My Tesla Peed Today

[St☰v☰]

I washed and dried my 3 this afternoon and then pulled it into the garage and as I walked around the back to put the bucket away, I noticed a lot of water on the garage floor. I crouched down and looked under the car and by golly, water was pouring out from where the back panel meets the center panel and through a hole in the back panel. I checked YT and found another Tesla owner is having the same issue.

Here's a pic of the YT'ers leak, mine was exactly the same:

 

[jbcarioca]

The air conditioning system(s) provide both battery and cabin cooling. As they do that the system dehydrates the air, thus releasing water. All air conditioning systems have water release valves, including domestic refrigerators, wine coolers and every cooling system. It is not unusual for that to be quite heavy in very humid and/warm conditions, or returning from a drive which had the battery become very warm. Nothing to worry about.

 

[RayK]

Maybe you should grab a sample and submit it to your local Quest Diagnostic center? If this were a BMW, it could be an indication of a kidney problem.

Another possibility is that this drain is for water coming from the roof down into the channels around the truck. I've washed my car several times in my driveway but never noticed any "extra" water pooling under the car. Mainly because I wash it where it's parked.

 

[St☰v☰]

The air conditioning system(s) provide both battery and cabin cooling. As they do that the system dehydrates the air, thus releasing water. All air conditioning systems have water release valves, including domestic refrigerators, wine coolers and every cooling system. It is not unusual for that to be quite heavy in very humid and/warm conditions, or returning from a drive which had the battery become very warm. Nothing to worry about.

63 out here in California, no AC or heat was on. So I'm pretty sure it wasn't humidity either, pretty dry right now. But good ideas.

Another possibility is that this drain is for water coming from the roof down into the channels around the truck. I've washed my car several times in my driveway but never noticed any "extra" water pooling under the car. Mainly because I wash it where it's parked.

That sounds more plausible. I'm not concerned if that's how the drain system was designed. That area seems to hold a lot of water though. I probably took over a half hour drying the car and cleaning the interior and it still leaked a whole lot of water on the garage floor.

Here's the YT that I found on the topic:

 

[TLLMRRJ]

The air conditioning system(s) provide both battery and cabin cooling. As they do that the system dehydrates the air, thus releasing water. All air conditioning systems have water release valves, including domestic refrigerators, wine coolers and every cooling system. It is not unusual for that to be quite heavy in very humid and/warm conditions, or returning from a drive which had the battery become very warm. Nothing to worry about.

Isn't all that up front?? The OP said the water was dripping from the back of the car.

 

[RayK]

Similar thread here: Undercarriage retaining water?

I wash my car on the inclined driveway with the front end closest to the street; i.e., front of car is lower than the rear. That might be way I don't see / notice any excess water draining from the car after I wash it.

 

[KenC]

It's exactly as @RayK states. The water that runs down the back of the trunk hatch, will go down into the plastic diffuser panel and collect there. The hole releases it.

 

[St☰v☰]

This kinda explains the excess water. Below is a picture from Ben at Teslanomics when he removed his rear fascia and under pan, for lack of better terms, to install a trailer hitch. Clearly, when the 3 is parked at 3 to 4 degrees, it could clearly retain a lot of liquid.

Here's the video. Ben and Jerry (hmm, sounds like Ice Cream) remove the rear fascia at 4:25ish.

 

[Garlan Garner]

The air conditioning system(s) provide both battery and cabin cooling. As they do that the system dehydrates the air, thus releasing water. All air conditioning systems have water release valves, including domestic refrigerators, wine coolers and every cooling system. It is not unusual for that to be quite heavy in very humid and/warm conditions, or returning from a drive which had the battery become very warm. Nothing to worry about.

This is a pic of the rear of the car....not the front. Even it was the front....there is no way all of that water would be coming from the AC.

This is supposed to happen when the water from the trunk runs down behind the rear bumper. I don't like this design at all.

I've had that tray out many times - don't ask why. There is ALWAYS dirt and muck on top of that tray. The first time I removed that tray ( 7 months old ) there had to be 10 pounds of stuff just sitting there.

Correction: newer Teslas have a drain hole.

 

[jbcarioca]

This is a pic of the rear of the car....not the front. Even it was the front....there is no way all of that water would be coming from the AC.

...

Correction: newer Teslas have a drain hole.

I stand corrected! It seems to be too late to delete my incorrect post.

 

[Garlan Garner]

I stand corrected! It seems to be too late to delete my incorrect post.

It's all good...no problems.