Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

3rd A/C failure

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Thanks for the feedback. It is extremely hot right now in Orlando. Have you had any issues with the warm air blowing randomly?
No, but there are reports of that happening, it seems primarily in TX and AZ, and seems to be associated with the system struggling to balance cooling to the battery or the cabin. Setting to LO is reported to cause this to happen after several minutes.
 
Today I completely lost cold AC while on the freeway. Could not get it to blow cold at all. This rendered the car undrivable in this Florida heat so drove home with windows open and got my trusty Ford. I am not waiting for service appointment on 27th. I am going to drive down to the service center on Monday and demand they take it in for service and give me a loaner. With no AC it is a paperweight.
 
Today I completely lost cold AC while on the freeway. Could not get it to blow cold at all. This rendered the car undrivable in this Florida heat so drove home with windows open and got my trusty Ford. I am not waiting for service appointment on 27th. I am going to drive down to the service center on Monday and demand they take it in for service and give me a loaner. With no AC it is a paperweight.
Watch what happens on Monday morning when you start your trip. I'm betting AC will be normal and Tesla will shrug.

Reason I'm betting this is that this seems more a software issue; when your car sleeps for a day or two, most subsystems power down and come back up when the car is subsequently started and act "normal" again.

I have had one instance where it was diagnosed by a SvC as a bad side camera (had the "autopilot not available" message) right before our big summer road trip. There was no way they'd get that part in time, so I asked the tech to perform a system reboot. Camera back happy as a clam and never has acted up in the years since.
 
Watch what happens on Monday morning when you start your trip. I'm betting AC will be normal and Tesla will shrug.

Reason I'm betting this is that this seems more a software issue; when your car sleeps for a day or two, most subsystems power down and come back up when the car is subsequently started and act "normal" again.

I have had one instance where it was diagnosed by a SvC as a bad side camera (had the "autopilot not available" message) right before our big summer road trip. There was no way they'd get that part in time, so I asked the tech to perform a system reboot. Camera back happy as a clam and never has acted up in the years since.
I thought software as well but it actually is getting worse which seems like a hardware failure. Some people have reported faulty temp sensors which would make sense.
 
I've been running some tests comparing my Model 3 to my Model Y cooling. Yesterday I posted my results on my "garage" test which showed that the Y lagged well behind the 3 to the Tesla Model Y Facebook group. I won't get into full details here, it is a long post but here is a snippet:

It was 113 Degrees out here in sunny Surprise Arizona, and was ~98 degrees in my enclosed garage where both cars are. In both tests the 3 started at a higher temp 100/99 vs 97 for the Y.

I did two tests, one setting the climate to 70 and then setting it to 64 after I let them warm back up.

The 3 took 3:36 minutes to get the 70, the Y never did get to 70, but took 4:06 to get to 71.
The 3 took 3:29 to get to 64, the Y took 6:13.

Today I did the outdoor test and ran into the issue where the Y would just stop blowing cool air. It was 110 out, both cars parked the sun this time (at only 11:30am btw) and I had cabin overheat set to off. Both vehicles were at 130 when I started the test to 64. Well the Y stuck at 87 (and that was after 8 minutes, the 3 was at ~74 at that time). I still have to review the video. After a while (around the 15 minute mark of no change)I went out and checked the Y and tried a few things, but never could get it below 83 even after 30 minutes.

I now have pulled it back into the garage and after 10 minutes it is down to 71. So it is definitely struggling to keep both the cabin and I guess the battery cool in the heat. Even though my garage is still like 96 right now, it at least is out of the sunlight.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: BlindPass
Both vehicles were at 130 when I started the test to 64.
Y'all might want to look at cabin heat protection, since it would be highly unlikely to ever hit that with CHP set on.

But the A/C "quitting" and blowing ambient-temp air does not sound like it's working as designed. If indeed there's an endemic cause that's hardware, Tesla's going to be having a lot of upset folks in the warmer climes.

We are planning a trip this week with a 700 mile round-trip through the San Joaquin Valley, where temps are currently in the 100s. If we notice problems with cooling, by all means I'll post here.
 
I received my MY back from service on Friday. They replaced the super manifold. So far it’s been working and it hit 102 in Houston today. I even parked it in the sun and left climate set to 66. It held for 45 minutes and then I drove it around for 20 minutes or so without issue. I’m seeing here that the manifold didn’t fix some with the problem. I’m hoping somehow I got lucky but I doubt it.
 
