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Trevor B

Active Member
Apr 2, 2016
1,178
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USA
I'm coming up on my first anniversary.

Since Tesla recently switched to an "as needed" model for maintenance, I'm assuming there's nothing to do for now until I get to one of these milestones?

What is winter care? :)

  • Tire Rotation, Balance, and Wheel Alignment: 10,000 - 12,000 miles
  • Brake Fluid Test/Flush: 2 years
  • Cabin Air Filter: 2 years
  • High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) Filter: 3 years (if equipped)
  • Air Conditioning Service: 2 years (Model S), 4 years (Model X), 6 years (Model 3)
  • Winter Care: Annually or every 12,500 miles for cars in cold weather climates.
 
I'm coming up on my first anniversary.

Since Tesla recently switched to an "as needed" model for maintenance, I'm assuming there's nothing to do for now until I get to one of these milestones?

What is winter care? :)

  • Tire Rotation, Balance, and Wheel Alignment: 10,000 - 12,000 miles
  • Brake Fluid Test/Flush: 2 years
  • Cabin Air Filter: 2 years
  • High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) Filter: 3 years (if equipped)
  • Air Conditioning Service: 2 years (Model S), 4 years (Model X), 6 years (Model 3)
  • Winter Care: Annually or every 12,500 miles for cars in cold weather climates.

#1 - Remove balance and re-alignment. Do the rotation as needed (keeping an eye on tire wear). In 10K miles, you can wear off the rears to the cords, if you drive RWD model enthusiastically.
#3 and #4 on your list are likely one and the same.

Ongoing:
  • Refill windshield wiper fluid.
  • Replacement wiper blades (rubber part, or the whole blade) either after every winter, or when they start streaking (depends on climate)
  • Keep en eye on brake pad wear. Replace when they are down to 2-3mm of pad material.
 
Is there a reason why balance and re-alignment wouldn't be needed?
Balance has to do with wheel/tire balance. When unbalanced, you will feel a vibration in the cabin and/or steering wheel - depending on which tire/wheel has become unbalanced. Unbalancing usually occurs if there's been some damage to the wheel/tire (which isn't good) or one or more of the wheel weights have fallen off (which is totally fine and a cheap fix).

Alignment is needed if you notice any uneven tire wear...after you've accounted for using the correct tire pressures. Or if you notice the car drifts towards left or right while driving - such as you may need to hold the wheel to the left or the right (just off center) to keep it going straight. Most modern cars, unless you've hit something fairly hard like a curb, your alignment will be fine for years.
 
What is winter care? :)
  • Winter Care: Annually or every 12,500 miles for cars in cold weather climates.
Not sure what winter care is, I've never "winterized" my car. One item that does need a little more attention in winter climates is annual brake service (lube calipers mainly) as they can get gunked up depending how much road salt they use where you live. I've only done that once in 87,000 km though, at my 80k service before my warranty was up.

Not sure why the 3 would be any different than my S in that regard.
 
Not sure what winter care is, I've never "winterized" my car. One item that does need a little more attention in winter climates is annual brake service (lube calipers mainly) as they can get gunked up depending how much road salt they use where you live. I've only done that once in 87,000 km though, at my 80k service before my warranty was up.

Not sure why the 3 would be any different than my S in that regard.

The obvious ones are changing to winter tires and add antifreeze to the wiper fluid.
 
Not sure what winter care is, I've never "winterized" my car. One item that does need a little more attention in winter climates is annual brake service (lube calipers mainly) as they can get gunked up depending how much road salt they use where you live.
yea, I was wondering about that winter stuff on my X. In 3 winters up here, I haven't needed to change my tires from the all season ones, as it is doing fine in the snow; and the service center hasn't recommended anything when I go there except to put a bit of antifreeze in the wiper fluid.
As for that replacement of the filters after a "FIXED" period of time, I have wondered why the Tesla doesn't just put up a reminder when it is needed and base it on time of use, not a calendar. After all, it knows when and how long the fan is on and tracks it in the log. It would be a bit more accurate than basing it on a calendar time like every other car on the planet.
 
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I was at my local service center recently and asked about any maintenance 'schedule' for the Model 3. I was advised to have the brake fluid checked at 2-3 years. Coolant every 5-6 years. Maybe do a drive unit/transmission fluid and filter change at 2-3 years (once and done). If you are in an ice or snow/road salt environment, maybe give the brakes a good cleaning in the spring. Not much....
 
afadeev said:
Remove balance and re-alignment.

Is there a reason why balance and re-alignment wouldn't be needed?

