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Side pillar camera fog

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This is on my 2019 M3LR and it just happened now.
Weather is sunny and 45F in Chicago.
This will happen when the weather is cold enough AND the sun is directly hitting the Pilar. The sun will warm up the inside and the moisture will condensate. This is why it usually happens on one side. The one getting hit by the sun. With the same temperature and no sun you will not have issues.
I have had 2 Pilar replacement already and this last one is the worst of all.
I have given up on fixing it already.
 

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I doubt it, seems like the seal on the camera assembly is broken. It would need to be replaced.

Mine passenger side B-pillar camera is doing this a lot now after having the car for just over a month, I'm going to schedule a service appointment for it.
They tell me that there IS no seal on purpose. They want it to "breathe" so we get this.
 
OK, I'm coming in a bit late on the thread. I have both B-pillar cameras AND the front pod on the windshield fogging up. My service center calls it nothing to worry about as long as it eventually clears up on its own.

Well, except for a few details:

1. I paid thousands for FSD. And of course it and AP will not function when one of these is fogged.
1a. Tesla relies ONLY on cameras for it's auto-steer. So if the cameras can't see, that's a pretty big deal.
2. The front view from the dash cam and Sentry Mode are often unusable because of the fog. (pillar cams not used for this, only the repeaters which seem fine.

At a minimum I'd like to have my money back for the FSD if this is not something that is fixable. Yes, the fog always does *eventually* clear up. But there's a grimy film on the inside of the front camera pod even when there is no fog. And when this happens, I can often have an hour of it staying fogged. The worst situation is when I wash the car (or it has rained or is foggy, etc), put it in the garage. It gets cold over night, then I take it out on a cold morning with the sun shining directly on one or more of the cameras.. which of course warms the glass while the air is still cool.

Condensation looks great on my beer glass. I'm not so much a fan on my cameras. As I've been to service twice about this now, I'm not sure what to do. Here's there official response on my invoice (note they completely ignored my front cameras issue)/

Service Says:
All b-pillar cameras are subject to some amount of condensation by design. The presence of condensation does not warranty a replacement. It is only a cause for concern when the condensation does not clear up by itself while driving the car OR when the car is moved to a non-humid environment and cabin/body temperature matches the room.

I wonder what's different with the centers that are replacing them vs the centers that call this "normal."
 
OK, I'm coming in a bit late on the thread. I have both B-pillar cameras AND the front pod on the windshield fogging up. My service center calls it nothing to worry about as long as it eventually clears up on its own.

Well, except for a few details:

1. I paid thousands for FSD. And of course it and AP will not function when one of these is fogged.
1a. Tesla relies ONLY on cameras for it's auto-steer. So if the cameras can't see, that's a pretty big deal.
2. The front view from the dash cam and Sentry Mode are often unusable because of the fog. (pillar cams not used for this, only the repeaters which seem fine.

At a minimum I'd like to have my money back for the FSD if this is not something that is fixable. Yes, the fog always does *eventually* clear up. But there's a grimy film on the inside of the front camera pod even when there is no fog. And when this happens, I can often have an hour of it staying fogged. The worst situation is when I wash the car (or it has rained or is foggy, etc), put it in the garage. It gets cold over night, then I take it out on a cold morning with the sun shining directly on one or more of the cameras.. which of course warms the glass while the air is still cool.

Condensation looks great on my beer glass. I'm not so much a fan on my cameras. As I've been to service twice about this now, I'm not sure what to do. Here's there official response on my invoice (note they completely ignored my front cameras issue)/

Service Says:
All b-pillar cameras are subject to some amount of condensation by design. The presence of condensation does not warranty a replacement. It is only a cause for concern when the condensation does not clear up by itself while driving the car OR when the car is moved to a non-humid environment and cabin/body temperature matches the room.

I wonder what's different with the centers that are replacing them vs the centers that call this "normal."
Is the Tesla Model Y parked outside, overnight? Do you regularly precondition the Tesla Model Y in the A.M. before driving? Turning on the climate control via the Tesla app ~5 to 10 minutes before you start driving will warm the cabin and should help with any condensation on the inside or outside of the glass. The climate control system can heat and dehumidify the passenger cabin at the same. time.
 