Y'all might want to look at cabin heat protection, since it would be highly unlikely to ever hit that with CHP set on.

This was a test with cabin protection purposely off to compare systems, typically I do have it on. However the problem with chp for me right now is it basically runs ALL DAY now when I do have it on at this time a year even with the cars in the garage it has been that hot this year.
 
This was a test with cabin protection purposely off to compare systems, typically I do have it on. However the problem with chp for me right now is it basically runs ALL DAY now when I do have it on at this time a year even with the cars in the garage it has been that hot this year.
That's true, where temps are routinely >105 in the shade, overheat protection doesn't make economic sense.
 
Update on my 2nd AC fix appointment: they ended up doing a "recover and extensive vacuum" (their words) to fix a low side pressure problem. They also found that the front louvers were making some contact with the housing, and shaved them to fix that. So far, so good on a couple of short trips in 115 degree heat. I'll update again if the problem comes back.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rxlawdude
I scheduled an appointment, unfortunately nothing available until September 9th. I'm still hoping at least my issue is a software issue but thinking more it is a sensor issue. Yesterday I turned on my climate control to 66 before I needed to go to the store and it cooled down from 100 (in my garage) within a few minutes. I went to the store and while checking out I turned it on again (car had reached 104 with CHP on and it was 114 out) and by the time I reached the car it had cooled down. However I got home and needed to go out again about a hour later so turned climate on, and it got "stuck" at 71 and never got lower than that even after 10 minutes. Changed my mind and decided not to go out as I didn't want to risk it not working when I got out and about.
 
Easy fix

c3c2f3371febc50cbbd6f8ec78718a38.jpg
 
I’m super frustrated. I picked up my model Y in March. My air conditioning broke soon after. After the nightmare of trying to get someone at Tesla on the phone and a super rude person on their chat, I finally called the roadside assistance number and got ahold of a real person. She was super nice and very helpful and arranged for Service quicker than the 10 days the app scheduled me for. Service said there was some sort of known issue and that they were waiting for a firmware update but they didn’t have details on when. But they assured me that doing a hard reset on the car fixed the issue (even though I tried that 3 times before service). So I went to pick the car back up a few days later and when I got in the car, it still didn’t work. I refused to take the car home to wait for the fix since it’s over 100 degrees in Phoenix and I left the car and said I’d pick it up only after the air conditioner worked. A couple days later they said they got the firmware update and it was good to go. Now, it’s a month or so later and it’s broken again. Hard reset, no effect.

Plus I’ve had other annoyances. One of the windows occasionally won’t auto roll up or down, you have to hold the button (they couldn’t find an issue). I’ve had the window not roll down when opening the door causing the window to get stuck on the gasket (probably what’s causing the auto roll issue to happen). There’s defects under the paint where you can tell they painted over something. I love the technology but after paying $75k I’m disappointed for sure. Especially with trying to get customer service when you need it.

I’ve seen other people with model 3’s with a/c failures. Am I the only one with a Y doing the same thing?
With my Y, I have had 3 air conditioning failures as well with no resolution in the few months that I have had it. The thermostat shows a reading of 120+ and when that happens I have no AC and then the battery won't charge properly. The car is also noisy. My heat pump had the insulating blanket put on but then that is when the real issues seemed to kick in with the air conditioning and charging. I had a 3 that I loved but this one has me regretting buying another Tesla....particularly a new model. And trying tot get a hold of customer service is a joke.
 
Today I take the Model Y in for the heat pump Acoustic blanket retrofit and also to check the A/C system as it initially failed in Las Vegas at over 100 - 115 degrees. The virtual mechanic ran a check of the files during the dates and times I gave them to look, they never texted back. Hoping they find a common denominator to these known issues and replace a Temp Sensor or something.

Washed the Model Y this morning to ensure there are no added damage once I pick up the ride from the SC later tomorrow. I did find 3 small scratches on the right front bumper so I left the Y outside so that the sun will heal the Xpel PPF, will post pictures of that in another thread.

It’s good to wash your car and get it looking like new so that you know it went into the SC clean and with no damages.

5A1F7965-D919-4BE0-B70C-2E1F6EA544B7.jpeg