Air Conditioning Problem

[Struja]

I've read on this forum that others have had the problem I have had but I wanted some thoughts on what I should do...

So, I've had my car for about a month now (S90D) and the first time the problem came up while I was charging my car at home. We had a power outage which interrupted the charge. Shortly thereafter I went to drive the car and noticed that the AC wasn't working. The fan was blowing but it was just warm air coming out. I tried a soft reset and nothing. I tried a hard reset and still nothing. I plugged the car back in and about an hour later, the AC was back.

About 10 days later same problem except there was no power outage or charge interruption which may have been the cause but the AC was blowing warm air again. Waited about an hour and charged it and the AC came back.

Fast forward to today and it happened again. Three times in 4 weeks.

So, I called my nearest service centre while the AC was still not working. I was told that I need to note the time and day that this happens so that Tesla techs can try to figure out the problem and that I should wait until it "happens five more times" before booking a service appointment. Remember at the time my AC hadn't come back yet so I was a bit incredulous. I told the SC that I wear a suit everyday and I can't drive in a car with no AC because I would be a sweaty mess.

The response was "yeah, but you said that the AC eventually comes back" , to which I said..."but how do I know it will come back this time?"

So, I pretty much forced her into giving me an appointment on Monday morning but about 2 hours later the AC came back and I am concerned I may get the old "we can't duplicate the problem" bit, so I wanted to know if anyone knows what the definitive problem is on this issue and how to approach it with the SC?

 

[wallstguy]

I've had the issue but I simply took it the same day this happened to me. More of a "walk-in", drop the car off and get a rental. They didn't look at the car for a couple days, but the service rep immediately took a guess that it was an issue with the "O ring" allowing AC coolant to leak out, and apparently this a common and well known issue.

 

[Struja]

I've had the issue but I simply took it the same day this happened to me. More of a "walk-in", drop the car off and get a rental. They didn't look at the car for a couple days, but the service rep immediately took a guess that it was an issue with the "O ring" allowing AC coolant to leak out, and apparently this a common and well known issue.

That is very helpful. I will let them know of this potential issue.

 

[BrettS]

That is very helpful. I will let them know of this potential issue.

For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t do that. I work in tier three IT support and when people present potential diagnoses to their problems it seems to cause more problems than solutions. First, often the technicians don’t take you seriously anyway if you just walk in and say “this is what’s happening and I heard on the internet that it’s a bad o-ring” when it could be any number of things, and in some cases technicians will take offense to that and feel like you are trying to do their job for them because you think they can’t do their job.

But even more than that I’ve seen a number of cases where technicians get led down the wrong path by something like that. Suggesting that it’s a bad o-ring could cause them to spend all their time looking at the o-ring and not finding any problems with it and then they completely miss the actual cause of the problem.

I think it’s much more helpful to come with a comprehensive list of symptoms and explain exactly what you were seeing and let them try to work out the cause. Giving them as much detail as possible about the symptoms you have is going to be much more helpful than giving them a list of things that have been done to fix other people’s air conditioners that may or may not have had the same problem as yours. Tell them when it happened (including date and time, if possible so they can check the logs) and how long it was out each time. Tell them what you were doing each time (was it broken as soon as you started driving or did it fail during your drive?). Tell them whether it was unusually hot or cold or rainy on the days when it failed. The more detail you can give them about the symptoms the more likely you are to get your problem solved on the first attempt.

 

[jabers]

For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t do that. I work in tier three IT support and when people present potential diagnoses to their problems it seems to cause more problems than solutions. First, often the technicians don’t take you seriously anyway if you just walk in and say “this is what’s happening and I heard on the internet that it’s a bad o-ring” when it could be any number of things, and in some cases technicians will take offense to that and feel like you are trying to do their job for them because you think they can’t do their job.

But even more than that I’ve seen a number of cases where technicians get led down the wrong path by something like that. Suggesting that it’s a bad o-ring could cause them to spend all their time looking at the o-ring and not finding any problems with it and then they completely miss the actual cause of the problem.

I think it’s much more helpful to come with a comprehensive list of symptoms and explain exactly what you were seeing and let them try to work out the cause. Giving them as much detail as possible about the symptoms you have is going to be much more helpful than giving them a list of things that have been done to fix other people’s air conditioners that may or may not have had the same problem as yours. Tell them when it happened (including date and time, if possible so they can check the logs) and how long it was out each time. Tell them what you were doing each time (was it broken as soon as you started driving or did it fail during your drive?). Tell them whether it was unusually hot or cold or rainy on the days when it failed. The more detail you can give them about the symptoms the more likely you are to get your problem solved on the first attempt.

Are there any updates re this problem ? My Model S has 377 miles and has been in the shop at Tesla for 10 days (second trip) for the AC which stops putting out cold air and blows warm air then after a while starts up again working. First trip...sensor replaced...this time they said they have to replace a harness but neither any dealer or the factory has one in stock.
South Florida...90 + temps with high humidity and no AC is not good.

 

[wayner]

This won't be an issue for Canadians for the next six months or so - not so much the case in FL.

 

[DMC-Orangeville]

This won't be an issue for Canadians for the next six months or so - not so much the case in FL.

well.....the air conditioner is still used in the winter to dry out the air for the windshield defroster...

 

[Struja]

Are there any updates re this problem ? My Model S has 377 miles and has been in the shop at Tesla for 10 days (second trip) for the AC which stops putting out cold air and blows warm air then after a while starts up again working. First trip...sensor replaced...this time they said they have to replace a harness but neither any dealer or the factory has one in stock.
South Florida...90 + temps with high humidity and no AC is not good.

One visit to the service centre and the replaced some cables and the problem never reared itself again. Good experience at the SC.