Air Conditioning Reduced DC FastCharging/Supercharging rate may be reduced -Error Help

[unknownR]

Thanks in advance for any help or insight. Our car can't handle heat - we get the message below:

Nearly 3hours after being parked it's blowing hotter air than outside air!!

We have a 2017 75D 6 passenger Model X that struggles with A/C when it's hot out. Fortunately we live in Vancouver where the climate is quite mild year round. However this past week we had a heat wave with temperatures getting to 42C (108F) and while driving 25miles on street roads and a short bit on the freeway, as we entered the supercharger parking lot the a/c slowly changed from blowing cool air to blowing hot air while we were waiting for a supercharger spot. After charging at the supercharger I got the message above. We called Tesla roadside and they said the car is fine you just don't have A/C and you are safe to drive (ie it won't explode -it is a jumbo lithium battery on wheels after all). So at 108F we turned back home, as fortunately the next day we had an appointment to take the car in for a squeaky upper arm assembly repair.

Tesla service here in Vancouver says the AC system is functioning as designed and No trouble is found! However at the 20bay supercharger no one else had this problem. Does anyone know how to get Tesla service to understand/diagnose the problem? We told them to go drive it in the heat for an hour - and bring a 2nd ICE car to pick them up before they melt, but that didn't go well!
I have read on the Model S forum about this issue and Louvers that don't open causing this problem, however on the ModelX I cant see these louvers and there is little info.
Air Conditioning Reduced
Louvers Model S
Tesla service here in temperate western Canada can't diagnose this problem. I wish I could see the Thermal Management screen, and we're afraid to take this on a road trip anymore. We may have to use the technique at the end of this link: Awesome Cybergus

Thanks

 

[Nicebag]

When was the last time you checked A/C gas level?

 

[Ddivinia]

Not good. I am worried about AC in Texas in the new MS Plaid I have on order.

If the AC doesn't work, my wife won't drive it. Heck, I won't drive it. She will jump back in the CTS-V.

Keep us posted.

D.

 

[StanMI]

90+ here in Michigan and humidity to match last week. 5 seater so no second compressor, comfortable as could be. Made a trip to a supercharger we had not been to yet ( yes we are one of those!!) waited in the X from 25% to about 75% , very comfortable sitting in direct sunshine.

Not bragging, just saying you might want to find another SC for a second opinion. Or even try a call to Tesla.

Good luck !!

 

[unknownR]

When was the last time you checked A/C gas level?

Hi Nicebag,

They checked the AC gas level after this incident, and said it is within spec.
We now have this loaner Model S Tesla which I noticed during the heat wave has a fan or something that sounds like a jet engine for a few minutes just after starting the car, then it seems to slowly get quieter. Our car doesn't make the same noise, so makes me suspicious there is some venting/fan/louver issue. So far the software guys at Tesla SC say things are fine.

 

[mxnym]

5 seater so no second compressor

FWIW, apparently the 6 and 7 seaters don't have a second compressor, they only have a second condenser. Unfortunately, the Internet is always rife with misinformation. I, too, was under the impression that there was a second compressor until I was corrected by someone who would know.

 

[StanMI]

Thank you !! I knew is was a couple thousand dollars for a second something.......just couldn't remember what !!

 

[Aljohn]

@unknownR On some early X's there was a misconnection of the cooling/AC ports. Caused AC to be reduced and loud cooling fan noise when charging.

Have SC check the following: Service Bulletin 420007 for Tesla EQUIPMENT | AutoMD

 

[unknownR]

@unknownR On some early X's there was a misconnection of the cooling/AC ports. Caused AC to be reduced and loud cooling fan noise when charging.

Have SC check the following: Service Bulletin 420007 for Tesla EQUIPMENT | AutoMD

Thanks Aljohn. We sent the SC all the info from the potential issues from the posts, and the car is still being serviced. The SC says they have reached out to Tesla HQ for help troubleshooting. No word yet on what they are doing, nor how big the bill will be. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[Aljohn]

Thanks Aljohn. We sent the SC all the info from the potential issues from the posts, and the car is still being serviced. The SC says they have reached out to Tesla HQ for help troubleshooting. No word yet on what they are doing, nor how big the bill will be. I'll keep everyone posted.

@unknownR Good luck. The SC here fixed my 2016 MX. It made a significant difference in noise when charging and AC performance in "Hot-Lanta". Hope they find it.

