A/C not cooling air - Solved

[Snupilal]

Tesla A/C not cooling air - solved

While driving today, the air conditioner in our Tesla Model X was blowing warm air despite trying to cool the car. We tried a mix of simple things - turn off Auto, lower temperature to low, max fan, etc - but no luck. After a call to Tesla support, a bunch of google searches, and enduring a “sweat box” for 45+ mins, I finally fixed the issue.

Details:
- tesla model x
- software v 10.2

Symptom:
- AC is not cooling the air
- On the AC screen I noticed the following message at the bottom right (next to the “dog mode” config), “climate keeper unavailable due to system fault” (photo attached)

How to fix:
1. Turn off cabin overheat protection
2. Turn off the A/C
3. Follow instructions for a soft reset (hold down scroll keys until screen resets)
4. Follow instructions for hard reset (controls - security- power off; wait at least 3 minutes; step on brake to power on)
5. Check A/C screen to see if the “climate keeper unavailable due to system fault” message has disappeared
6. If the message is still there, repeat step 4. It took me 5+ tries to solve the problem.
7. Re-enable cabin overheat protection

Notes:

- When you power off the car in step 4, everything should shut down, and the car should truly be powered off.
- at first, the air kept turning on despite “power off”, and I realized it is due to cabin overheat protection. This prevented the A/C system from powering down

 

[scottf200]

Tesla A/C not cooling air - solved ...
4. Follow instructions for hard reset (controls - security- power off; wait at least 3 minutes; step on brake to power on) ...
6. If the message is still there, repeat step 4. It took me 5+ tries to solve the problem. ...
- When you power off the car in step 4, everything should shut down, and the car should truly be powered off.
- at first, the air kept turning on despite “power off”, and I realized it is due to cabin overheat protection. This prevented the A/C system from powering down

I had an A/C problem once but it was 99F and I was at a supercharger. After getting ice cream and on the way to the car I tried to turn the A/C on via the phone app.
Once in the car it was still hot and the A/C wasn't working. 45 min of trying above things didn't help but I was able to use the phone app and toggle the A/C option and then it worked again. Once strange computer bug/glitch.

I don't under the 5+ power off tries tho. Did Tesla tell you to try it multiple times? Seems like 1 would work. The X manual does say at least 2 minutes for the 'Power Cycle' but longer wouldn't hurt.

 

[Snupilal]

I had an A/C problem once but it was 99F and I was at a supercharger. After getting ice cream and on the way to the car I tried to turn the A/C on via the phone app.
Once in the car it was still hot and the A/C wasn't working. 45 min of trying above things didn't help but I was able to use the phone app and toggle the A/C option and then it worked again. Once strange computer bug/glitch.

I don't under the 5+ power off tries tho. Did Tesla tell you to try it multiple times? Seems like 1 would work. The X manual does say at least 2 minutes for the 'Power Cycle' but longer wouldn't hurt.

I think it took multiple tries for a few reasons:
1. The hard reset is really sensitive to any movement inside the car, and if it detects anything you need to start over

2. some systems weren’t shutting down for whatever reason despite waiting 5+ minutes at one point. It finally worked when I knew for sure all systems were shut down, and I heard absolutely no noises from the car.

 

[Majorfubar]

I had “Air Conditioner reduced...supercharging May be reduced” problem developed over this past winter.

I tried several reboots, however it turns out my needed new AC hose lines. $450 CAD repair job. I wasn’t as lucky.

 

[Alicemerry]

We noticed we weren’t getting cold air in our (new in March) X a couple weeks ago. Called Tesla service on a Saturday, they said to just show up at the service center Monday morning without an appointment. They took the car, and gave us a loaner. It took a couple days for them to figure out that it was a temperature sensor and more time to get the part. We picked up the car a week after we dropped it off. It was our first experience with Tesla service. We were pretty happy with the team in Portland. It would have been inconvenient if we had been planning a trip or something, but we were fine with the Model S they gave us.

 

[jboy210]

A full reboot is a pretty standard thing to try with MCU issues. You can also do it by holding down brake and pressing steering wheel buttons for 5-10 seconds. Then release and systems will cycle and slowly come up over the next minute or so.

 

[ithinkmac]

Not always a software issue. I have exactly the same problem. Tried exactly the same fixes (Tesla tech over the phone, Google), although I didn't do the multiple retries. Turns out it was the AC Compressor. Was on my way down to SoCal, died @ Kettleman Tesla SC, drive down to Costa Mesa service center in 100 degree heat, rolling down window takes in more heat from the outside. It was a trip that the whole family will remember for ever.

