Battery coolant replacement

[apacheguy]

I just had my 5 year 62 K mile annual service earlier this month. I noticed that the owners manual recommends replacement of the battery coolant at this interval:

Battery coolant. Every 5 years or 62,500 miles (100,000 km)
Source: https://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/Model-S-Owners-Manual.pdf

However, my repair order does not mention that any such replacement occurred. Should I raise this with my SvC?

 

[gaswalla]

yes, you should find out what happened. They seem to think this service is important (in my experience)

 

[Lloyd]

Please report the response!

 

[apacheguy]

Absolutely. Will do. I'm also gonna find out about my yucky brake fluid:

Ouch! First huge repair bill.

 

[apacheguy]

Ok. Turns out the fluids were replaced during last years annual service. Tesla has updated the guidance from what is posted in the owners manual and it is now performed every 48 K miles. While there was no mention of a coolant swap in the line items from last year, I do see ethylene glycol appear under parts replaced. Brake fluid was also replaced, but I am already seeing yellowing which is somewhat concerning.

 

[sorka]

Ok. Turns out the fluids were replaced during last years annual service. Tesla has updated the guidance from what is posted in the owners manual and it is now performed every 48 K miles. While there was no mention of a coolant swap in the line items from last year, I do see ethylene glycol appear under parts replaced. Brake fluid was also replaced, but I am already seeing yellowing which is somewhat concerning.

You can't read anything into the color of brake fluid. The only thing that matters is how much moisture has been absorbed and as a byproduct how much copper has entered the brake fluid due to the moisture.

Get the copper strips and a moisture probe. If you're below 1% moisture and 200 ppm of copper, you're fine. Most manufacturers have dropped mileage and time based brake fluid interval recommendations.

 

[smilepak]

How much is it to only replace the coolant without doing the 4yrs service routine?

 

[outdoors]

How much is it to only replace the coolant without doing the 4yrs service routine?

For a 100D:

Had to shop service centers to get it done. Some saying I don't need it. Closing in on 200k.

 

[Plasmid_Boy]

Someone probably has done it(coolant drain and refill) at home. Is there a DIY posted somewhere? I have done this many times on ICE cars, but am unsure about the importance of bleeding out the bubbles in an EV.

 

[Wratran]

I would like to know if there’s a DYI?
Should not be that hard to get to…

 

[smilepak]

Is there a difference in the coolant storage between one used by the AC and other for cooling thr battery system? Or it’s one continuous system?

 

[ucmndd]

I would like to know if there’s a DYI?
Should not be that hard to get to…

I had some front end damage a year or so ago that punctured the radiator and caused most of the coolant to drain out.

The Tesla certified body shop fixed all of the actual damage, installed the new radiator, etc - but then had the Tesla SC do the actual flush and refill of the coolant system. Said there's some Tesla Toolbox procedure that bleeds the system of any bubbles, etc. so they typically have the service center do it.

 

[ucmndd]

Is there a difference in the coolant storage between one used by the AC and other for cooling thr battery system? Or it’s one continuous system?

There is a single glycol coolant system that serves the whole car.

 

[Brass Guy]

If I remember correctly, I read or heard somewhere - maybe Rich Rebuilds - that you just have to get the cooling pumps to run for a while to purge the air. It was something really simple; something like charging the battery may run the pumps.

 

[KalJoMoS]

There is a single glycol coolant system that serves the whole car.

I believe it’s not so as I had similar AC system leak this spring as you have encountered and my car did not had any issues to cool the battery. In fact it was during this summer most warmer period and I have not had better consumption before this. When I asked service did this leak had any impact on the battery cooling system then they responded that they are two different systems. Glycol is for battery cooling and refrigerant gas for AC.

 

[Huachipato]

I had to hunt for a little bit - but I believe it was Legit Street Cars that did a coolant fill. He had a busted radiator that caused coolant loss. He had a hard time with it but eventually got it done:

 

[ucmndd]

I believe it’s not so as I had similar AC system leak this spring as you have encountered and my car did not had any issues to cool the battery. In fact it was during this summer most warmer period and I have not had better consumption before this. When I asked service did this leak had any impact on the battery cooling system then they responded that they are two different systems. Glycol is for battery cooling and refrigerant gas for AC.

That’s all technically true, but the AC system actively cools the glycol coolant when necessary - so it does play a role in cooling the battery. My response was not meant to indicate that there is no conventional refrigerant gas AC system - of course there is - but I didn’t take @smilepak ‘s question that way.

 

[Plasmid_Boy]

I had to hunt for a little bit - but I believe it was Legit Street Cars that did a coolant fill. He had a busted radiator that caused coolant loss. He had a hard time with it but eventually got it done:

Neat trick. Thanks! Does anyone have the pinout of the pumps? I wonder if connecting them to a 12V source would make the bleeding process a bit faster.

 

[whitex]

Service Center skipped the coolant replacement during the 4 year annual service they were supposed to do it in. They said it's not needed. My car did have low miles (even now it's 42K miles after 6 years), so maybe that is why. I didn't worry too much about it, they warranty the battery for 8 years, so if they say not needed. it's not needed. Heck, Elon said no maintenance at all is required for Tesla warranty to stay in effect.

 

[smilepak]

That’s all technically true, but the AC system actively cools the glycol coolant when necessary - so it does play a role in cooling the battery. My response was not meant to indicate that there is no conventional refrigerant gas AC system - of course there is - but I didn’t take @smilepak ‘s question that way.

Thanks. I’m trying to figure out when going to the service center and ask for a coolant flush, I assume it is for the AC. Does there or is there a need to do a flush for the coolant system for the battery? What is that called and how much it cost?