 

[unknownR]

We got our MX back from the SC yesterday (in shop for 2 weeks), they said the thermal tests all came back normal, and everything checked out, but they sent our issue to the Tesla engineers who noticed on one of the logs (they only keep 90 days worth of logs) there was a brief condenser issue(while still under warranty), so as a potential remedy, they changed the condenser.

The SC said to keep a watch and see if we notice a difference (the weather here has returned to mid 70s - so need a hot day to test), but he also said that there is a 'bug report' which is a way to store detailed logs and sensor values which can be really useful for intermittent issues like this. The bug report takes a time stamped snap of all the warnings on the dash, and records all the logs (beyond the 90 day rolling period) and is very helpful for the engineers when troubleshooting. To store a bug report, you press the speak button on the steering wheel and say 'bug report'.

Also we learned that both the X and S have a 2 stage cooling system, with the second stage for really hot days. On the Model S the second stage causes louvers to open and it sounds like a 'jet engine'. The X does not have louvers, and the 2nd stage of cooling sounds more like many fans and a very faint low pitch rumble. We never heard the low pitch rumble before this repair so fingers crossed the condenser was the issue.

 

[Ghosty]

This message just popped up on my S Dec 2016 build, 75. It was parked at gym, temperature outside was about 113 degrees. As usual, fan is like a jet engine but that has been the norm as Tesla advised me that nothing was wrong since it was under warranty. Now, out of warranty, I get this message. Car was not supercharging and has not super charged in over a year.

 

[unknownR]

This message just popped up on my S Dec 2016 build, 75. It was parked at gym, temperature outside was about 113 degrees. As usual, fan is like a jet engine but that has been the norm as Tesla advised me that nothing was wrong since it was under warranty. Now, out of warranty, I get this message. Car was not supercharging and has not super charged in over a year.

Hi Ghosty,
Sorry to hear about this. It seems this issue is tricky to troubleshoot for the SC. We still don't know if ours was fixed and it was in the shop for 2 weeks. We haven't had enough hot weather to test it.

First thing to do when you get the error is store a bug report by using the steering wheel voice command say 'bug report'. This helps Tesla engineers get a view of all the logs and dash data which they store. The next thing to do is see if the louvers open when the car is hot. Our experience has been that Tesla tries to diagnose everything by software and perhaps some mechanical events don't get stored in the logs (probably unjustified opinion- but the car is more of a driving smartphone than a mechanical automobile).

 

[Ghosty]

Hi Ghosty,
Sorry to hear about this. It seems this issue is tricky to troubleshoot for the SC. We still don't know if ours was fixed and it was in the shop for 2 weeks. We haven't had enough hot weather to test it.

First thing to do when you get the error is store a bug report by using the steering wheel voice command say 'bug report'. This helps Tesla engineers get a view of all the logs and dash data which they store. The next thing to do is see if the louvers open when the car is hot. Our experience has been that Tesla tries to diagnose everything by software and perhaps some mechanical events don't get stored in the logs (probably unjustified opinion- but the car is more of a driving smartphone than a mechanical automobile).

Hi UR,

Thanks for reply. After reading more about this issue, I inspected the Louvers and the three front driver ones are closed. The two top passenger ones are closed but the third, bottom one is open. The open Louver appears to be "stuck" and has not closed since I started observing.

Interestingly, I had an appointment with Tesla due to an issue of black screen and blinkers not working. I considered that a hazard and opted to schedule a service appointment instead of waiting for them to contact me to bring it in (my car falls under their "soft recall" for that memory issue).

Long story short, I made an appointment last week and showed up to appointment but no loaners were available. The rep was extremely polite, offered Uber credits. I asked if they could reschedule me for when a loaner was available. Said he couldn't guarantee but rescheduled me for this Friday. Friendly, and very polite Tesla rep. This Monday evening, I experienced the AC message. So I called it in and updated my Tesla App service appointment to include this information.

Today, I got a message asking me to bring in the car before my Friday appointment if AC was not working. A few hours later I was at the Tesla Service Center. In all my years of ownership, Tesla reps have always been polite, friendly, and just down to earth people. Today, I drove with a cabin that was 120+ degrees inside. Despite this, I showed up, was polite and simply addressed the message asking me to bring in car before my Friday appointment. The Tesla rep conducted herself with the utmost unprofessionalism. Hostile, rude, and completely dismissive. I was taken aback. Flabbergasted to be honest. As an employer, I have zero tolerance for that kind of customer service.