Is the Tesla Model Y parked outside, overnight? Do you regularly precondition the Tesla Model Y in the A.M. before driving? Turning on the climate control via the Tesla app ~5 to 10 minutes before you start driving will warm the cabin and should help with any condensation on the inside or outside of the glass. The climate control system can heat and dehumidify the passenger cabin at the same. time.
Hi Mr. Canoe. Thanks for the input. I guess that I didn't mention that my car is a Model 3. But that really doesn't matter in this context.

No, I do not regularly precondition. One reason is that I do not have a regular schedule for using the car. The other reason is that I have a severe allergy to wasting energy. I don't need anything preconditioned and in fact use the HVAC very little. I do wonder how much positive effect that would have on the pillar cams. I can see it perhaps helping with the front pod. But still that front pod now has a filmy grime on the back of the glass that can't be cleaned. Having to run the HVAC in order to use the very expensive features of my car is a bit off-putting.
 
Hi Mr. Canoe. Thanks for the input. I guess that I didn't mention that my car is a Model 3. But that really doesn't matter in this context.

No, I do not regularly precondition. One reason is that I do not have a regular schedule for using the car. The other reason is that I have a severe allergy to wasting energy. I don't need anything preconditioned and in fact use the HVAC very little. I do wonder how much positive effect that would have on the pillar cams. I can see it perhaps helping with the front pod. But still that front pod now has a filmy grime on the back of the glass that can't be cleaned. Having to run the HVAC in order to use the very expensive features of my car is a bit off-putting.
I suggest you try preconditioning (manually, not as part of Scheduled Departure) for a short time before driving by tapping on the fan icon on the main Tesla app screen. This will use ~1% of the battery charge, perhaps up to 2% depending on the outside air temperature and the length of the preconditioning period. I would start out preconditioning for ~5 to 7 minutes before you leave and adjust as needed. The goal would be to reduce the humidity in the passenger cabin, help defog the windshield, side repeaters, not fully precondition the battery or fully warm the cabin.

When the battery is cold, i.e. below ~4C (39F) then the Tesla Model Y's battery management system (BMS) will automatically generate some heat to warm the battery using the front and rear motor stators (the fixed part of the electric motor) sending a special power wave through the stator to generate waste heat. This heat warms the coolant circulating in the motor housing. The warmed coolant is then routed to the battery pack. Once the battery temperature is at or above ~7C (44.6F) then the battery management system stops warming the battery and partial regenerative braking will be available.

While the Tesla vehicle is preconditioning the heat pump in the Tesla Model Y's climate control system will scavenge heat from the outside air and also from the warm coolant after it runs through the battery to warm the passenger cabin. If you precondition for ~5 to 7 minutes before driving this should not use appreciably more energy that if you start driving without preconditioning. Either with or without preconditioning the Tesla Model Y's BMS will warm warm the battery if needed.

When you precondition while the Tesla vehicle is plugged in and charging at 240V the Tesla vehicle will in most cases be able to pull enough power from the grid that the battery charge will be maintained even as the Tesla vehicle is preconditioning.

Another way that preconditioning helps save energy is it enables at least partial regenerative braking. If the battery is too cold then regenerative braking is fully disabled. You lose the ability to recapture energy through regenerative braking (up to ~70%) when slowing down when you start out driving and the battery is too cold.
 
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I suggest you try preconditioning (manually, not as part of Scheduled Departure) for a short time before driving by tapping on the fan icon on the main Tesla app screen. This will use ~1% of the battery charge, perhaps up to 2% depending on the outside air temperature and the length of the preconditioning period. I would start out preconditioning for ~5 to 7 minutes before you leave and adjust as needed. The goal would be to reduce the humidity in the passenger cabin, help defog the windshield, side repeaters, not fully precondition the battery or fully warm the cabin.

When the battery is cold, i.e. below ~4C (39F) then the Tesla Model Y's battery management system (BMS) will automatically generate some heat to warm the battery using the front and rear motor stators (the fixed part of the electric motor) sending a special power wave through the stator to generate waste heat. This heat warms the coolant circulating in the motor housing. The warmed coolant is then routed to the battery pack. Once the battery temperature is at or above ~7C (44.6F) then the battery management system stops warming the battery and partial regenerative braking will be available.