As others stated, and I will re-emphasize:
  • Wheels do NOT go out of balance on their own. They only do that when you either hit major potholes and bend them, or you loose loosely installed weights that were used to align the car at the factory (very rare). Either way, you will feel the vibration right away. If it's band enough, you will have taken the car for an inspection/re-balancing independent of annual maintenance routine.
    • If there is no vibration from the wheels now, there absolutely no reason to throw the money out the window to have them re-balanced.
  • Similar with the alignment. Car does NOT go out of alignment by itself. Not without without a massive pothole hit (that bends the wheels), going massively off-road, or airborne. None of those events are normally encountered.
    • If in doubt, inspect the tire wear between inside and outside of the tread. If it's mostly even (as it should be), please don't throw your money away on a spurious re-alignment.

Unless you brake like a madman, brake pad wear on an EV is nil due to regen...

Not exactly true.
There is pad wear on Tesla's due to the traction control intervening (by applying brakes) with all that torque at your disposal. If you take your car to driving schools or autoX's, there will be accelerated brake pad wear as well.

All things being equal, you will see more brake pad wear on a Tesla then on a Leaf.
Unless you drive it like it's a Prius.
In which case - shame on you!
:D

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I should be set for now.
btw, I got that list from: Car Maintenance

All good stuff.

One more thing I do in the fall, after I stop using AC (fall for me, maybe different for your climate), is spray some Lysol into the HVAC air intakes. Then windows down, fan speed at the max for a few minutes, and circulate the mixture through the air pipes and vents to kill off the moisture loving bacteria and mold.

This helps when your HVAC starts smelling like dirty socks.
But works even better preventatively.

How to Use Lysol to Clean Bacteria Out of Your Car's Air Conditioning System « Auto Maintenance & Repairs :: WonderHowTo


a
 
Balance has to do with wheel/tire balance. When unbalanced, you will feel a vibration in the cabin and/or steering wheel - depending on which tire/wheel has become unbalanced. Unbalancing usually occurs if there's been some damage to the wheel/tire (which isn't good) or one or more of the wheel weights have fallen off (which is totally fine and a cheap fix).

Alignment is needed if you notice any uneven tire wear...after you've accounted for using the correct tire pressures. Or if you notice the car drifts towards left or right while driving - such as you may need to hold the wheel to the left or the right (just off center) to keep it going straight. Most modern cars, unless you've hit something fairly hard like a curb, your alignment will be fine for years.

Quoted for emphasis. This is spot on.
 
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Also, some people like to apply a wax-like substance to the door window gaskets, to prevent sticking. It's a german product, Gummi Pflege. And for those people who have to park outside in below freezing temps, I was thinking a battery powered hairdryer might be a nice accessory to unfreeze door handles and charge ports.
 
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"winter care" might be lubing up the brake hardware every year if you live in winter climates. I just did mine for the first time. The grease gets washed off from the surfaces that the brake pads rub against the pistons, calipers, and clips. They start to corrode and stick due to the brake pad backing being steel and the calipers being aluminum. Tesla recommends lubing them up once a year.

Also, it's a good idea to carry a hand warmer like "Hot Hands" in case you get moisture in your charge port and it gives you issues. Just activate the hand warmer, jam it in the charge port, and close the door. This will allow the frozen moisture to melt and let the charge port latch function again. If you have a car made late in 2018 or later you probably have the revised charge port that is supposed to be more resistant to trapping water and letting it freeze.
 
I am going to disagree with everyone else saying wheels/tires do not go out of balance on their own, but with a caveat. While not as common, you can get slightly off balance due to uneven tire wear. When wheels and tires are balanced they are spun at a rapid speed and the weight is then located in a specific spot to offset any balance issues, generally when tires are brand new. Depending on your driving habits, you could theoretically unbalance a wheel/tire without hitting potholes.

That all being said, I wouldn't balance and align unless you live in the Northeast and hit lots of potholes, I hope you don't do the latter.

You will however need to balance the wheels and tires if you have the tires dismounted and remounted as the balance of the tire, now worn similar to the principle above, will balance differently. If you have a staggered setup you need to dismount for a rotation to really be effective as you can only go cross L to R and only if not directional. If you have a square set-up with tires that are not direction, do the old school method of front to rear, left to right.

Tires on the Teslas can wear extremely fast on the inner of the rears and outer of the fronts due to the fairly extreme camber for a street car and the heavy nature of the car, combined with spirited driving.

Everything else said above holds true, make sure your washer fluid is suitable for cold temps, check tire wear, remove any summer performance tire for the winter even if you don't get snow if your air temp is consistently below 40 degrees F.