Another question: Blue liquid under M3

[vickh]

If you have a coolant leak do not drive the car. Get it towed to a service center

Yep. OP You will get two types of responses here. Wing it since you have warranty vs be careful and fix 1st. Depends your risk tolerance.

If you have battery pack damage it might not be a quick fix. Not sure if TSLA warranty gives you a loaner or uber credits like they do with other service+ you're far from SC.

 

[ucmndd]

If you have a coolant leak do not drive the car. Get it towed to a service center

I’ve been explicitly told by the service center that it was perfectly fine to drive the car to them with the low coolant warning present. That’s in fact what the warning says to do.

OP’s car doesn’t even have the warning displayed yet because the level isn’t low enough. It’s perfectly safe to drive.

 

[Braumin]

I’ve been explicitly told by the service center that it was perfectly fine to drive the car to them with the low coolant warning present. That’s in fact what the warning says to do.

OP’s car doesn’t even have the warning displayed yet because the level isn’t low enough. It’s perfectly safe to drive.

This is awful advice. It is one thing to have low coolant vs having an active leak. The last thing you want to do is cause more damage. Zero things that the coolant protect are cheap to fix. Sure the car is under warranty but it's not warranty if you hit a rock and cause a coolant leak. Who pays then? Is insurance going to just pay the whole bill if they find out you knew there was an issue but kept driving anyway? Their entire purpose is to find ways to deny claims. Why risk it?

Just get it towed to service and get it fixed.

 

[vickh]

This is awful advice. It is one thing to have low coolant vs having an active leak. The last thing you want to do is cause more damage. Zero things that the coolant protect are cheap to fix. Sure the car is under warranty but it's not warranty if you hit a rock and cause a coolant leak. Who pays then? Is insurance going to just pay the whole bill if they find out you knew there was an issue but kept driving anyway? Their entire purpose is to find ways to deny claims. Why risk it?

Just get it towed to service and get it fixed.

I guess cause is key. TSLA is more generous than most dealers in my experience (some look to deny warranty claims)For insurance the element of surprise is key. No way to know unless TSLA shares OP's call history

I agree with you though, why take a chance when you can get it fixed ASAP by towing.

 

[LoL-Gas]

The car should monitor this stuff. Without a warning light I don't see any reason to not drive it. How many people out there don't even notice leaks like this? The majority of car owners don't pay attention to stuff like this and the cars do just fine. If they won't let you even submit a claim for service AFTER you told them it's leaking coolant WITHOUT any warning lights, I would have zero issue driving it. I'm assuming you bought the car used through a third/private party? If there is any issue it's going to be from damage that occurred before you had it or in the short period of time you owned it.

My personal car was having a coolant pump issue that would cause it to stop charging midway through DC sessions. Ended up having some coolant parts replaced by Tesla. Drove it for about a month in the middle of summer in Texas until the appointment date; used track mode, supercharged, drove the car hard like usual. No issues.

But like someone else mentioned; it's all about how much risk you want to take. Personally, I see this as very low risk and would just do as I mentioned above. Also nothing wrong with waiting and paying for a tow.

 

[KenC]

If it's low, I'd fill it, and then get to the Service Center to find the source of the leak. Warranty or not, I don't want to damage the thing.

 

[ucmndd]

Warranty or not, I don't want to damage the thing.

It would be very difficult to “damage the thing” due to low coolant. Once low coolant is actually detected by the car, some things are disabled like supercharging to prevent you from doing anything stupid.

If for some reason the battery starts getting too hot, power and regen will be limited by the BMS. If things get really out of hand, the car will shut down well in advance of any actual damage.

It’s also winter here in the northern hemisphere… not like OP is going to be driving in hot weather placing extreme demands on the cooling system.

So, yeah, do you I guess. Take the “awful advice” of driving a car to a service center that is displaying no active warning messages whatsoever but has a couple drips of coolant underneath it, or go full pedant and waste a bunch of time and money getting it towed because you subscribe to the baseless idea that these cars are Fabergé Eggs.