Got a loaner from Costa Mesa SC, drove it back up to NorCal. Then a month after it's done, they drove my car back up and took loaner back. I thought it was pretty good service all things considered.

-ThinkMac-

 

[Snupilal]

A full reboot is a pretty standard thing to try with MCU issues. You can also do it by holding down brake and pressing steering wheel buttons for 5-10 seconds. Then release and systems will cycle and slowly come up over the next minute or so.

what you describe is a “soft reset”. “Hard Reset” is required to address firmware issues for certain sub-systems like the A/C.

 

[RedXowner]

what you describe is a “soft reset”. “Hard Reset” is required to address firmware issues for certain sub-systems like the A/C.

Where are the directions for "Hard Reset?" Thanks!

 

[scottf200]

Where are the directions for "Hard Reset?" Thanks!

The first post said it.
4. Follow instructions for hard reset (controls - security- power off; wait at least 3 minutes; step on brake to power on)

 

[jboy210]

what you describe is a “soft reset”. “Hard Reset” is required to address firmware issues for certain sub-systems like the A/C.

Soft reset does not include the brake pressing.

 

[P85_DA]

Not related to software but I had a AC compressor failure at 70k miles unfortunately out of warranty and was $2500 fix ..I live in hot climate drive a lot and supercharge a lot..when supercharging in hot weather it really strains the compressor

 

[Snupilal]

More details on the different types of resets:

Reboot instructions for your Tesla - Tesla Info

more precisely, to solve this problem I needed to do a full power down and restart in order to fix the problem, while ensuring cabin overheat protection was off

 

[iggypop]

We have a month old X and already had to take it into service for this problem. Stopped cooling for a a few days. Than started again. Than stopped with message "THC_W0016 Air conditioning reduced". They allegedly fixed it and I picked up the car yesterday but not 24 hours after the same problem returned and it wasn't even this hot today. Now have to wait a week for the next service window here in Boston.

 

[mikegre]

I have a new Model X (Fed 2020) and my AC is giving me problems. What is happening is that I hear the AC running and it blows cold air, but there is almost no cold air coming out of the vents. It sounds like the vents are muffled or they are not opening all the way.

A hard reset solves the problem but that is only temporary as the problem reasserts itself almost every time I use the AC.

Service center is clueless about this.

 

[KentuckyX]

I have a new Model X (Fed 2020) and my AC is giving me problems. What is happening is that I hear the AC running and it blows cold air, but there is almost no cold air coming out of the vents. It sounds like the vents are muffled or they are not opening all the way.

A hard reset solves the problem but that is only temporary as the problem reasserts itself almost every time I use the AC.

Service center is clueless about this.

I have an older (4/17) X. Same issue recently while on a long trip. I fixed it by turning on the rear AC unit.

 

[Julie119]

We are about to leave on a two day trip from the cool North Carolina mountains to steamy Miami. I’m dreading this since we have the same problems with my Model X (March 2020). The AC cuts out and will restart only after a hard reset. How often must we stop for this and why is customer service so clueless and unhelpful!??

 

[KentuckyX]

We are about to leave on a two day trip from the cool North Carolina mountains to steamy Miami. I’m dreading this since we have the same problems with my Model X (March 2020). The AC cuts out and will restart only after a hard reset. How often must we stop for this and why is customer service so clueless and unhelpful!??

Just curious - do you have the separate front and rear AC systems (or was this just available on the older models)?

 

[P85_DA]

Just curious - do you have the separate front and rear AC systems (or was this just available on the older models)?

6,7 seaters have rear AC there are separate controls

 

[NickFie]

It would have been inconvenient if we had been planning a trip or something, but we were fine with the Model S they gave us.

Almost two years ago our Model 3 was in for front drive unit replacement. Service Center gave me S85. Weekend came, 3 was still in the shop, I had committed to a weekend visit to Cleveland from our home near Philadelphia.

Got the loaner S tire pressure to my preferred level, grabbed our EZ-Pass and took off. Learned to like Autopilot 1 (Waymo).

Our S is in for MCU and Autopilot upgrades, plus other items. If it’s not back before our beach vacation, we’ll use the 85D loaner. Figure it will take two Supercharger stops instead of one with our S100D.