Radiator duct cleanout. (battery coolant system)

[Gyrolion]

Some days ago I came across a video about someone who was inspecting his radiator

So that made me wonder, how dirty is my radiator. I bought this Tesla 2nd hand and when I replaced the cabin air filters there was like a ton of leafs and dead bugs in it.
The car has 65.000 km on it and it is a 2019 model 3.

Since it is winter right now and I dont supercharge alot I dont really worry much about the coolant part of the car.. but it will get summer eventually and I will supercharge one day.

So i let the car run and the front grill opend up and I took a look inside, just a few leaves and a rock where lying on the bumper infront of the radiator.. but I did not see a lot of debris. Of to a good start.

So I removed to interal frunk and managed to slightly open te radiator housing / duct and between te 2 radiators and behold, there was like a ton of cooked up debris in there.. like litterly stuck. I guess it would have made the coolant part of the battery pack a bit worse. It was a lot worse then on the video displayed there.

I managed to get a long flexible soft stick and poke it around a bit between the two radiator (be carefull not to bend the radiator fins), after poking it around I flushed from the top down with water. Still alot of debris would not budge at all....

Anyone know how to remove the plastic housing so I might be able remove or move the top radiator and give it a good clean with a soft brush?

I might be overthinking things but isent this a big design flaw that there is no way for the debris to get out from the ducting?
It is basicly a closed ducting and everything getting in there is bound to stay there forever... stuck between the two radiators to rest there for all eternity.

 

[St☰v☰]

Thanks for sharing that vid, very interesting!! I agree it would seem like a normal maintenance task, like changing the air filter on an ICE.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Yeah it's a weird design that all the bugs, leaves, kids toys, etc. stay in there forever. But really, any bugs that hit a fossil car stay on the radiator forever too - at least the Tesla grille is closed much of the time.

If you let it keep building up then eventually the fan and water pump will have run a little more and you might notice a fraction of a percent reduction in range as a result. Probably not worth the risk of disassembling it just to get that last bit of sludge off the bottom unless you find that it's taking longer to cool down between hard runs on a race track.

 

[CoolColo]

There are clips that hold the condenser to the radiator on the right and left side - near the clips for the cover. If you loosen those clips, there's just enough play in the hoses to separate the condenser and radiation about an inch. This is enough to get in there with skinny tools (I bent a hook into a 1/8" metal rod and carefully worked out the gunk.) If you have an older car (mine's 2018) and see a bunch of junk on top of the condenser when you open the cover - that junk has also worked down between the condenser and radiator. Potentially a lot of it.

 

[CoolColo]

If you let it keep building up then eventually the fan and water pump will have run a little more and you might notice a fraction of a percent reduction in range as a result.

The more serious symptom is unusually steep taper when supercharging - especially on hot days with an already warm battery. Recently when I SC on V3, the charge would ramp up to 250kw, then rapidly fall to 40kwh, even with the battery at <50% SOC. I confirmed with a Tesla mobile tech today that when they see this pattern, cleaning the radiator/condenser is the first step. In his words "we're seeing this a lot." He said if it continues after that, diagnostics are recommended as there are several other possible causes for this behavior.

 

[Gyrolion]

Basicly we really need a good step by step guide to seperate the heat exchangers so we can properly clean it.

I also use the same method you used, but I’m a bit afraid i will do more damage to the tiny radiator fins.

 

[ay221]

Have you tried one of these to see if it helps. Not sure if it will reduce airflow by having this grill on.

Model 3 Radiator Protective Mesh Grill Panel (2 Pieces) - Black

Protect your pride and joy, as this is a must-have protective accessory for all Tesla Model 3 owners. Our Radiator Protective Mesh Grill Panel stops, bugs, rocks, and other road debris from denting the fins on your front intake radiator, as well as preventing the puncturing of the radiator...

www.rpmtesla.com

 

[MrFusion4]

did mine earlier and i found a bunch of leaves and a cig butt lol i use my shop vac to get most of it out. Hope it helps in the long run

 

[ElectricEel]

The more serious symptom is unusually steep taper when supercharging - especially on hot days with an already warm battery. Recently when I SC on V3, the charge would ramp up to 250kw, then rapidly fall to 40kwh, even with the battery at <50% SOC. I confirmed with a Tesla mobile tech today that when they see this pattern, cleaning the radiator/condenser is the first step. In his words "we're seeing this a lot." He said if it continues after that, diagnostics are recommended as there are several other possible causes for this behavior.

I’m having the same problem as you. I get 250 kW and the fan kicks on like a jet engine and it drops to 60kw. On a trip back from Vegas the car actually capped my speed at 50mph and even wouldn’t charge until I let it cool for 20 min…

Finally I looked at my grill and from the bottom of the car and the radiator is complexly caked with dirt Little Rock’s and bugs. Gonna make a complete guide to cleaning it soon. And also show the results.

 

[vogz]

Yeah it's a weird design that all the bugs, leaves, kids toys, etc. stay in there forever. But really, any bugs that hit a fossil car stay on the radiator forever too - at least the Tesla grille is closed much of the time.

