2021 model 3 LR heat blowing cold. Error

[HockeyRooster]

I’m in Edmonton and on a drive around the city on the 27th the car was cold on auto so I turned it to manual. It blew cold air. Went back to auto and it was better but still not hot enough for what I thought it should be. Put the car back in the garage we don’t keep heated-stays about 0 C when it gets down to -30C and worse. I turned the garage heater on for the day. Today, the damn car is so hot I had to turn the heat down. I love driving this car but some of its issues/quirks are driving me mental.
Thanks for the post lightbulb-glad to know I’m not the only one with this issue.

 

[Lightbulb]

It makes sense it’s because for he extreme cold as I only had an issue starting Christmas Day which was the start of the cold here in alberta. -25C that morning but -38C with the windchill

So today I drove the car on my daily hour one way commute and I decided to try the car in manual mode as opposed to the auto I almost always use

I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not but I didn’t have any issues today and the car was telling me it was -21 outside

If anyone else is having these issues and had been using auto mode, maybe try manual and see if that works out

 

[Lightbulb]

I’m in Edmonton and on a drive around the city on the 27th the car was cold on auto so I turned it to manual. It blew cold air. Went back to auto and it was better but still not hot enough for what I thought it should be. Put the car back in the garage we don’t keep heated-stays about 0 C when it gets down to -30C and worse. I turned the garage heater on for the day. Today, the damn car is so hot I had to turn the heat down. I love driving this car but some of its issues/quirks are driving me mental.
Thanks for the post lightbulb-glad to know I’m not the only one with this issue.

I definitely understand where you’re coming from. I was stoked to get a car with constant software updates as it means new features, but it also allows Tesla to not get it right the first time as they can just go back and fix it

But overall. At 9 months and 23k of ownership, I would do it all over again

My father has his model Y coming in April because of how much he saw I loved my car



Hopefully they push a software update for this issue very soon. I think I might keep pushing back my service Center visit until we get some real answers. Can’t think of what Tesla would be able to do with the car and it would save me a 4 hour round trip!

 

[Ruffles]

My model y got this error today. I'm on a road trip 700 miles from home. Tesla was going to tow it to the nearest service center but it doesn't help me on my trip. I think I'll bundle up and try to get home and then schedule service.

 

[Electricdude22]

Hi All,
Like many of you I was getting the same VCFRONT_a447 error and my vehicle is not blowing warm air. This issue started for me about a week ago. Please note, I did not have the recent software update installed at that time the issue started. I barely installed it last night..... Luckily, I already had service scheduled for today for another issue which has nothing to do with heating/cooling and was able to add this issue to the appt. Upon arrival I was informed they had already ran a diagnostic before I arrived and informed me the issue is with the "Super Manifold" part which is the main part that controls the heating and cooling. They informed me they will replace that part as the vehicle is still under warranty as I received the vehicle brand new last month from Tesla... I questioned how this is possible as the car is barely a month old and was informed this can happen if the part comes damaged like that from the manufacturer.


I was informed the vehicle will be ready for pickup later today so I will keep you guys informed!

 

[Lightbulb]

Thank you for sharing that with us! I was really hoping it was a software issue so I changed my SC appointment from this morning till 2 weeks from now (there was a mishap in the app and I chose the wrong SC initially) as I’ve been able to get the heat to work periodically but now I’m wishing I kept the original appointment. Hoping I can still use the heat occasionally as powering it down for a few minutes in the car seems to fix it long enough for my commutes

 

[Emira]

It definitely seems like a software issue. My week old vehicle lost heat twice, first time with error and no intervention. It came back after I arrived at my destination and left it for 30 minutes while I did my thing. Second time it died right when I turned on blue defog, I didn't notice, I wanted red defrost...after a few minutes I noticed it was blowing cold air but there was no error message and I could not bring the heat back on toggling through all settings and also resetting while driving. Got to destination, left it for 30 minutes again and the heat came back when I was done.

I have been pre-conditioning everyday since I got the vehicle, some have been saying pre-conditioning helps but it still died twice in the week that I have had it...just saying.

One thing I noticed is the outside temperature on my vehicle lags a lot when I go from a garage to outside. I could be driving 20 minutes but the temperature still says -1 or whatever my garage temp was at on my display even though its actually -30 outside. Maybe this has to do with screwing up the heat? Not sure. My other vehicles have a slight delay for outside temperature but not 20 minutes...

 

[SoonerJohn]

+1 more with this issue. In Colorado ski town and it’s -12F out this morning. Car refusing to turn on heater and giving this message. I am furious at Tesla right now! Have requested A service appointment, so if it’s truly a software thing hopefully I’ll be high on the list to get it pushed.

 

[Lightbulb]

it’s super frustrating for sure. I’ve been able to get it work again by powering off for a few minutes and what not. Not something we should have to do but I’m glad it’s not actually something broken and it can’t heat at all.

I’m currently on software 2021.44.25.2 that I got on Christmas Eve and I just got a notification that 2021.44.30 is ready for my car. According to other sources it’s all the same features as the Holiday update except for model s track mode. I’m hopeful there is a fix for the hvac problem hidden in there but I also haven't had the issue happen the last few days and I suspect because it’s warmed up a little bit

 

[Lightbulb]

So I don’t know how to link to Reddit but a user on there said their service center told them this
2021.44.30 update is to fix the heat pump issues so fingers crossed

 

[Emira]

Just to re-iterate, first time I loss heat I didn't do anything at all and it had an error message along with it. Fixed itself on next start. 2nd heat loss happened when I used defog/defrost, no errors, fixed itself on next start.

