It's cold out... Should my MS be dripping in my driveway?

[ericscottf]

Hi all,

I saw a drip under my MS this morning after it had been pre heating for 15 mins.
It is 40 degrees f and windy here.

I've attached a pic showing the drip relative to the wheels, which have wet spots in the driveway because it didn't dry under them.

I checked under the car and don't see anything bad. But it's not easy to see under there...

Could the car have been running the ac for some reason? Or could some water have been pooled up somewhere and dripped out when I told it to warm up? Or could I have a leak?

Thanks

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

heat pumps drip water from condensation. unless it was green or another color, I wouldn't worry.

 

[jdw]

Unless you specifically turn off the AC, the full auto climate setting will alternate between heat and AC to maintain temperature. I believe this is partly responsible for complaints about the heating being ineffective. I’d suggest turning off AC manually in cold weather.

 

[croman]

I have condensation all over my car in the morning as the metal and glass are cooler than the ambient air. If any humidity is in the air, it attaches. Also, if it is below freezing I get amazing frost crystals that melt when preheating the cabin. Since I have an all glass roof too, its a lot of water that will create some runoff. FWIW, I have AC manually turned off but my car will still bring in outside air (Chicago winter = freezing) to maintain something close to the temp I have set.

 

[AB4EJ]

Mine does this too, and it is worse when humidity is higher (even when cold) - it must be A/C condensate. (You can manually turn off the A/C if you want).

 

[ericscottf]

Can anyone confirm if that drip looks about where the ac would build up condensation?

I checked color and smell and it didn't stand out, but hard to tell on asphalt.

 

[Max*]

If it's green, lick it, if it's sweet - that's not good.

For both the car and your health.

 

[DrivingRockies]

If it's green, lick it, if it's sweat - that's not good.

For both the car and your health.

Not good if it's sweet either

 

[Max*]

Not good if it's sweet either

LOL, oops

 

[brkaus]

heat pumps drip water from condensation. unless it was green or another color, I wouldn't worry.

To the best of everyones knowledge, there is no heat pump on this Tesla cars at present. I would love to hear otherwise.

 

[gearchruncher]

Every car in the world with Air Conditioning has a heat pump. Even thought it's it's only used to cool, not cool and heat, it's still a heat pump.

 

[brkaus]

Every car in the world with Air Conditioning has a heat pump. Even thought it's it's only used to cool, not cool and heat, it's still a heat pump.

Ok, true, but a technicality IMHO. The car is heated through resistive electric element. Most folks that think of heat pumps consider a household system used to provide heat in the winter.

But yes, your right.

 

[Joe F]

[snip]Or could some water have been pooled up somewhere and dripped out when I told it to warm up? Or could I have a leak?

Thanks

Pavlovian response in anticipation of hitting the road.

 

[gde_eu]

It's the A/C. It's even expressly written in the user's guide that you can see water under the car in some situation. (Mine does that as well (never see in winter through but I park in the driveway full of snow )

 

[jdw]

The automatic climate control on full auto will alternate between AC and heat, even in sub-zero temperatures. I suspect that is the cause of many complaints about lack of heat. I find it useful to turn off the AC in colder weather to prevent that. AC does help keep the windows clear, but that can also be done with a higher fan speed and manually setting airflow to the floor and windshield. Mapping the fan speed to the right scroll wheel works well for this.

 

[MDMGSO47]

AC to remove condensate from air.