Does anyone have data on how quickly their Black Model 3 cools while in the sun >80F?

[pacmanbrodude]

The AC in our 2018 Model 3 (blue with white interior) was occasionally failing to cool the car properly, when set on Auto. It wasn't increasing the fan speed as much as necessary. I live in south FL. I had the car serviced, and they replaced a control unit (low voltage controller, left), which resolved the issue, under warranty.

Good thought. Appreciate all the ideas. The vent fan definitely adjusts on auto though. Usually it hovers at around 9 out of 11 then lowers a couple as it approaches (but almost never reaches) set temperature. In fact, my wife frequently takes it off of AUTO and lowers the fan speed - understandably because if the car doesn't cool down much anyway, why bother having the fan blasting loudly?

I'll add that the AC does work. It can bring the temperature lower than the outside temperature. It also can reduce humidity in the cabin to help defog the windshield. How well it works? Well... not very well.

Anyway, hopefully they can figure out what's wrong next time. The service center said they will have to schedule fixing it on another service visit so I'm going to pick up my car today.

 

[GtiMart]

Then here's another thought. Have you ever cleaned the front radiator? Some people gather a lot of debris in the ducting... There's a procedure under the hood, taking off the frunk tub and some ducting...

 

[pacmanbrodude]

Then here's another thought. Have you ever cleaned the front radiator? Some people gather a lot of debris in the ducting... There's a procedure under the hood, taking off the frunk tub and some ducting...

No, but willing to try. I'll look for a guide. That does sound like a plausible idea.

 

[GtiMart]

This is one:

Edit: you could also use a radiator cleaner foam on it for added benefit.

 

[Ggotfried]

Did this problem ever get solved? I have the same issue with my 2022 m3

 

[Gulfcoaster]

I have no data other than "seat of the pants" data, but I'll say that my brand new red with black interior 2022 M3P with 221 total miles on it takes quite a while to blow ice cold air when I get in the car after its been parked outside in the Florida sun for just 45 minutes.

 

[pacmanbrodude]

I took it into a different service center. They definitely tried much harder at finding the problem. They just updated me today:

Main HVAC duct bleed actuators are not functioning properly so when the A/C is on the system is
partially still sucking warm air, not cooling the car properly. Since both actuators had faults and has
been a repeat problem I ordered an entire HVAC case. Part is not in stock and was ordered.

They will have to reschedule another service visit for me when the part arrives. I'm hoping that this can get figured out before summer warm weather is over and it'll be harder for me to verify that it's working properly.

 

[pacmanbrodude]

After the fix, I ran another test.

outside temp 67, set to LOW
4:08 - 78
4:10 - 67
4:12 - 61

So, in this test, the cabin dropped to 6 degrees cooler than outside in 4 minutes. In my first test, it did this in 20 minutes. However, the outside temperature differences (and also the sun - it's a cloudy day today) are quite different, so it's not a perfect test. But I'm convinced enough that it's resolved.