I have the new update installed yesterday, and was able to replicate my 2nd heat loss situation twice now (no error message)...

Pre-conditioned the vehicle both times, left with heat on auto and it's nice and toasty. Windows started fogging up after 10 minutes of driving so I turned on defrost. Defrosted everything and went back to Auto and then heat was bare minimum and adjusting temperature does nothing. Going back to defrost brings back good amount of heat. Back to Auto, minimal heat again. Tried Manual as well and no go. Went rest of the way with defrost on just to have heat...

Again my outside temperature was not updating or very delayed, I basically reached my destination and it was still showing 1 degree C even though it was like -20 deg C outside.

 

[BR666T]

I have the new update installed yesterday, and was able to replicate my 2nd heat loss situation twice now (no error message)...

Again my outside temperature was not updating or very delayed, I basically reached my destination and it was still showing 1 degree C even though it was like -20 deg C outside.

This is not good news. However, it is possible that your heating problems are being exacerbated by a faulty outdoor temperature sensor.

 

[Lightbulb]

I did the update yesterday and I took the car to the mountain (320km round trip) this morning. Was preconditioned and charged by 7am. I drove all the way to the mountain with it on manual and no issues (-16) outside. Left the car climate on by accident as I did some runs. Couple hours later, came back. Drove off, this time switched to auto, and had no issues the whole way home (-14)

To me, the heat felt better and more consistent after the update. Was blowing warm the whole time. The Tesla will fog the door windows no matter what, unless you direct the air over to them. Clears them right up for me

Hopefully this update fixes most peoples issues!

Will report if I run into any issues

 

[BR666T]

I did the update yesterday and I took the car to the mountain (320km round trip) this morning. Was preconditioned and charged by 7am. I drove all the way to the mountain with it on manual and no issues (-16) outside. Left the car climate on by accident as I did some runs. Couple hours later, came back. Drove off, this time switched to auto, and had no issues the whole way home (-14)

To me, the heat felt better and more consistent after the update. Was blowing warm the whole time. The Tesla will fog the door windows no matter what, unless you direct the air over to them. Clears them right up for me

Hopefully this update fixes most peoples issues!

Will report if I run into any issues

Thanks for the report. Good results so far! Another user from Quebec reported the issue is fixed as well.

An even better test would be to leave the car outside and let everything (including the HV battery)
get completely cold soaked overnight. Then try to heat it with the app.

 

[Lightbulb]

Thanks for the report. Good results so far! Another user from Quebec reported the issue is fixed as well.

An even better test would be to leave the car outside and let everything (including the HV battery)
get completely cold soaked overnight. Then try to heat it with the app.

That is essentially what I did. I did the update yesterday evening. The car sits outside in the elements and it got to -21 last night and it preconditioned automatically for me by 7 when I left and she was toasty. She was on for 5 hours straight today as I left the climate on while I was on the mountain snowboarding. I really hope this update is the fix for a majority of it

Some of us might still have octovalve or sensor issues

 

[PatP]

One thing I noticed is the outside temperature on my vehicle lags a lot when I go from a garage to outside. I could be driving 20 minutes but the temperature still says -1 or whatever my garage temp was at on my display even though its actually -30 outside. Maybe this has to do with screwing up the heat? Not sure. My other vehicles have a slight delay for outside temperature but not 20 minutes...

We have exactly this problem on our Model Y. A lag of about 15-20 min. before the ext. temperature "adjust' to the real one.

 

[BR666T]

That is essentially what I did. I did the update yesterday evening. The car sits outside in the elements and it got to -21 last night and it preconditioned automatically for me by 7 when I left and she was toasty. She was on for 5 hours straight today as I left the climate on while I was on the mountain snowboarding. I really hope this update is the fix for a majority of it

Some of us might still have octovalve or sensor issues

Fantastic. That would definitely have caused the issue. Thanks again for the report.

I think you're right that some people are being impacted by sensor and other hardware issues.

 

[Ruffles]

Made it to the service center in Boise. They said they have heard of several heating problems but none are supposedly fixed with firmware. They checked the coolant levels in the system and said it was a little low but not enough to cause problems so they flushed, refilled, and reran some diagnostics which it failed. It's blowing warmer air than before but something is still wrong so they are digging further. If you are having this issue, I'd schedule a service appointment. Big thanks to Tesla for looking at my car without an appointment and trying to get me going on my trip. I should find out more in a couple hours when they finish additional diagnostics and figure out what parts it needs and if they have them in stock.

 

[Emira]

So here's a new one, my heat died while pre-conditioning it outside at work. Could not restart it from the app, walked to the car and it had the error message...

Drove to grab lunch with 0 heat, just heated steering wheel and seats.

 

[Dee$]

Same issue and error code in my month old 2022 MY with the V11 (2021.44.30). I dropped it off at the Tesla service center and they were able to fix it in two days. It appears to be hardware issue. I think I heard the service advisor say leak in the system and needed to replace radiator and supermanifold. I noticed this issue as my MY fail preconditioning which was followed by that error code. The only thing I had done different was the software update.