While the Tesla vehicle is preconditioning the heat pump in the Tesla Model Y's climate control system will scavenge heat from the outside air and also from the warm coolant after it runs through the battery to warm the passenger cabin. If you precondition for ~5 to 7 minutes before driving this should not use appreciably more energy that if you start driving without preconditioning. Either with or without preconditioning the Tesla Model Y's BMS will warm warm the battery if needed.

When you precondition while the Tesla vehicle is plugged in and charging at 240V the Tesla vehicle will in most cases be able to pull enough power from the grid that the battery charge will be maintained even as the Tesla vehicle is preconditioning.

Another way that preconditioning helps save energy is it enables at least partial regenerative braking. If the battery is too cold then regenerative braking is fully disabled. You lose the ability to recapture energy through regenerative braking (up to ~70%) when slowing down when you start out driving and the battery is too cold.
Great information! Thanks for taking the time to share. Again I assume this also applies to the Model 3's of 2018 vintage? I've never been sure how the BMS warmed up the drivetrain components. I can certainly try this. And if it works, it begs the question: Why aren't the service centers at least suggesting this instead of calling it normal?

One other caveat. This is not going to work when the car is parked and I wish to use Sentry Mode while the front camera pod is fogged. Sentry mode already uses enough energy to be a concern when parked for long periods. No way I'm going to be conditioning it too.
 
Why aren't the service centers at least suggesting this instead of calling it normal?
They don't know your specific situation. You could be parking next to a sprinkler that douses the vehicle each morning. The Tesla mothership knows a lot about how we use the vehicles. Tesla probably knows down to the minute and second how frequently and how long Tesla owners precondition the vehicle and how they use the climate control system in the different seasons. Tesla does not necessarily share this information with the Service Center.

The newer Tesla Model 3 and Model Y have heating elements embedded in the windshield, in the B pillar and can defrost/defog the area around the cameras when Sentry Mode is active.

On Model 3 vehicles without the heat pump the stator heating is the only method of providing heat for the passenger cabin. Warm coolant from the battery pack is routed to the cabin heat exchanger to warm the passenger cabin.
 
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They don't know your specific situation. You could be parking next to a sprinkler that douses the vehicle each morning. The Tesla mothership knows a lot about how we use the vehicles. Tesla probably knows down to the minute and second how frequently and how long Tesla owners precondition the vehicle and how they use the climate control system in the different seasons. Tesla does not necessarily share this information with the Service Center.

The newer Tesla Model 3 and Model Y have heating elements embedded in the windshield, in the B pillar and can defrost/defog the area around the cameras when Sentry Mode is active.

On Model 3 vehicles without the heat pump the stator heating is the only method of providing heat for the passenger cabin. Warm coolant from the battery pack is routed to the cabin heat exchanger to warm the passenger cabin.
In fact they DO know my specific situation. Because I explained it to them in excruciating detail. The issue I'm having is quite obvious. Yet they call it "as designed" and offer no solution.

Good to hear that the latest vehicles have addressed this. Is it true that none of the new vehicles are fogging over the cameras? It is fixed with current cars?
 
In fact they DO know my specific situation. Because I explained it to them in excruciating detail. The issue I'm having is quite obvious. Yet they call it "as designed" and offer no solution.

Good to hear that the latest vehicles have addressed this. Is it true that none of the new vehicles are fogging over the cameras? It is fixed with current cars?
I have not had an issue with camera fogging. The only time I have had an issue with a blocked camera was while driving with the sun facing the B pillar camera when the outside of my Model Y was less than clean. Similarly I have experienced the windshield wipers coming on automatically when driving into the morning sun and the windshield was not clean. When the windshield wipers came Autopilot was not engaged.

Also, forgot to mention in my earlier post that you should set the Climate Control to Auto and your preferred temperature (I set the temperature between 70F and 72F) before exiting the vehicle. When you activate the climate control using the Tesla app your most recent settings will be used.