All that aside, the manager was called. I explained the situation (while the employee was next to him still throwing a fit, shrugging next to her boss). Manager was very friendly and addressed my concerns.

I'm going to try a few more "hard resets" to see restart will make the Louver close. The reset by pressing buttons and the "shut off power?" was tried last night to no avail. Will try again a few more times...see if I have any success. Otherwise, car is not driveable in this weather. We are hitting 112 avg heat in Vegas.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[ShawnA]

Hi @Ghosty ,

If you want to do some resets, the best reset is
to change your wheel size or wheel color on the service menu,
let the car reboot, and then change the wheel color or size back to
what it really is... It will reboot again.

This is the best reset an owner can perform as it resets the gateway...

Good luck,

Shawn

 

[Ghosty]

Hi @Ghosty ,

If you want to do some resets, the best reset is
to change your wheel size or wheel color on the service menu,
let the car reboot, and then change the wheel color or size back to
what it really is... It will reboot again.

This is the best reset an owner can perform as it resets the gateway...

Good luck,

Shawn

Hi ShawnA,

Thank you for that tip. I will try that this evening. I'll update post with results.

 

[unknownR]

Hi @Ghosty,
See if the outside car cooling louvers open. Here is a you tube video showing what they look like on the Model S (The X doesn't have these)
Model S cooling Louvers -Youtube

Also take a 'bug report' to document the errors happening.

 

[Ghosty]

Hi @Ghosty,
See if the outside car cooling louvers open. Here is a you tube video showing what they look like on the Model S (The X doesn't have these)
Model S cooling Louvers -Youtube

Also take a 'bug report' to document the errors happening.

Hi there UR,

Looks like the Louvers on my car are not working. None of them open, except the bottom passenger side one. However, that Louver looks like it is "detached/broken." The rest are always closed. I'm assuming this is the reason why I've had the "Jet engine" fan sound on car. If louvers have failed and don't open, batteries get hot and the Fan runs overtime?

I tried addressing this while my car was under warranty but I got no where with Tesla. Fast forward a few months after warranty and looks like this may have caused my current AC issue. When I brought this up with the Tesla rep, she went bananas. I didn't really care at that point - given the extreme heat in Vegas if they charged me or not. I just need my car fixed.

Now I'm concerned - as they ordered ASY FR END DUCTING WITH HORNS, MS2, Part #: 1058073-00-B, without physically inspecting the car. Concerned b/c my appoint, scheduled for tomorrow, was cancelled and rescheduled two weeks from now b/c of the ordered part. Now I'm just hoping they don't inspect the car when the part arrives only to be told more delays b/c they found some other issue.

Thank you for tip though, I'll see if I can post a video on youtube and link it here so you can see the Louver that is opened and the rest remain closed.

 

[CFinVancouver]

2015 model 85D.
I read this and have some thoughts and observations on this.
2017 we did a trip from Vancouver BC down to Phoenix AZ and back. We hit 50C supercharging in Needles CA. The car would ramp up the louvered cooling fans only while supercharger. The right one would not open during this attempt to cool. Back in Vancouver we had a thermal test done and SC realized louvers did not open on one side. They ordered parts and never called me for 6 months, I only found out on another service (typical tesla).
Fast forward, we are crossing Canada to Toronto and back in this heat. Since the battery pack fire issues and the neutered supercharger update to the 85kw pack, the cooling is much more aggressive. The fans will ramp up as soon as I leave the highway, they will run anytime I am move in city traffic. The ac is able to keep up with the heat, we have had no issues with error codes. I worry more about the collection of insects I have massacred into my ac grill. Big clean up job when I get home.
I agree the SC people rely too much on software and not enough mechanics of these systems.

 

[Ghosty]

So I just completed an update on my car and the "Louvers" on the Driver side opened while the car was updating. However, as soon as I touched them, they closed. Once the update was complete, I took a drive and the AC message was gone. AC worked for 20 mins or so. Not blowing super cold air, but some cold air. However, I can hear that super loud fan working. Soon after, message popped up again and AC stopped working. My appointment has also been pushed back two weeks until July 29th. Car not drivable as too hot. No loaner. Sad panda.