My louver did close when I put the car into car wash mode and put the wipers into service mode though. Not immediately, but it did close eventually. Not sure if that had anything to do with it.
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Recent heat pump failures - software issue?
- Thread starter BR666T
- Start date
Here's a scenario - it's not yet -10 celcius so the heat pump will try to scavenge outside heat to achieve COP of >1. Problem is that the rad is fully blocked with snow so whether the temp is -1 or -31, your COP is now = 1 because the heat pump is in "Stalled" mode, "mode 9", "compressor heating" or whatever you want to call it when input power (~7 KW) is all that's heating the cabin and battery. I am imagining that it's not that far of a stretch for the car to detect that if outside temp is higher than minimum operating temp for the Freon to be able to scavenge heat out of (I believe that is around -10 Celsius) and the current heat output is at or close to COP=1 then close louvers, heat the rad to melt the buildup, try again in a few mins to open louvers to get COP higher than 1. I'm imagining that such cycling would allow the intermittent COP>1 to more than compensate for whatever power loss was required to melt the ice on the radiator.
Here's a picture of our Model Y from 15 minutes ago after we parked in the garage. It was -2 Celsius outside and snowing on the way back. Arrows are pointing to the snow caked onto the radiator and as you can see the entire surface area is fully blocked by the snow. I'd really love to know when the louvers actually operate outside car wash mode. Clearly they're not doing anything here. Finally, heat pumps should have a defrost cycle, I'm suspecting that it does not turn on defrost mode often enough for real-world driving. Again, I'm sure all this can be determined by comparing the expected COP of the heat pump versus the outside air temperature then closing louvers and defrosting the radiator. Future software update for further "cold weather improvements"? If you want to get real crazy you can run the fan to check how blocked the rad is - no restriction means less RPM for the fan, blockage allows the fan to spin at higher RPM. All software stuffs that can be be put into curves that can be read and compared to sensor readings to avoid issues and gain maximum COP for actual real-world conditions. (Yes, winter driving in Canada is a real hell.)
Here's a picture of our Model Y from 15 minutes ago after we parked in the garage. It was -2 Celsius outside and snowing on the way back. Arrows are pointing to the snow caked onto the radiator and as you can see the entire surface area is fully blocked by the snow. I'd really love to know when the louvers actually operate outside car wash mode. Clearly they're not doing anything here. Finally, heat pumps should have a defrost cycle, I'm suspecting that it does not turn on defrost mode often enough for real-world driving. Again, I'm sure all this can be determined by comparing the expected COP of the heat pump versus the outside air temperature then closing louvers and defrosting the radiator. Future software update for further "cold weather improvements"? If you want to get real crazy you can run the fan to check how blocked the rad is - no restriction means less RPM for the fan, blockage allows the fan to spin at higher RPM. All software stuffs that can be be put into curves that can be read and compared to sensor readings to avoid issues and gain maximum COP for actual real-world conditions. (Yes, winter driving in Canada is a real hell.)
Workaround: Supercharge the car, keep the cabin climate control on, and set the cabin temperature to freezing. I'll bet that all of that ice is gone within 5 minutes.
I don't think so, It'll prefer to store first the heat in the battery than dumping it outsideWorkaround: Supercharge the car, keep the cabin climate control on, and set the cabin temperature to freezing. I'll bet that all of that ice is gone within 5 minutes.
Well presumably if you told it you were going to supercharge, it would have already preheated the battery to the optimum temperature, so with the cabin temperature set to freezing, any heat generated during supercharging gets dumped overboard through the radiator.
I think I also have a heat pump failure. I have a 2021 Model S Plaid and the dash says "Cabin climate control system requires service". The active alert is "VCFRONT_a447". In Service mode it also displays "VCFRONT_a161" compressor self fault. It looks like on Toolbox (the scan tool) it has articles 40262 and 5990600 which reference these codes. I paid Tesla to get access to the scantool and these articles but when I click on them it says "not found". I can only see the small section below. Does anyone else have access? If you could PM me please...
Just got the error again vcfront_a447. Got my m3 back on Tuesday too after they replaced compressor and super manifold. Haven’t tried any temporary fixes like software reboot. Front louvers aren’t blocked. Frustrating is an understatement!
I bet it’s frustrating. Where are you located and what is the outside temp when it happened?Mine is in the shop right now for the same error. Happened when it was 63 F outside. Luckily they gave me a Model X to drive while they fix mine.
Winnipeg Manitoba, so just north of North Dakota. No error on next drive though so I canceled the service request. It’s currently a balmy -15C, which is 5 F. It’s normally colder than this though.
Mine didn’t have heat upon pickup. They fixed it right there because it was 30F and I had a 400+ mile drive home.
A week later, I had coolant leak and so they replaced the super manifold.
A month later, both heat and air went out. Waiting to hear what’s wrong with it.
All times, I was well taken care off. At pickup they offered me to take any car from the lot and go while they fixed the car. Second time, they ubered my wife to an Enterprise Rental and told her to pick out any car he liked there. Third time
, they offered me a Model X while they fixed the car. Actually a week ahead of my appointment since there was a winter storm coming and I told them I really didn’t want to drive a car with no heat.
Wow I feel your pain! I’m running into a similar problem too. I’ve been without heat for 1.5 weeks and it’s been so cold last week. Located in Edmonton and my hvac system malfunctioned 3 times and only after the 3rd time they requested I bring the vehicle in. But hearing your story after replacing the main parts and your still having issues is really really concerning. I was the biggest Tesla fan and would say nothing but great things but I’ve really suffered this winter and I paid 80k for something that wasn’t reliable. I went ahead and submitted a transport Canada complaint on the hvac system since there is an open investigation right now because they need regulatory pressure at this point.
Yikes this has me concerned. Think you’re now the second person I’ve seen report a failure on replaced parts. I’ve had all these parts replaced too early January. So far it hasn’t been as cold as it was when it initially broke but seeing it occur again has me wondering too whether I should risk keeping the car. I love the car, but this has me super nervous and if I sell now I could actually come out at my loan balance or even ahead which never happens at less than a year in
Last week, we had a snow storm (3-5 inches of snow)for two days. Our MYLR is parked outside during the storm, didn't use it for two days. On the third day, I had to run some errands and the dreaded error vcfront_a447 came flashing. I have no heat and no status on climate, can't see or set the temp. I can't control on the app as well. The front louvre is not obstructed by anything. Also used blowdry in case something is stuck, still the same error. Tried soft resetting to no avail.
I have an appt this week with Tesla service center to have it looked at. I'll keep you guys posted.
I have an appt this week with Tesla service center to have it looked at. I'll keep you guys posted.
For the windows frosting, I placewarm water in a ziploc bag and rub it on the windows/windshield. Also have a cover to prevent this at night.
Like you our MYLR will be mostly used for trips not more than 1 hour. Got eh blankets ready for the wife and kids as well.
Error came back today and won’t go away. Tried soft reboot as well as shutting down for 3 minutes. No heat and it’s only -9C. Hasn’t been a week since I got it back for this same error. Still on software 2021.44.30.7
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