Got a notification that my right door Pilar camera was blocked. It was during a road trip and my first big rain while driving. Didn't think much of it. But 2-3 days later I noticed moisture inside the glass by the camera. Something to worry about? Will it eventually evaporate? Sign of a bigger seal issue?
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Moisture in right pillar camera
- Thread starter bigroo42
- Start date
I believe Tesla considers that to be normal. You really shouldn't drive such a nice piece of hardware in the rain. This includes headlights and tail lights and very likely fog lights. Yes, your fog lights can fog up.
I think it's a joke, Tesla actually told me it is normal for the lights to fog up. I am expecting some rust issues in 8 years or so. Or maybe sooner since the warranty is only for 4 years.
1. Rust-through warranty is 12 years.
2. Tesla replaced my b-pillar panels under warranty due to cameras fogging up and will do so again on 1/7 with an updated part.
At my SC visit mid Dec, the SC removed a one way air valve plug that is part of the pillar camera assembly. While it did not fix the issue completely, say after an overnight parked AM rain, what it seems to have done is allow more airflow exchange near the camera glass during driving. The net result is much less condensation obscuring the camera. And a drive with fast moving air clears the lens / camera area enough the reduce the issue.
Just completed an 1,100 mile trip, over rainy / snowy Mt Shasta, and it worked.
They did the fix within an hour. I bet with the right part of the service manual, do it yourselfers could do this at home w/out the SC visit. Curious if anyone has additional comments.
-TechVP
Just completed an 1,100 mile trip, over rainy / snowy Mt Shasta, and it worked.
They did the fix within an hour. I bet with the right part of the service manual, do it yourselfers could do this at home w/out the SC visit. Curious if anyone has additional comments.
-TechVP
There’s some relevant discussion in the thread I linked to above. Sounds like at least some versions of the part have a fabric patch over the vent opening that can be permanently removed and that’s the solution Tesla is going for at the moment.
I received my Y in July and had no problems until the fall rains. It rains a lot here in Western Washington. Although my car is garaged, it has been out in the rain and through the car wash. I drove it on a rare sunny December day and I received warnings from both pillar cameras when the side had sun shining on its side. I could see a coin-sized circle of moisture on top of the camera. This doesn’t seem right and I am wondering whether I should notify the service center.
GlmnAlyAirCar
Active Member
The problem stems from the fact that the back of the pillar camera is exposed to the cabin. If you have relatively warm, moist air in the cabin (such as after a rainfall or even just having a car full of passengers), park in your relatively warm garage, then pull out into cooler air, the temperature around the camera is quickly going to drop below the dew point and you will get condensation.
I don’t believe there is a real fix short of replacing the cameras with sealed versions filled with dry air.
I don’t believe there is a real fix short of replacing the cameras with sealed versions filled with dry air.
Thanks for your reply. There seems to be a divergence of opinion on this subject. One person reported that the service center told him that Tesla engineers are working on this problem as it is being reported in a number of cars. SCs have replaced cameras but ai don’t know why that would be a fix because the problem isn’t with the camera but with the condensation.
A few times that I got that "side repeater camera is blocked or blinded" message I pulled up its image and it was perfectly fine, better than from back camera.
I guess IsCameraBlinded routine has a bug or two.
I guess IsCameraBlinded routine has a bug or two.
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