 

[ucmndd]

When it’s low enough to trigger a warning, you’ll get an error message like this.

Note “OK to drive”, not “ZOMG stop immediately and call a tow truck to avoid catastrophic damage”.

 

[stopcrazypp]

When it’s low enough to trigger a warning, you’ll get an error message like this.

View attachment 891448

Note “OK to drive”, not “ZOMG stop immediately and call a tow truck to avoid catastrophic damage”.

I suggested to just ask SC. If the car disables on the way, then Tesla Roadside would cover towing (up to 500 miles). If OP calls a tow right now, it might not be covered if car is still drivable.

 

[vickh]

When it’s low enough to trigger a warning, you’ll get an error message like this.

Note “OK to drive”, not “ZOMG stop immediately and call a tow truck to avoid catastrophic damage”.

what's funny is low battery charge warning is more dire

Now I do agree with cold weather we have the opposite problem, battery needs to be heated, low regen etc.

 

[ColoradoMike]

To the OP.....interesting situation!

We had a similar issue this past week. I chocked it up to windshield fluid that happened to go onto the floor.

We have a garage floor mat that is only used for our Model 3. It hasn't happened in about a week but so far no issues. Good to know that this is something to be aware of.

TBH....I simply cleaned off the garage mat thinking it was washer fluid.

If it happens again I will most certainly snag some of it and see if it is "greasy/oily"

 

[Rice&Curry]

I am a little confused- original poster says he/she is new to Tesla but the profile detail mentions as "Supporting Member" .
Am I missing something?

 

[cbigfoot]

I am a little confused- original poster says he/she is new to Tesla but the profile detail mentions as "Supporting Member" .
Am I missing something?

That i believe means they paid money to the website.

on another note @KYVolsfan what did you findout?

 

[lynnpt2001]

The car should monitor this stuff. Without a warning light I don't see any reason to not drive it. How many people out there don't even notice leaks like this? The majority of car owners don't pay attention to stuff like this and the cars do just fine. If they won't let you even submit a claim for service AFTER you told them it's leaking coolant WITHOUT any warning lights, I would have zero issue driving it. I'm assuming you bought the car used through a third/private party? If there is any issue it's going to be from damage that occurred before you had it or in the short period of time you owned it.

My personal car was having a coolant pump issue that would cause it to stop charging midway through DC sessions. Ended up having some coolant parts replaced by Tesla. Drove it for about a month in the middle of summer in Texas until the appointment date; used track mode, supercharged, drove the car hard like usual. No issues.

But like someone else mentioned; it's all about how much risk you want to take. Personally, I see this as very low risk and would just do as I mentioned above. Also nothing wrong with waiting and paying for a tow.

Don't EVER rely on warning lights, etc. I had a car, not a Tesla, engine blew, newer car, no oil in the crank case what so ever, no light or warning was given. Dealer said it should have warned of the issue. They covered it under warranty but I knew I had an oil leak and kept driving waiting on the warning light, well, you know

 

[LoL-Gas]

Don't EVER rely on warning lights, etc. I had a car, not a Tesla, engine blew, newer car, no oil in the crank case what so ever, no light or warning was given. Dealer said it should have warned of the issue. They covered it under warranty but I knew I had an oil leak and kept driving waiting on the warning light, well, you know

Unless something is completely obvious and/or leading to poor driving experience, I completely rely on the warning lights. These cars are good at monitoring conditions and notifying the driver when service is needed.

Running an engine out of oil to the point you ruined the engine is different than having a potential coolant leak on this guys EV. Did you never think of checking the oil level or adding oil? Most cars don't have an 'oil level' reading, just an oil pressure sensor. You can go from good oil pressure to no oil pressure very quickly.

 

[LoL-Gas]

OP: did you ever get this fixed? What came about this?

 

[KYVolsfan]

OP: did you ever get this fixed? What came about this?

I did get it taken care of. I took it to the service center in Knoxville - a great group of folks. They found that the octovalve was leaking. They told me that they had never seen this on a M3. Took care of it in about 4 hours and I was back on the road.