DIY: Roadster 2.5 PEM cleaning - step by step

[scotty2541]

Based on what Mark did and other pieces of information I could find on this forum, I decided to clean my PEM. Enjoy and use at own risk......

I would rate this difficulty: 5/10. It's just following a procedure and making sure you don't drop any nuts


Mod Note: One of our other members posted a YouTube video on the process, which is a good compliment to this procedure. See Roadster Rear Blower Maintenance - Page 7

An AWESOME thanks for this. I just did it this morning.

After shutting down the power, it took about 10 minutes for the voltage across the BAT +/- terminals to fall to under 2 volts. Must have been a lot of capacitors to bleed off.

On my 2.5 the only difficulty was putting the PEM back in. Aligning it with the brackets that hold it from the left and right sides underneath, and with the 13mm bolts that go into the sides of the battery. That was a bit of manhandling.

And my PEM underside looked clean, and nearly pristine. I was gonna ignore cleaning it, since I had already done the blowers underneath.



But even thought it looked clean, when I took a compressor to it at 80+psi, it blew a lot of dust out. So I'm glad I did blow it out even if it appeared that it didn't need it.

With these instructions and a friend who used to service Hondas (but knows nothing about Tesla's) we got it knocked out is about 2 hours.

Seriously, it's two person job, but it's easy!

-Scotty

 

[coolVariable]

I just cleaned my 1.5 PEM and while similar it is different. The high voltage connectors have a nice twist connector, which is good. But they are not easy to get to, bad. This one is about 8 inches in under the PEM with very little clearance. View attachment 99797 There are two 13mm nuts you have to remove from the underside with a 24" extensions, so it really helps for the car to up on ramps or jack stands. View attachment 99798 Then I saw one ranger use some wood block "jigs" that you can use to get the PEM up so you can reach the connectors as you do not have a little door to reach into from the trunk. It gives just enough space to reach in and twist off, assuming you do not have large hands. The wood blocks are from a 2x4 cut 6" long. View attachment 99799 It took me 4 hours, so while it saved me money it was not easy. I got very little dirt from the PEM and motor so I could likely go two years between cleaning as my PEM seems to stay quite clean. My baffles to keep the dirt out seem to be working well.

Did anyone ever post a step by step for cleaning the 1.5 PEM?

 

[coolVariable]

So I tried to get my 1.5 PEM off today, since my PEM has been overheating since I had it in for annual service with Javier.
So much for letting a "pro" do it.
I was progressing nicely until I got to the 13mm bolts that hold the PEM to the batter (one by the pump reservoir and one on the other side by the ground).

I will try to quote one of the pics in this thread:

View attachment 88061

What do people use to loosen these 13mm bolts that hold the PEM to the battery?
A 13mm crescent wrench?
I tried with an adjustable wrench but mine are on very tight and I am afraid of scratching the paint/carbon fiber around this area.

 

[hanknum]

So I tried to get my 1.5 PEM off today, since my PEM has been overheating since I had it in for annual service with Javier.
So much for letting a "pro" do it.
I was progressing nicely until I got to the 13mm bolts that hold the PEM to the batter (one by the pump reservoir and one on the other side by the ground).

I will try to quote one of the pics in this thread:



What do people use to loosen these 13mm bolts that hold the PEM to the battery?
A 13mm crescent wrench?
I tried with an adjustable wrench but mine are on very tight and I am afraid of scratching the paint/carbon fiber around this area.

Why in the world would you want to use a Crescent/adjustable wrench?

Why not use a socket or box end wrench?

 

[warden_clyffe]

we use 13mm ring-wrench spanner