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Air Conditioner Blowing Hot Air 3 days before my road trip...

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mbhforum

mbhforum

Active Member
Apr 4, 2016
1,226
642
Long Island, NY
#1
Got into my car coming home from work and the entire 15 minute ride, hot air blowing from A/C. I tried powering the car down, rebooting MCU, resetting Climate Control settings and nothing worked. The soonest Tesla SC appointment is Monday, August 27th and we were going to take the car to Lancaster, PA this weekend for a road trip. Great!

I am assuming it's a condenser issue, but I know you guys will have better guesses than me. It's been humid, but nothing too crazy and it's worked fine all summer until today.
 
#2
When was the last time you remember it blowing cold air? My A/C failed earlier this summer and there was a small leak discovered in the evaporator. It was probably blowing hotter and hotter over a longer period of time but it didn't register until a particularly warmer day when I needed it more.

If you have a good rapport with your SC, they may be able to squeeze you in earlier. When my SC learned that it was an A/C issue, they were more inclined to squeeze me in sooner than the system was showing available.
 
#3
It was working fine this morning. I’ve always noticed water puddles when running my ac in my driveway....figured It was normal. It’s been consistently hot then last few weeks. Going to try your idea and beg and plea with the SC directly.
 
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#4
mbhforum said:
It was working fine this morning. I’ve always noticed water puddles when running my ac in my driveway....figured It was normal. It’s been consistently hot then last few weeks. Going to try your idea and beg and plea with the SC directly.
Click to expand...

That is normal for any car in the summer!

It is the condensation coming off a cold A/C system in the hot/warm temps!

Freon would not drip to the ground like that, it would evaporate in the air!
 
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#6
I charged my car and after it finished charging, I went to take a look and hard this low humming sound coming from it. I unplugged from mobile charger and then I opened my driver’s side door and closed it and the sound stopped. It came back a few minutes later. Does anyone have any idea what this is and is it related to my a/c? sounds like it might be my compressor?


IMG_1328.MOV
 
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#8
Snowstorm said:
The sounds like the AC working. It can get loud. If it is hot, AC can sometimes come on to cool the battery when charging.
Click to expand...

When I trigger Climate Control on, I hear the fans, just blowing hot air. That humming is different.....Tesla told me today they don't send Mobile Rangers out for A/C issues, but I read several threads where that is not the case, so I am calling them back tomorrow.
 
#9
The fan was loud and the AC didn't cool down lower than 71 degrees.
Ranger replaced this part and all is well. Even the loud sound is quieter now. Part had to be ordered. I was also told if the issue is freon related, ranger won't come out, you need SC apt.
Hope this helps.
 

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#10
mbhforum said:
I charged my car and after it finished charging, I went to take a look and hard this low humming sound coming from it. I unplugged from mobile charger and then I opened my driver’s side door and closed it and the sound stopped. It came back a few minutes later. Does anyone have any idea what this is and is it related to my a/c?


IMG_1328.MOV
Click to expand...

That is from cooling fan. When the AC is off, the car uses fan for cooling down the battery.

I suggested you bring your car to the SC asap. Don’t let your car screw up your trip.
 
#11
I agree that water condensation puddles are normal in humid weather and that your symptoms do not indicate a slow leak - working fine until suddenly not working at all is almost always one of three things: catastrophic refrigerant leak (like road debris tearing a hose); compressor seized; or, most likely, a control issue.

On ICE cars, I'd suggest looking at harness connections, relay(s) and low pressure cut-off switch (to protect compressors from lack of oil, carried by the refrigerant, a low pressure switch will prevent the compressor from engaging) as the first and easiest things to check and correct.

I don't know how A/C is controlled on Teslas, but have to believe there is some similar low pressure sensor to protect the compressor - checking that should be within the scope of a Ranger's ability.

Good luck and stay cool!
 
#12
We had this problem from time to time during our recently completed 6 week road trip. Tesla service found no issues.

The key to get AC working again was switching from recirculating to fresh air. That seemed to fix it each time. Seems counter intuitive, but it worked.
 
#13
So I woke up this morning and now my A/C is working again???!!! This is very strange. Should I bother bringing to the Service Center at this point?

One thing I noticed is I tried to use the app to cool down the car before I got into it and I am not sure if it completed properly. I wonder if it was stuck in this in between stage and a good overnight deep sleep self corrected it????

I wonder that it clearly isn't a free-on issue, if they will send Mobile Ranger to the house.
 
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#17
jorobsand said:
At the very least they were able to take you in earlier than the 27th and hopefully get you back in shape before your road trip. Best of luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks. They aren’t finishing diagnosing it but they will have those parts ready by Friday to be swapped just in case. I can’t imagine it being anything else at this point. Anyone have any other ideas what could cause inconsistent hot air from blowing?

On the plus side, they gave me a Jaguar XF rental. Those leather seats are far more comfortable than our vehicles.
 
#18
Hopefully they truly diagnose your (probable) control issue. The rest of their response sounds like parts swappers: "hey Bubba, let's just keep throwing parts at it 'til something works." Not inspiring if you have an intermittent problem. Let us know how it works out.
 
#19
I wonder if you have a valve issue? I think the AC is the same system that the BMS uses to cool the pack. Perhaps the car thinks it needs to cool the battery vs giving you inside cool air. Although when it does that you should get a prompt on the screen that tells you the AC is being restricted to cool the battery.
 
#20
Kalex said:
The fan was loud and the AC didn't cool down lower than 71 degrees.
Ranger replaced this part and all is well. Even the loud sound is quieter now. Part had to be ordered. I was also told if the issue is freon related, ranger won't come out, you need SC apt.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
I just had a new “acuator - inlet” installed. My AC has been performing poorly and freezing up. It seams much better now.

And idea exactly which part is “actuator - inlet” actually is?
 
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