At that depth it must have been above the door sills. Did any water come through into the passenger compartment, or are the doors pretty tightly sealed?
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Bad experience with flood waters
- Thread starter Arnold Panz
- Start date
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
At that depth it must have been above the door sills. Did any water come through into the passenger compartment, or are the doors pretty tightly sealed?
JohnEC
S 00443
It's good that you're getting the car to the SC as soon as possible. I suspect that no matter how long you try to dry the car out, it has set an internal switch that will disallow any charging just to be safe and won't reset that switch (w/o SC intervention). I had a charge cable malfunction once that turned the charge port light red and that shut the car down completely (had to be flat bedded to Fremont). I was told that the car was perfectly fine, but once it detected the problem, it intentionally stopped working until serviced.
Josh,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm glad that your Model S still runs. I'd be interested in hearing what the Dania Beach folks have to say.
Larry
Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm glad that your Model S still runs. I'd be interested in hearing what the Dania Beach folks have to say.
Larry
ClearwaterBchSteve
P445 / VIN 1794
I live in a very low lying area and we were under Tropical Storm Warning for Wednesday - Thursday. Our streets often flood to sometimes 2 or more feet deep. Sometimes you can be going down a road towards an intersection and it's tough to judge the depth unless you can see other cars attempting the same crossing ahead of you. I have no plans to drive my Model S in water any more than a few INCHES deep. I'd stay home from work (which I did Thursday), miss a flight or just simply not go out if there was any chance I'd face water as deep as Arnold did. In my case, when my street floods it's largely due to heavy rains and tidal surge which means the water is brackish. Saltwater and auto components do not mix! Anytime I go through even the slightest bit of what might be seawater, I rinse the car with fresh water extensively. Hopefully the water Arnold drove through was ONLY rainwater.
This would have likely totaled any normal car. From destroying they engine with hydrolock from water ingestion to future corrosion on all the internals electronics.
You're luck you got home instead of swimming out of your disabled car.
I had the same problem Thursday night - and it was dry - no rain. Car drove fine during the day. Stopped late in the afternoon before an appointment, opened the windows and listened to the radio in the car and browsed the internet for about 20 minutes while the car was parked. After the appointment, drove to dinner - and the car was still OK. Then, after dinner, got the warning that car "may not restart" - and that warning stayed on for the 25 minutes I needed to drive home.
When I got to the garage, plugged in the HPWC - it tried to start charging but as it was starting to draw current - the charging abruptly stopped - and got the RROD (Red Ring of Death) at the charging port. Pulled out the UMC and tried charging from the 110 outlet - same problem. Called Tesla Assistance, and they looked at the logs - and believed I had low voltage in the 12V battery - and they recommended I drive to the local Service Center when they opened at 7AM.
I waited an hour - and tried the HPWC again - and this time it worked. I dialed the current down to 15A - so that the car would slowly charge all night. And when I checked the car in the morning, the warning message was gone, and the car was fully charged.
Drove to the Service Center at 7AM on Friday morning - and left it there for service. By the end of their day (7PM), they still hadn't been able to diagnose the problem. Tesla engineering is concerned it might have something with the HV battery pack (the 85KWhr pack) - and they want to run diagnostics on the entire system. Unfortunately, they can't run the diagnostics until the car is below 50% charge - so they had to let it discharge on Friday.
Called afternoon today - and the local SC technicians and engineering are evaluating what's going on - but haven't made a final decision yet - so they're going to keep the car - with Monday now the earliest I might get the car back. There's a possibility they may have to service the HV battery pack in order to correct the problem - they're still in diagnostics mode...
Unfortunately, they only have one loaner at the local SC - and it's already assigned to someone else - so I'm driving a loaner ICE...
While it's frustrating to have it take (at least) 3 days to get the car fixed - the important thing is that the car didn't fail on me - I was always able to drive it - and if there's something happening they're not sure about - they are being methodical to evaluate the problem - and make sure it's fixed.
This is much better than the alternative - since the car appeared to be fine when I took it into the SC, they could have said - bring it back the next time it has problems - and put me at risk that the car could die on me.
So while I'm disappointed not have my car for a few days - Tesla is doing the right thing - and making sure they understand what went wrong - and get it right. And the next time they see something similar, the experience from my car may help them diagnose similar problems more quickly...
[NOTE - I noticed that the touchscreen fan was stuck running at high speed - with noticeable noise while the car was running - and this also seemed to start at the same time when I got the "may not restart" warning. Not clear if this is related - or just a coincidence. They're going to check on this also while the car is in the SC.]
Well, Bob that sounds awfully similar to my experience last week. It was a dry but warm day and I was driving home from work. A few minutes into the drive the dreaded car needs service, may not restart message popped up. I called tesla and they advised to drive to the nearest service center and it might be a bad 12V battery. Well, they kept the car for a week and ended up replacing the entire battery pack because of an impedance problem that cannot be addressed at the service center level. It says it is a reman pack but was assured the actual cells are new. Hopefully this is not a more common issue with MS battery packs
UPDATE:
I took the car to the service center. The warning I'm getting is low power on the 12v battery, and preliminary thoughts are that the water somehow degraded that battery a bit. If so, they'll replace the battery and all should be well.
They had at least five cars (so far) taken or towed there today by midday when I was there. One car was parked in a lot near the beach and was completely submerged apparently. They needed a diver to get the car moved so it could hook up the car to the tow truck.
The inside of my car was totally dry, including the frunk. I may be wrong about how deep the water was -- it's not like I took a ruler and measured it! I was just guessing, so it may not have been over two feet. Still too deep, of course, but really there was no chance I'd float away.
