Model 3 - drive in rainy condition

[myM3]

Hi Folks

Today was my first drive of my new model 3 (4 weeks old) in the rain today morning, and I observed a few things

Issue#1
- if wipers are set to auto, the wipers are not doing a smooth operation. I see a staggered wiping, and a lot of noise. Video is uploaded at Wiper Blade.mp4
- Note that if I move to manual and fast mode, the operation is very smooth

I have not seen this behavior on my BMW or my Honda or Toyota

Does any of the Model 3 owners experience this issue? What is the solution? Should I register a call with the SC (which I will) but asking out to the stalwarts in this forum to comment

Issue#2
- when I open the charge port flap after driving in rain, I see some water drops close to the charge points. I am not sure if it can accumulate and cause some short circuit. I am not sure how it works on Model S or Model X. Should I be concerned?
- Links to the video - Water behind Charge Flap.mp4

Any comments and feedback is highly appreciated

 

[run-the-joules]

Don't worry about the charge port in general, it can deal with reasonable moisture. But don't like, use a pressure washer on it while plugged in or anything.

 

[WileyTheMan]

It's a new car. If you have any concerns, even if it seems trivial, schedule service to have them investigate it.

 

[jasonh4451]

I'm in the bay area too (don't have my M3 yet) and was out in the messy rainy, windy weather today too.

Other than the issues you describe above, how was the car's driving performance in stormy conditions?

 

[myM3]

Don't worry about the charge port in general, it can deal with reasonable moisture. But don't like, use a pressure washer on it while plugged in or anything.

yes absolutely, I wouldn't do that when charging. I am expecting that the drain points does its job and avoid any kind of flood. It is in a angle and I am sure it should drain well but time will tell. In a a normal car the tank is plugged and water wont enter, but here there is no plug, and just concerned what happens if water seeps into the socket

As for the wipers, is this the wiper bug for which a update was released by Tesla

 

[myM3]

I'm in the bay area too (don't have my M3 yet) and was out in the messy rainy, windy weather today too.

Other than the issues you describe above, how was the car's driving performance in stormy conditions?

The drive was good, but since 280 was clogged I could not go beyond 35-40. Yes I heard a bit of the rain drop noise (because of the glass all over) but in general the road noise l is a bit high compared to my BMW

 

[navinsiri]

My Model S wipers have been like that since I got the car. Tesla probably won’t ever fix it and they’ll just keep giving you new wipers. Also make sure you don’t have rain-x on your windshield because it’ll cause it to skip like that for some reason.

 

[Roverman318]

Issue#1
- if wipers are set to auto, the wipers are not doing a smooth operation. I see a staggered wiping, and a lot of noise. Video is uploaded at Wiper Blade.mp4
- Note that if I move to manual and fast mode, the operation is very smooth

The exact same thing happened to me this morning. The wipers looked a little animated on the auto setting. I changed them to "on" and left them on "slow" and they were fine. Weird.

 

[privater]

Yes, my Model 3's wiper have the exact same symptom like yours. Auto-wipe sucks, but smooth in other settings.
I'd say that's why they called it `beta`.

1st 30 seconds is autowipe, last 10 seconds is manual.

 

[roblab]

Drove around Napa Valley for a couple hours today in mist to light rain. Wipers were on auto. I noticed a little noise at the end of each swipe at first, but as the "road oil" on the glass wore off, the wipers smoothed out and quieted. This was the first use they've had.

They seem to do a good job, which is to wipe off the rain, mist, and moisture kicked up by cars in front, etc. How they do that little job isn't of much concern. I can't agree that they "suck", as it seems they just push the water off the window, not vacuum them.

I'm looking forward to the next M3 complaint. What will it be? "Headlights too shiny", "Horn not sexy", or maybe "New car smell has faded!" I guess I'm not enough of an enthusiast to see all the glaring faults.

 

[Kant.Ing]

Future firmware update will have an option to wipe only the camera area and not full wipe, i.e. where it staggered.

 

[EV-lutioin]

Yes, my Model 3's wiper have the exact same symptom like yours. Auto-wipe sucks, but smooth in other settings.
I'd say that's why they called it `beta`.

1st 30 seconds is autowipe, last 10 seconds is manual.

They look like they are working fine....

 

[Big Earl]

The skippy wiper motion is likely due to to either contaminants on the windshield (oils) or a low quality windshield wiper blade. I’ve had this happen on a number of vehicles. Interestingly, my Volkswagens would do this when I used Rain-X on the windshield but my Fiat does not.

