In response to "Lanzer's" post on fixing your AC Smell, I want to show people how to fix their Tesla themselves from a video I made. It seems that some Service Centers cover it under warranty and some do not. I did not want to pay $200 dollars and asked the service center questions on how to do it myself. If you find the video informative, please like and subscribe on youtube so others can find it easier. I'll post a follow up video on the smell in the next few weeks. Thanks!
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How to remove the odor / mold smell from your AC
- Thread starter 08micev
- Start date
Awesome! Thanks for doing this, I think I'll try it. A couple questions:
- Does it matter whether you pull the side panel off first vs the under-the-glove-compartment panel first? And when putting it back on, does the order matter which you do first / second?
- Why did you put the original air filters back in as opposed to putting new ones in?
- Did you use the entire bottle of that foam stuff?
- Did the Tesla Service guys in Raleigh say that's the entirety of their A/C service? Or just part of it? If it's not all of it, do you know what else they do besides what you did?
Really interested in how it smells in a couple weeks. If it stays good, I may do this myself!
- Does it matter whether you pull the side panel off first vs the under-the-glove-compartment panel first? And when putting it back on, does the order matter which you do first / second?
- Why did you put the original air filters back in as opposed to putting new ones in?
- Did you use the entire bottle of that foam stuff?
- Did the Tesla Service guys in Raleigh say that's the entirety of their A/C service? Or just part of it? If it's not all of it, do you know what else they do besides what you did?
Really interested in how it smells in a couple weeks. If it stays good, I may do this myself!
Rich Lee
Member
@llikestuff You have to take off the top panel so you can access the screw to remove the air filter panel. I put the orginal air filters back in because they did not smell and I simply vacuumed out most of the particles. They were only 3 months old. I used the entire bottle of the foam cleaner, you'll be surprised there is not that much in there. The price for the Raleigh-Durham service center told me 150 dollars and they swap out the filters and do the same exact foam clean that I did. This was from the words of the service center professional at tesla. I will keep everyone posted on this. Please subscribe on my channel to see my second video on this in the coming weeks. Hope this answers all your questions! 
jkcheng122
Member
I was quoted $141.70 for parts + labor. Parts include the Kool It cleaner listed at $19.95, and filters at $17 each. Total labor $87.75. I've elected to take a shot at this myself and save about $100. ($17 for Kool It and $27 for 2 filters on Amazon). Thank you OP for the video and links.
You're welcome, please like and subscribe for an update on this in the next few weeks!
For goodness sake. There is no excuse for a car manufacturer to put replaceable component deeply behind panels like this. Sounded like Tesla wants to generate revenue by making this a service trip instead of a DYI. Sighs!!
Will do! Don't forget to subscribe on youtube so you're notified when I post the updated video. Thanks again.
There is no excuse for a lot of things all manufacturers do, but I do agree with you that they could have made it at least a little bit easier.
Fun anecdote...had to tell the Ford dealership to FAIL my last car's safety inspection because of a marker light being out. They wanted $135 to replace the $2 light bulb because of the book guidance on having to take a bunch of stuff apart to get to the light. The tech went ahead and fixed it off the books and my car was out and ready to go 10 minutes later and he didn't take anything apart. You just had to awkwardly reach around some stuff to get to it.
ReddykwRun
Member
Also may want to try turning the A/C to warm and opening the windows the last three minutes of driving each day to dry the coil each day.
Should see the cabin filter change on my wifes BMW 328. This is easy compared to that!
the car is supposed to do this on its own now, there was supposedly a software update so that the car will turn the fan on after you exit if you drove with AC on.
ReddykwRun
Member
Yep, I can relate, I had a Ford Ranger PU - 1986 years ago and in order to change the headlight bulb you HAD TO REMOVE THE FRONT GRILL, not kidding.
It might help, but im a bit more pissed off I have to take some type of unique steps and remember certain actions to take when I am getting home on a $64,000 dollar car. Zero of my other cars needed this foolishness to not turn into a mold factory. They just worked normally. Even the cheap beater ones. We shouldn't have to pay for poor design quality.
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