me - except for the fact that you are not supercharging? how hot is it outside?

Thank for the reply...

You can’t carry a conversation next to the car and you hear them blowing from inside the house. It was 68° this morning.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Thank for the reply...

You can’t carry a conversation next to the car and you hear them blowing from inside the house. It was 68° this morning.

ya, that does not 'sound' normal. Pretty sure my fans never run during AC charging unless it is reaaaly hot out maybe

 

[Evoforce]

I would check coolant level. If you are unfamiliar best cart to SC. Could be a sensor out also. On board charger overheating etc? Car believes it really needs to cool something!

 

[Latorre]

I would check coolant level. If you are unfamiliar best cart to SC.

I didn’t know the car had coolant. I’ll check YouTube to see if there’s an easy fix or a way to check the level.

Thanks!

 

[Evoforce]

I didn’t know the car had coolant. I’ll check YouTube to see if there’s an easy fix or a way to check the level.

Thanks!

BMW blue coolant. It could be several related things making the car believe (or is) an overheat problem. As I previously stated, may be just a sensor. If you are under warranty and SC or ranger is available, may as well just do that...

 

[Jhelin]

Sounds like the louvres are stuck shut.
Are they open like in this video?

 

[Lasttoy]

Mine were loud, i called tesla, held cell there, guy said it was fine since it was hot outside. And battery was low.

 

[Nietschy]

I had mine run the fans while charging at the house. but it was 20 times more silent. you would need to get close to even hear it.
I can hear the pumps while charging all the time though.

 

[Rocky_H]

@Latorre You never mentioned or showed the most important details. Was the car charging at this moment? If it was, what source was it charging from?
*Edit* Oh, sorry, the title mentions charging, but still not from what source.
I have heard noise exactly like that many times when I'm Supercharging in the summer. So in that case, I would call it normal. But if it's doing that while it's not charging, then no, that isn't right.

 

[Latorre]

Sounds like the louvres are stuck shut.
Are they open like in this video?

Yep. Louvers don’t open...check out the clip.

 

[Latorre]

@Latorre You never mentioned or showed the most important details. Was the car charging at this moment? If it was, what source was it charging from?
*Edit* Oh, sorry, the title mentions charging, but still not from what source.
I have heard noise exactly like that many times when I'm Supercharging in the summer. So in that case, I would call it normal. But if it's doing that while it's not charging, then no, that isn't right.

Yes, it was charging.
Wall Connector @ 48amps

 

[Rocky_H]

Yep. Louvers don’t open...check out the clip.

I'm pretty sure that's your answer. Those two things are supposed to work together. It's trying to pull air past the radiators that are in there for some cooling. Since it can't get air flow, the temperature doesn't go down, so it speeds up the fans. I don't know why pushing the button would let it stop, though. Service center or mobile service tech should be able to fix those louvers.

 

[Latorre]

I just got off the phone with he service center as they reviewed both videos with me. The conclusion...? "Sounds totally Normal."

The good thing is that I have a service appointment reservation Next week and I will ask them to charge the car in the shop.

Stay Tuned...

 

[Rocky_H]

I just got off the phone with he service center as they reviewed both videos with me. The conclusion...? "Sounds totally Normal."

The good thing is that I have a service appointment reservation Next week and I will ask them to charge the car in the shop.

Stay Tuned...

Uh... Taken out of context, just the sound itself could be normal in other situations: 98 degrees and Supercharging with the louvers open to pull a ton of air past those radiators. I've heard that myself. But no, blasting the fans with those louvers closed, blocking the air flow during low power charging certainly isn't.

 

[Jmcgee22]

I just posted this question in a different thread but am hoping to be able to get a response. Please let me know if anyone has had experience with this..

My 16 Model S was doing the same thing, I took it in to the SC and they told me that the louvers were working fine and that they couldn't find an issue even after looking at the cars charging logs. It hadn't happened again that I know of in the last week or so, although I just went out while charging at 110v 16amps and it was doing it again.

When I got in the car the fans immediately turned off. Another piece that is very concerning to me is that while the fans were up high the charge time increase from 13hrs all the way up to 24+ hrs. When I got in the car the charge time started almost immediately dropping back down towards 15hrs.. Since then its been about 30 minutes and it seems to be back to charging normally again. Although I keep checking my app every 5 minutes or so to make sure the charge time is not jumping back up again.

I just scheduled another appointment with the SC but its like 2 weeks out from what the app is telling me. I'm worried about this damaging the battery. Especially if it happens again overnight while when I'm sleeping.

Has anyone elses charge time jumped like that before while the fans kicked in super high? Or does anyone know what this could be?

 

[Evoforce]

I just posted this question in a different thread but am hoping to be able to get a response. Please let me know if anyone has had experience with this..

My 16 Model S was doing the same thing, I took it in to the SC and they told me that the louvers were working fine and that they couldn't find an issue even after looking at the cars charging logs. It hadn't happened again that I know of in the last week or so, although I just went out while charging at 110v 16amps and it was doing it again.

When I got in the car the fans immediately turned off. Another piece that is very concerning to me is that while the fans were up high the charge time increase from 13hrs all the way up to 24+ hrs. When I got in the car the charge time started almost immediately dropping back down towards 15hrs.. Since then its been about 30 minutes and it seems to be back to charging normally again. Although I keep checking my app every 5 minutes or so to make sure the charge time is not jumping back up again.

I just scheduled another appointment with the SC but its like 2 weeks out from what the app is telling me. I'm worried about this damaging the battery. Especially if it happens again overnight while when I'm sleeping.

Has anyone elses charge time jumped like that before while the fans kicked in super high? Or does anyone know what this could be?

Are the louvers opening? If so, sounds normal to me. The car will sound like a plane taking off when it really needs to cool itself and most frequently when charging.

If you are only charging at 120 volts it will slow down the charging rate when the cooling fans need to run at full. Are you in an enclosed hot garage? If so, it can struggle to cool even more.

The sooner you can charge at 240 volt the better. It will cut down the length of time you need to charge and help save some energy too. A lot of people charge at night with a better (electric company provided) EV rate if available in your area and it is usually cooler temps outside as well.

 

[Jmcgee22]

Are the louvers opening? If so, sounds normal to me. The car will sound like a plane taking off when it really needs to cool itself and most frequently when charging.

If you are only charging at 120 volts it will slow down the charging rate when the cooling fans need to run at full. Are you in an enclosed hot garage? If so, it can struggle to cool even more.

The sooner you can charge at 240 volt the better. It will cut down the length of time you need to charge and help save some energy too.

It was doing it outside in rainy 60-degree weather. There was no reason for the fans to be running at full blast. The SC said that the louvers were operating correctly when they checked them last week. I didn't look before I opened my doors and everything went back to normal

 

[Evoforce]

It was doing it outside in rainy 60-degree weather. There was no reason for the fans to be running at full blast. The SC said that the louvers were operating correctly when they checked them last week. I didn't look before I opened my doors and everything went back to normal

Well, it is like anything, they could have quit opening since then or working intermittently. Your coolent could be low also.

Anytime you charge a traction battery it could turn on the cooling fans especially if you are charging for many many hours.

Any help we can offer is not a lot because we are obviously not at you car with equipment working to diagnose it.

Good luck!

You didn't happen to leave your camp mode or dog mode on in your car did you?