Battery + coolant

[JacobD]

Hi everyone,
I hope I can get some help or suggestions.
Few days ago I drove over something at the freeway and immediately got notification for low coolant and schedule service.
I looked under the car and saw some leaking.
I schedule service for first availability and brought the car over. (I got estimate for the coolant fill in $52, which I approved)
The representative at the service center said they will contact me for further details.
Next day I get an update on the app that the price have changed and now they need to remove battery and replace it and Aero shield in front need to be removed and replaced but the prices went up to $1,040! I was surprised so I went back to the service center to try and talk with the representative and get an idea of what happened.
He said that he not really sure but will have to check with the technician. After the technician went and talk with the service center manager he came up and said the price will change again and now I need to change to entire battery because they will not be able to fix it and they sent me new estimate for close to $17K!!!
If someone have any ideas what can be done or any suggestions I will really appreciate that.
(Also attached the estimates I received and pictures i took for part they mentioned can’t be replaced by himself, only if we change they entire battery)

 

[Flybyglass]

ElectrifiedGarage.com showed a similar issue and quote and was able to replace the missing part with a brass fitting that they tapped. If the same that drain pipe connection is part of the battery pack. Replaced coolant and tested the battery pack. I think the total bill was under $1500. BUT Tesla doesn't do repairs like that they just replace. I would submit an insurance claim for road damage. Electrified garage however is only located on the east coast (NH and FL). I have not heard of any after market repairs shops on the West Coast. IF insurance claim covered you get a new battery pack depending on your mileage will be a good thing. It may be covered under Comprehensive.

 

[BMWM3Man]

How old is vehicle, miles?

 

[JacobD]

ElectrifiedGarage.com showed a similar issue and quote and was able to replace the missing part with a brass fitting that they tapped. If the same that drain pipe connection is part of the battery pack. Replaced coolant and tested the battery pack. I think the total bill was under $1500. BUT Tesla doesn't do repairs like that they just replace. I would submit an insurance claim for road damage. Electrified garage however is only located on the east coast (NH and FL). I have not heard of any after market repairs shops on the West Coast. IF insurance claim covered you get a new battery pack depending on your mileage will be a good thing. It may be covered under Comprehensive.

Can you please send link for the estimate you mentioned was $1,500?
When I spoke with the technician at the service center he said that it will probably not be covered under battery warranty.

 

[JacobD]

How old is vehicle, miles?

Model 3
2021 (only got it in September)
10,703 miles

 

[BMWM3Man]

Model 3
2021 (only got it in September)
10,703 miles

So its under warranty, correct?

 

[brkaus]

This is road damage. It will not be covered under warranty. Your insurance should cover it.

The part should be better protected and/or it should be designed to be repaired. But it isn’t. Cars have fragile pieces underneath.

 

[jjrandorin]

Can you please send link for the estimate you mentioned was $1,500?
When I spoke with the technician at the service center he said that it will probably not be covered under battery warranty.

Its not a battery warranty issue. You should be just engaging your car insurance to get this fixed. I didnt follow that other situation that close but I believe that person did not carry collision insurance on their car, or something.

The cost should be "your insurance deductible" as there is no reason to even consider doing anything else, if you have car insurance that is.

 

[brkaus]

It is hackable. Search the internet for Tesla battery coolant nipple damage.

Your choice on best approach.

 

[dmurphy]

So its under warranty, correct?

Not if there was a collision involving the battery, it won't be.

@jjrandorin, @Flybyglass and @brkaus all nailed it -- this is what insurance claims are for. Time to file one.

That whole electrified garage hack is exactly that - a hack. Not something I'd do on a car this new. Fix it once, fix it right, let the insurance company handle it. It's why you have coverage.

 

[Big Dog]

have you called your auto insurance? You ran over debris on the road and it damaged your car.....

 

[BMWM3Man]

Not if there was a collision involving the battery, it won't be.

@jjrandorin, @Flybyglass and @brkaus all nailed it -- this is what insurance claims are for. Time to file one.

That whole electrified garage hack is exactly that - a hack. Not something I'd do on a car this new. Fix it once, fix it right, let the insurance company handle it. It's why you have coverage.

Yeah completely missed the "ran over something on the highway"...100% that is what insurance is for.

 

[bfayer62]

Not going to help with fixing the problem, but once it it fixed, I suggest you get an aluminum front skid plate.

 

[JacobD]

Thank you everyone for the help.
I contacted my insurance (Tesla insurance) and opened claim.

 

[Avid]

Here is the video you need to see. A relatively easy fix, Tesla won't do it you'll have to do it yourself or a repair shop that will.

 

[dmurphy]

Here is the video you need to see. A relatively easy fix, Tesla won't do it you'll have to do it yourself or a repair shop that will.

Sure, until so much as one of those little plastic bits from the tap ends up in the microchannels inside the battery, clogs it and now you have no coolant flow.

For the $500 insurance deductible, on a 6-month-old car with less than 11,000 miles? I'd let insurance handle it the correct way 20 out of 10 times.

If this were out of warranty with high mileage? Sure, I'd attempt a hack repair. But when this was a collision that insurance will cover? No way .... not on a bet.

 

[Jeremy3292]

Insurance will cover it all...no issues

 

[Flybyglass]

If insurance covers it, get the new battery.

 

[Flybyglass]

Can you please send link for the estimate you mentioned was $1,500?
When I spoke with the technician at the service center he said that it will probably not be covered under battery warranty.

If not using insurance, electrified garage put out a video on Youtube (look up there channel you'll find it) showing the repair very similar. A $2 brass fitting from Home Depot a tap to install then a series of checks and tests that took several days to confirm proper battery operation.

 

[gearchruncher]

Fix it once, fix it right, let the insurance company handle it. It's why you have coverage.

For the $500 insurance deductible, on a 6-month-old car with less than 11,000 miles? I'd let insurance handle it the correct way 20 out of 10 times.

Lots of logical people carry much higher deductibles (I carry $2,500), and any claim will cause your rates to go up. Filing a claim for $20K will absolutely cost you $4K+ over the years. So it can still make sense to deal with it in a cheaper way. Repairs to parts are done all the time- it's not like if a body panel gets dented that they replace the whole unibody of the car, so if there is a solid fix for this broken plastic nipple that doesn't cost $20K, it's pretty reasonable to do.

There is some solid irony here that Tesla insurance will pay for this if they do go to insurance