I'd say the car did at least as well as any ICE that drove through yesterday. For all I know, my 12v was already low (I'd seen that warning very briefly a couple of times when I started the car), and I had a Sig with an early battery, so this may just have accelerated an issue I would have had to deal with at some point soon. Otherwise, the car was totally intact. Not that I plan on ever doing it again, but I'm glad that the engineering and tightness of the seams was such that no water got in.
A friend with a Panamera went to lunch and his car was drenched in water by the time he was done. He's hoping his car is totaled so he can buy a Tesla!
I took the car to the service center. The warning I'm getting is low power on the 12v battery, and preliminary thoughts are that the water somehow degraded that battery a bit. If so, they'll replace the battery and all should be well.
They had at least five cars (so far) taken or towed there today by midday when I was there. One car was parked in a lot near the beach and was completely submerged apparently. They needed a diver to get the car moved so it could hook up the car to the tow truck.
The inside of my car was totally dry, including the frunk. I may be wrong about how deep the water was -- it's not like I took a ruler and measured it! I was just guessing, so it may not have been over two feet. Still too deep, of course, but really there was no chance I'd float away.
I'd say the car did at least as well as any ICE that drove through yesterday. For all I know, my 12v was already low (I'd seen that warning very briefly a couple of times when I started the car), and I had a Sig with an early battery, so this may just have accelerated an issue I would have had to deal with at some point soon. Otherwise, the car was totally intact. Not that I plan on ever doing it again, but I'm glad that the engineering and tightness of the seams was such that no water got in.
A friend with a Panamera went to lunch and his car was drenched in water by the time he was done. He's hoping his car is totaled so he can buy a Tesla!
Kraken
Member
For future reference and prevention: what is the maximum number of inches of water that can be driven through safely in the Model S according to Tesla and assuming air suspension is set to high?
That's a pretty ballsy diver. I wouldn't want to get that close to 85kW's of submerged battery juice. I mean reaally, might as well just throw a 100amp live cable in a tub with you and play a game of russian roulette. Will the breaker short out first or will you? lol
William13
Active Member
+1 Brianman
? SigGuy
Arnold's Tesla work very well in water. ICE cars that suck water into there intakes can require new engines.
The battery did not short out. It did not explode. I expect that it would work until it starts to float. That doesnt mean no damage will occur.
This current isn't going anywhere. One is safer in a Model S than driving around with fifty Molotov cocktails behind you.
? SigGuy
Arnold's Tesla work very well in water. ICE cars that suck water into there intakes can require new engines.
The battery did not short out. It did not explode. I expect that it would work until it starts to float. That doesnt mean no damage will occur.
This current isn't going anywhere. One is safer in a Model S than driving around with fifty Molotov cocktails behind you.
Sounds like it would be good to get Tesla to provide some guidance on how many inches of water on road a Model S can for short periods move cautiously through. I once had my Roadster through a few inch high temporary stream moving across the road I needed to use to reach home after a thunderstorm downpour. I was pretty impressed that the little guy got thru what it did without a wimper or later problem.
This is a real world concern TMC should give real world guidance on. I.e. short period of 6 inches or less, should be ok, but don't try 12 or more. Something like that. With battery pack at bottom of car with secure waterproof connections, I'd expect the first real vulnerable electrical weak points are much higher up.
This is a real world concern TMC should give real world guidance on. I.e. short period of 6 inches or less, should be ok, but don't try 12 or more. Something like that. With battery pack at bottom of car with secure waterproof connections, I'd expect the first real vulnerable electrical weak points are much higher up.
CapitalistOppressor
Active Member
I dunno about that. I've always felt that once you end up in the flood waters, the best policy is to move through it quickly as possible. Moving creates pressure differentials that helps keep water out of the car. If you stop the water is just going to get into everything.
Crimeny though. Amazing story. If the car comes out of it undamaged that's going to be pretty epic. What size were the vehicles in your convoy?
CapitalistOppressor
Active Member
In a typical ICE the rule of thumb is water up to the hub. The water Arnold went through was higher than that, but probably not as high as he thought. When he moved through it the water porpoised over the hood and probably made it seem deeper. If it was that deep to start with I'd expect it to porpoise right over the top of the car if you were moving. Which would be an AWESOME video
Actually that's the only way to get through without stalling. It's what I've learnt from driving school. As long as you do not let go of the accelerator in an ICE, it will constantly push exhaust out the exhaust pipe and this will prevent water from going in the pipe and you can drive right through the flood as long as your wheels still have frictional contact with the surface underwater.
Stop and you'll stall - guaranteed. (And will need a new engine)
It's like putting your head underwater when swimming, if you keep blowing bubbles out of your nose, no water can go in your nose!
This seemed to be the general consensus, and certainly the SOP with ICEs is to drive slowly and consistently (i.e., no stopping) through the water. It would be interesting to know what Tesla advises (if they know, which they might not yet) to do in case you find yourself in one of these situations where you are trapped and don't have much choice but to go through some amount of water.
The convoy was basically cars coming home from work -- mostly sedans and SUVs, and some compacts as well. Definitely cars both bigger and smaller (and lower to the ground) than the MS. No one stalled or stopped and we all seemed to get through ok. From what I heard afterwards we didn't get the worst of it -- it was after 7 pm, and it was apparently worst mid-afternoon (around 3 or 4 pm), so the waters had probably receded a bit. I buy the argument that I'm exaggerating how deep the water was -- even with the displacement it wasn't close to my window, and never got over the top of the front of the car (which is what I kept looking at). I'll be very curious to hear what Service tells me happened to the car.
Meanwhile, I'm in a beautiful P85 loaner that's a white Sig (presumably someone who couldn't or wouldn't pay the balance upon delivery) and loving it almost as much as I love my own car. I forgot to mention how awesome Tesla Service has been on this so far. No judging, got me the loaner, and running full diagnostics to make sure everything runs ok. They're the best!
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