Model S Cabin Heater Stopped Working

[Cheburashka]

Tesla service manual says remove HV battery. Hard to tell from their diagram where is located (HV harness from rear of car in left of the pic so probably along the driver side frame rails. Read up on removing Front Junction Box (FJB) to front motor's short HV cable which also requires dropping HV battery pack and disconnect steering shaft (doesn't say anything about LHD vs RHD cars so I'll assume its LHD) This suggest the FBJ is indeed tucked between the HV battery bump in the front and the driver side frame. Cover to open.

To get to the fuse you need to remove the wiper motor and you can get at the lid from on top. Not easy but doable. I opened my frunk up to look.

 

[Atrepro]

Just had my heater repaired on my '16 MS





 

[Krash]

Just had my heater repaired…

$550 ish in parts. $1000 labor. Maybe they can afford to drop the battery for that.

I don’t suppose you’d ask them for us if they did drop the battery pack? It wouldn’t necessarily mean we’d have to, but if they don’t, that means a lot.

That answer would help me decide whether I’m replacing a heater core, or whether just a fuse and running the heater with the car disassembled to see if it pops again. Assuming we figure out how to get those parts from the frunk. Otherwise I’m leaving it at the service center for them to fix.

I’m curious as to when that Gen3 “E” part got released. Looks like the main part number is Apr 2016 for the S but maybe Sep 2015 for the X. Installed until Jan 2021, as it probably is not needed with the heat pump. I see references to a 2018 “D” revision online, so I’m leaning toward a new part for me.

 

[Atrepro]

My understanding is they pulled the HV battery to fix.

 

[Gtech]

$550 ish in parts. $1000 labor. Maybe they can afford to drop the battery for that.

I don’t suppose you’d ask them for us if they did drop the battery pack? It wouldn’t necessarily mean we’d have to, but if they don’t, that means a lot.

That answer would help me decide whether I’m replacing a heater core, or whether just a fuse and running the heater with the car disassembled to see if it pops again. Assuming we figure out how to get those parts from the frunk. Otherwise I’m leaving it at the service center for them to fix.

I’m curious as to when that Gen3 “E” part got released. Looks like the main part number is Apr 2016 for the S but maybe Sep 2015 for the X. Installed until Jan 2021, as it probably is not needed with the heat pump. I see references to a 2018 “D” revision online, so I’m leaning toward a new part for me.

I was wondering the same and I did some 'research'.

This are labor times and I think I have the answer:

If they can remove the HV pack in 1.2 hours there is 0,95 to change the fuse. Sounds plausible.

I have replaced the PTC fuse from 2nd gen dual motor twice now and both times without removing HV pack but the first time I think it took me 6 almost hours. Second time maybe half that time but I don't think an average mechanic can do it easily in 2 hours.

I had no succes with replacing only the fuse, also keep in mind the cover has to be fully seated before testing.

 

[Krash]

I can see why they wouldn’t just replace the fuse. So much labor involved and you can’t test the heater without the HV pack reinstalled.

I bet they’d give you the old heater if you asked. Probably no core charge. Not sure who would want an iffy heater core though. Maybe for an ICE with a Tesla retrofit.

 

[Cheburashka]

Removing the HV pack is super simple. I wonder why it takes a freaking hour to do it? 10 minutes to remove and 50 minutes to stand around and look at it?

Replacing the heater itself is also easy. Just need to figure out how the foot well trim goes together. Took me only a couple of hours first time. If I had to do it again I could do it in under an hour.

 

[KalJoMoS]

So the heater removing was “only a couple of hours” length or did you managed to lower the HV battery and are wondering why does Tesla needs to take such a long time for it?

Here is one example to repair the PTC heater, although on model X

 

[Cheburashka]

So the heater removing was “only a couple of hours” length or did you managed to lower the HV battery and are wondering why does Tesla needs to take such a long time for it?

Here is one example to repair the PTC heater, although on model X

I didn't get to the fuse yet, I just replaced the PTC heater and it was easy. Going to start on the fuse today.

 

[Parnellz]

I suspect it's another case of routine component failures outside of the new car warranty just like when 2018 Tesla Model 3 PTC resistive heater failed.

The EXACT same thing happened my 2016 Tesla Model S today. Strange that it happened to both of us on the exact same day.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

The EXACT same thing happened my 2016 Tesla Model S today. Strange that it happened to both of us on the exact same day.

With ICE cars, we always had to worry that the mechanical engineers designed parts to last just until the factory warranty expires. Now with over the air updates, the software engineers can simply program parts to fail outside of warranty.

Need some extra revenue for the quarter? Just send a command to shut down a component, give an error code, and have the owner pay to replace it! Brilliant!