Vendor Preventative Maintenance regarding Battery Failures in early Model S vehicles (2012-2014)

[Ron Burgundy]

Curious if you see any puddles in your driveway or garage now that the AC drains ‘properly’

So far I have not had any "long" trips and the weather here is very temperate this time of year.
But I will as soon as I have a condition that would facilitate a result!

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Good info on the heat ratings. I was more curious if the hose happens to be in direct contact with and resting on the case. Would the ratings you have listed still handle it?

I am not sure if I am answering your question, but the hose I used was a generic 1/2"ID from NAPA Part #NBH H156, Specs:

Get more out of your heater hose with Wildfire Heater Hose, constructed for extra-long service life. Intended for use on cars and light trucks, this EPDM hose is unaffected by most coolants, non-oil based coolant additives and high cooling system pressures. (Not recommended for heavy-duty trucks, buses, or off-road construction equipment; use FleetFlex Gold Heavy-Duty heater hose for these applications.)

• Good resistance to high temperatures for extended periods of time, which prolongs service life
• Convenient 6-ft. lengths in self-service, reusable, recyclable package that can be displayed on pegboard
• Meets SAE 20R3 Standard Wall Class D-2 requirements
• Temperature Range: -40 Deg. F to +257 Deg. F (-40 Deg. C to +125 Deg. C)
• CAUTION: Do not use for fuel or oil transfer applications

 

[rowdy]

Checked my 2014 P85+ and relieved to see the drain hose is extended over the penthouse.

I checked my 2014 P85 too and found the same thankfully. Oct 2014 build 46k VIN.

I'm questioning whether I extend it to the wheel well. Obviously draining on the penthouse was bad, but the engineers then chose a new location for it. Is there a reason they chose a spot that doesn't drain directly to the ground? Was it to prevent bugs/dirt getting in and blocking it?

 

[cduzz]

I checked my 2014 P85 too and found the same thankfully. Oct 2014 build 46k VIN.

I'm questioning whether I extend it to the wheel well. Obviously draining on the penthouse was bad, but the engineers then chose a new location for it. Is there a reason they chose a spot that doesn't drain directly to the ground? Was it to prevent bugs/dirt getting in and blocking it?

Perhaps they thought carefully about it and did extensive modeling, and after a robust test regime made the change.

Perhaps they just got a longer hose, specified it dump "here", closed the ticket and grabbed another beer from the fridge.

 

[Droschke]

Perhaps they thought carefully about it and did extensive modeling, and after a robust test regime made the change.

Perhaps they just got a longer hose, specified it dump "here", closed the ticket and grabbed another beer from the fridge.

I vote for the second sentence.

 

[wk057]

There were doing retrofits of the extended tube on cars that came in for service for some period of time. I've even seen them on signature S's. It's hit or miss below about VIN 70k.

 

[Plasmid_Boy]

I checked my 2014 P85 too and found the same thankfully. Oct 2014 build 46k VIN.

I'm questioning whether I extend it to the wheel well. Obviously draining on the penthouse was bad, but the engineers then chose a new location for it. Is there a reason they chose a spot that doesn't drain directly to the ground? Was it to prevent bugs/dirt getting in and blocking it?

I thought about it before closing it back up. I didn’t see any sign of water damage near the drip area, so felt that it wasn’t a problem needed fixing. But will check it periodically now on.

 

[Plasmid_Boy]

Would you happen to think that the extension was installed at the factory when the car was built and not by a service center as a correction action? If you are the first owner you definitely would know.

Thanks again.

I don’t know. I am the second owner. It had 40k miles when I bought it. It did have the steering rack motor bolts replaced and cold climate 12v posts retrofitted. So possible that the hose was also refitted post delivery. But not sure.

 

[Alabaster]

I have a '13 P85 and pulled the front box today to find that luckily my condenser hose is also overtop the penthouse (although it is rather odd how it is routed. There is a plastic clip to hold the line in place below the orange cable). I was told the main HV battery was replaced in '17 so perhaps the condenser drain hose was added as that time. hard to say.

 

[AustinP]

There are some definite trends with early battery packs failing in earlier Model S vehicles... from day 1 builds up to about Q4'2014 and some even Q1'2015... and any cars that have had Tesla-refurbished packs installed.

