Model 3 - drive in rainy condition

[CuriousG]

Two month into ownership now however not a lot of rain to report. It did the chattering as you say early on. It also left some residue on my windshield. I've cleaned it more than once and attempted to clean the wiper blades without success. After a while, it eventually stopped doing it in the auto setting. I don't have the latest 2018.x.x firmware so don't know if it's improved but it isn't very good in it's current form. The liberties it takes when it wipes varies widely. If you want it to consistently wipe, I suggest using the on settings at this point.

 

[myM3]

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.

Hi
I see my M3 is running 2017.5012. 707518. Per the support folks I believe not every Tesla Model 3 will get a update not can one force a update. He said that Tesla releases the updates in batches and we may have to wait. That is not a good strategy if their QE/QC is robust.
The confidence should be high or they should run a BETA and ask for feedback and if BETA results are good then they have to cut the code into production

I am planning to take my M3 to a SC and see if I can get that manually upgraded. I am sure they should have backdoor mechanisms

 

[Big Earl]

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.

Bon Ami is excellent on windshields.

 

[Big Earl]

Hi
I see my M3 is running 2017.5012. 707518. Per the support folks I believe not every Tesla Model 3 will get a update not can one force a update. He said that Tesla releases the updates in batches and we may have to wait. That is not a good strategy if their QE/QC is robust.
The confidence should be high or they should run a BETA and ask for feedback and if BETA results are good then they have to cut the code into production

I am planning to take my M3 to a SC and see if I can get that manually upgraded. I am sure they should have backdoor mechanisms

They do updates in batches so that AT&T doesn’t crash when the entire fleet tries to update simultaneously.

 

[jomo25]

They do updates in batches so that AT&T doesn’t crash when the entire fleet tries to update simultaneously.

That is true. But I think there are others factors at play here. I think something else, like hardware differences, is limiting the updates some cars can get. For example, it seems that cars delivered before end of 2017 are not able to take 2018.x firmware versions.

 

[myM3]

That is true. But I think there are others factors at play here. I think something else, like hardware differences, is limiting the updates some cars can get. For example, it seems that cars delivered before end of 2017 are not able to take 2018.x firmware versions.

That is kinda odd. Is there a HW diff between the 2017 and 2018 for the same train (the M3 train). Was this confirmed by Tesla?
If so what is the diff between the twoREV and how would one know ?

 

[jomo25]

That is kinda odd. Is there a HW diff between the 2017 and 2018 for the same train (the M3 train). Was this confirmed by Tesla?
If so what is the diff between the twoREV and how would one know ?

No confirmation. Just my speculation. I joked that the alcantara headliner may be the culprit in another thread. But we know that Tesla does adjust HW components frequently, esp early on in production. So I strongly suspect it. Most cars delivered last 6 wks are all in 2018.x. But most cars delivered prior are still stuck on 2017.x.

 

[arnis]

This wiper jumping is happening here and there.
Often glass coatings do that in case of slightly bad design (almost jumping with no coating, jumping with coating).
It's about static friction playing tricks due to bad wiper system design and excessively flexible wiper arm or frame.

Tesla can fix it with software if they want. All they have to do is command wiper motor to wipe
faster in slow intermittent mode.
Though I'd rather prefer they fix the design (too much play in the arm).

Everybody, keep them busy and the will fix it eventually. Ask them to speed up motor in intermittent mode via software.
This might also work with S/X. Depends on wiper motor design.

 

[myM3]

No confirmation. Just my speculation. I joked that the alcantara headliner may be the culprit in another thread. But we know that Tesla does adjust HW components frequently, esp early on in production. So I strongly suspect it. Most cars delivered last 6 wks are all in 2018.x. But most cars delivered prior are still stuck on 2017.x.

O called Service Center and all that the person was saying "I apologize sir blah blah blah) and then I expressed my concerns and asked for a escalation. The person on phone then put me on to the Support Service queue (I believe they are one level above the Service Center), and when I started asking for a explanation, he went back into my records and came back he was surprised to see why my vehicle was not updated. I got my delivery exactly 28 days back (Feb 3rd). They have escalated my case to management. I am not sure if that is really true but they promised it will updated in next week. Not sure why it take a weekend to update.

The problem with Tesla is their email response is very bad. Till you take delivery they put their beautiful smile to get you in but after the customer service is horrible. Probably because it may go out in public if it is in black and white. I have so far never got any email from service this far

 

[mako7c4]

It appears 2018.36.2 has fixed my issues with chattering wipers. Previously I had to switch to manual if it was only lightly raining, but now auto worked great.

Also on a side note, has anyone noticed a whistling sound after running the wipers once when its misting and going above 40mph. The other day I noticed this whistling whenever I tapped the wipers on from the stalk and it would gradually go away until I hit it again....

 

[CapnOMatic]

I had this issue too when I first got my car, however, the last few days it has been that drizzly rain and my wipers have not done that. Maybe it's because I've washed my car really well or the wipers have "aged" a bit. Not sure, but it hasn't happened lately for me.

 

[RedModel3]

Concerning the charging - I parked and charged my Volt outside for two years, in all kinds of weather. No problems with water during rainstorms at all. The only thing I was careful about was not to let the end of the charger cord lay on the ground or in standing water. Otherwise, I'd plug in during all kinds of weather. Enjoy!

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Hi Folks
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

The relay for the charge port only engages after you plug in a Tesla coded charger. You can hose it down and jumper a wire between + and - and nothing will happen (not that I'm telling to try this - Don't).

If there is a lot of water build up, give it a blow before plugging in to charge.

 

[Nocturnal]

I can confirm that the wipers get smoother. I think it is not the motor/controller, but the actual blades sticking to the glass. I had that same issue and it seemed very bad at first, not much much better.