You might try cleaning the windshield really well with a non-abrasive cleaner. There could be residues leftover from manufacturing/assembly.

 

[jomo25]

Hi Folks

Today was my first drive of my new model 3 (4 weeks old) in the rain today morning, and I observed a few things

Issue#1
- if wipers are set to auto, the wipers are not doing a smooth operation. I see a staggered wiping, and a lot of noise. Video is uploaded at Wiper Blade.mp4
- Note that if I move to manual and fast mode, the operation is very smooth

I have not seen this behavior on my BMW or my Honda or Toyota

Does any of the Model 3 owners experience this issue? What is the solution? Should I register a call with the SC (which I will) but asking out to the stalwarts in this forum to comment

Issue#2
- when I open the charge port flap after driving in rain, I see some water drops close to the charge points. I am not sure if it can accumulate and cause some short circuit. I am not sure how it works on Model S or Model X. Should I be concerned?
- Links to the video - Water behind Charge Flap.mp4

Any comments and feedback is highly appreciated

what firmware are you on? My wiper buttons on the screen are different. I dont have “slow” and “fast”. I have different icons representing different speeds. I’m on 2018.4.8

As for the ‘stuttering’ wiper blades. My wife said ours was doing the same. I haven’t seen it in our 3. But i have seen similar in our X (and S before that). I have a theory as to why it happens, particularly only in Auto mode:

When in auto mode, the car is constantly assessing the need for wipers to be on or off. And the stutter is actually the car shifting between on and off. I’ve noticed similar type of stuttering in other cars, if you manually turn them off while it is in motion. (I even think it will do this when if you manually turn them off in the 3, while they are in motion). And I think that the stuttering is the wipers being toggled on/off while in motion.

 

[Flekoun]

what firmware are you on? My wiper buttons on the screen are different. I dont have “slow” and “fast”. I have different icons representing different speeds. I’m on 2018.4.8

As for the ‘stuttering’ wiper blades. My wife said ours was doing the same. I haven’t seen it in our 3. But i have seen similar in our X (and S before that). I have a theory as to why it happens, particularly only in Auto mode:

When in auto mode, the car is constantly assessing the need for wipers to be on or off. And the stutter is actually the car shifting between on and off. I’ve noticed similar type of stuttering in other cars, if you manually turn them off while it is in motion. (I even think it will do this when if you manually turn them off in the 3, while they are in motion). And I think that the stuttering is the wipers being toggled on/off while in motion.

Well if this is the reason then I have a solution for tesla engineees right here(watch that “if statement” which fixed this! Amazing!):

While(WipersInAutoMode())
{
If (!IsWiperActive())
CheckIfWipeIsNeeded();
}

 

[dragoljub]

We were driving around in the rain all day today using auto wiper setting and it was very smooth. No jittering at all like the videos above show.

I would consider the only issue with our auto wiper is that it seems to wipe a little bit later than I would even though I’m generally happy to drive with a very rainy windshield.

 

[jsmay311]

Yes, my Model 3's wiper have the exact same symptom like yours. Auto-wipe sucks, but smooth in other settings.
I'd say that's why they called it `beta`.

1st 30 seconds is autowipe, last 10 seconds is manual.

Wow. That's super annoying. That would drive me crazy.

A brand new $50k car with wipers like a 1980's Honda. (Sorry, that's probably too harsh... on the 1980's Honda.)

 

[jomo25]

We were driving around in the rain all day today using auto wiper setting and it was very smooth. No jittering at all like the videos above show.

I would consider the only issue with our auto wiper is that it seems to wipe a little bit later than I would even though I’m generally happy to drive with a very rainy windshield.

That’s a reason for my theory. When you are in a consistent rain (and thus the sensors always sense rain), the wipers are smooth. But in light-ish rain where the sensors would toggle between sensing rain and not, it tends to do this stuttering...

 

[Msjulie]

I agree with the comment of checking for cruft on the windshield; I noticed a bit of that yesterday too but I also know the previous days/weeks there was just way too much sticky pollen all over the place and I can even hear the pass side wiper 'squeaking' on a bit of the window that was especially gunky... I did try to clean them but it was not a 100% effort I will admit.

 

[DR61]

I suggest cleaning the windshield with Bon Ami powder cleanser, just to make sure contaminants are not causing the problem. On some designs, if Rain-X has been applied, it will cause a problem, while on others it does not. Bon Ami removes Rain-X. Also make sure the blades themselves are very clean.

I've seen these problems on many makes of new and old vehicles.