From this introduction line, should one understand that so far, from your professional experience and services, battery failures are in the larger majority from that era (from day 1 builds up to about Q4'2014 and some even Q1'2015) and thus batteries manufactured after that are way much less likely to fail?

Our car is a Q2 2015 (VIN 85k). Love it, just trying to evaluate the risk of failure in the coming years, outside of the warranty.

 

[Droschke]

Perhaps they thought carefully about it and did extensive modeling, and after a robust test regime made the change.

Perhaps they just got a longer hose, specified it dump "here", closed the ticket and grabbed another beer from the fridge.

I voted for the second sentence and I am sticking to it, especially that I can now see where "here" is

I have a '13 P85 and pulled the front box today to find that luckily my condenser hose is also overtop the penthouse (although it is rather odd how it is routed. There is a plastic clip to hold the line in place below the orange cable). I was told the main HV battery was replaced in '17 so perhaps the condenser drain hose was added as that time. hard to say. View attachment 860065

 

[aerodyne]

For those of us playing along at home on the wrong coast, any advice for doing a self diagnosis with SMT or equal?

My HV heath is leading (Per Teslafi) the pack of cars in my age and mileage group (June '15 build, 62k miles), at about 76.5 KwH, but module 2, string 2, is always low. Sometimes only 10mv, but usually 20 or more.

I'm in a dry climate, always stored indoors and AC rarely used.

 

[WallysRide]

I voted for the second sentence and I am sticking to it, especially that I can now see where "here" is

It's been helpful to see the photos of drain hoses that have been extended by Tesla at some point. However, they're not giving me great confidence in the idea of asking Tesla to do this service, because at this point I don't know what I would be asking for in terms of where the water should exit. If it's done haphazardly, who knows what other issues could be created - corrosion elsewhere, drainage issues. I may end up just gambling that my 2.0 HV pack is better protected from water ingress.

 

[Droschke]

This ^^^ 100%

 

[wk057]

I see a few people extending this with fittings. This will work for a while, but eventually that can get clogged up at those joints as the condensation nuclei (usually dust and such) grows at these locations. If DIYing this, make sure you use a setup where the existing hose in inserted into a new hose or fitting, not anything being inserted into into the existing hose.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I see a few people extending this with fittings. This will work for a while, but eventually that can get clogged up at those joints as the condensation nuclei (usually dust and such) grows at these locations. If DIYing this, make sure you use a setup where the existing hose in inserted into a new hose or fitting, not anything being inserted into into the existing hose.

Not knowing what the inserted end of the factory hose looks like (a few versions used by Tesla apparently), would it be better to just use a brand new piece of hose to get the evap fluid down to the ground w/o any fittings? Or does the inserted end have a barb or something?

 

[dark cloud]

Not knowing what the inserted end of the factory hose looks like (a few versions used by Tesla apparently), would it be better to just use a brand new piece of hose to get the evap fluid down to the ground w/o any fittings? Or does the inserted end have a barb or something?

It is just hose, attached to the HVAC with a hose clamp, the problem with a piece of regular straight hose is not having the bends in the right places and possibly getting a kink, but it might work. **I am not sure what sort of bend it has at the HVAC connection **edit: found a picture in the dual motor procedure, and **edit again: actually looking at the RWD picture above it looks alot straighter than the dual motor hose. I would just buy the proper hose from Tesla, I sourced the part no. earlier on in this thread.

 

[wk057]

The one from the dual motor procedure is the one used for the retrofits also. However, I would not suggest removing the hose from the car as it's pretty much impossible to reattach from the frunk area if you pull it off of the evaporator drain fitting inside the car.

 

[Plasmid_Boy]

The one from the dual motor procedure is the one used for the retrofits also. However, I would not suggest removing the hose from the car as it's pretty much impossible to reattach from the frunk area if you pull it off of the evaporator drain fitting inside the car.

Thank you for informing us about this water damage issue. Very much appreciated.

 

[Alabaster]

Does that mean it's a bad idea to try and disconnect from inside the car to add Kool-it?

The one from the dual motor procedure is the one used for the retrofits also. However, I would not suggest removing the hose from the car as it's pretty much impossible to reattach from the frunk area if you pull it off of the evaporator drain fitting inside the car.

Does that mean it's a bad idea to try and disconnect the hose from inside the car (where the extension hose would connect inside the firewall) to get a more direct blast of Kool-it?