If you let it keep building up then eventually the fan and water pump will have run a little more and you might notice a fraction of a percent reduction in range as a result. Probably not worth the risk of disassembling it just to get that last bit of sludge off the bottom unless you find that it's taking longer to cool down between hard runs on a race track.

The problem isn't the reduction in cooling. The problem is over time as those leaves get wet and dry out over and over and continue to pile up they start decompose and in doing so can rot out the bottom of of the radiator. This is a large problem with 996 and 997 Porsche 911 models since like the model 3, there's no "outlet" for the leaves and junk to exit. It leads to radiator failures on a regular basis on those cars as they accumulate miles. I had to replace one of my front rads (there are 3) on my 2003 911 Turbo shortly after I purchased it in 2015 and found that the other 2 had previously been replaced already. There was also a ton of leaves/debris built up at the bottom of the radiators. I'm definitely going to investigate/clean out my cooling radiator setup on the model 3 after reading this thread.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

This isn't an old Porsche. Modern radiators are made from aluminum and plastic - materials that don't rot.

 

[rpiotro]

Thanks. I was wondering how to do that. On a recent road trip some hay bales fell off of a truck then got blasted. Drove through a hay storm for about a quarter mile. Need to clean it out.

 

[rpiotro]

This isn't an old Porsche. Modern radiators are made from aluminum and plastic - materials that don't rot.

Old Porsches did not have radiators. 911s were air cooled until the late '90s. Unless you think 20 years ago is ancient history.

 

[blackT3$!@]

I was able to tape a 2m length of flexible clear tubing to a small car vacuum hose and snake it in-between the radiator and the shroud with the frunk tub removed. I was able to vacuum out all the little rocks, insects, and leaves. I held the shroud open with one hand just enough to see down into the radiator and with my other hand vacuum out the gunk. If they were too big to enter the tubing, I was able to extract them with the suction at the end of the tubing. At the time I had less than 1 year ownership and I was amazed at how much debris was caught in the fins and edges of the radiator. I did purchase a fine mesh black air scoop grill and installed that which does collect road debris on the exterior of the grill so I can wash/vacuum/pick it off before it enters the lower air scoop.

 

[kgvickers]

Shortly after getting my Model 3 two years ago I fabricated my own air scoop grill using one of these rain-gutter covers from Home Depot: ( Amerimax Home Products Lock-In 3 ft. Black Metal Mesh Gutter Guard 6360X2 - The Home Depot ) I used thin cardboard to create a template then trimmed the metal mesh as required to give it a snug fit. Hopefully this has kept larger debris out.

I've cleaned my AC evap and condensor coils yearly with the foaming stuff available at Home Depot or any AC supply store. The foaming action tends to push debris out of the tight fins. Seems to work fine and I've never had any issues with it.

After reading this thread I'm going to vacuum out the larger stuff then use the foam. I'm assuming I can safely rinse the coils with low to moderate pressure water to clear all the foam - that's what's required on the outside AC coils.

 

[blackT3$!@]

The foaming action tends to push debris out of the tight fins

I doubt the "foaming action" is going to do anything to the leaves, insects and rocks in the cooling radiator except cleanse the gunk.

 

[DocHolliday]

Shortly after getting my Model 3 two years ago I fabricated my own air scoop grill using one of these rain-gutter covers from Home Depot: ( Amerimax Home Products Lock-In 3 ft. Black Metal Mesh Gutter Guard 6360X2 - The Home Depot ) I used thin cardboard to create a template then trimmed the metal mesh as required to give it a snug fit. Hopefully this has kept larger debris out.

I've cleaned my AC evap and condensor coils yearly with the foaming stuff available at Home Depot or any AC supply store. The foaming action tends to push debris out of the tight fins. Seems to work fine and I've never had any issues with it.

After reading this thread I'm going to vacuum out the larger stuff then use the foam. I'm assuming I can safely rinse the coils with low to moderate pressure water to clear all the foam - that's what's required on the outside AC coils.

Do you have any pics? How did you mount it?

 

[android04]

One can also buy something like this to keep bugs from getting trapped in there TAPTES Tesla Model 3 Model Y Insect-Proof Net Protective Cover Air Intake Vent Cover For Tesla

I've somewhat cleaned my radiator and think I will buy that screen next spring and install it. It is hard to pry open the clamshell where the radiator sits and try to power wash or clean in there. I could not figure out an easy way to fully open the cover either.

 

[vogz]

This isn't an old Porsche. Modern radiators are made from aluminum and plastic - materials that don't rot.

You mean like this 996 Turbo radiator that's made from aluminum and plastic? The problem isn't that aluminum and plastic actually rot, it's that constant exposure to rotting organic material causes the aluminum to corrode.

 

[kgvickers]

Do you have any pics? How did you mount it?

I made it slightly oversized and it stays in place. Took some "cramming" to get it in place and it did scratch the plastic a wee bit. I also used some small gauge wire to tie it to the grill that's there already, but I doubt the wire was necessary.

If I were you I'd just buy the one from RPM. When I kludged my grill there was nothing similar available commercially.