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Technician "Tesla want to support loyal Roadster owners" - low cost ESS repairs etc

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I've just come back to UK from USA where I had an in depth chat with a very knowledgeable Roadster Technician at the large Dana Beach, Florida, Service centre.
I camped it up about how few Roadsters there are in UK, and how we'd come a long way (for a brit) .. ended up spending 30+mins chatting thro Roadster technical stuff.
Here is a brief summary:

As in UK, most early Tesla Technicians have mainly moved up the management chain and now are area managers, but thankfully the knowledge base has been carefully kept intact.

Except for battery repairs, where even if there is a battery certified Technician, for ANY ESS/battery pack faults, even minor relay trips etc. They drop the battery and return it to California to be repaired by a specialist team .. this appears to be on a global scale, Roadster batteries from Europe will take longer to fix due to shipping time - aircargo is not an option.

He said "Tesla want to support loyal Roadster owners" and he has noticed a significant reduction in the cost of ESS repairs to under $2000 normally (much lower than when repaired locally at normal labour rates). I pushed him on this, and he said many Roadster owners are also now Model S owners, and Tesla want to 'do the right thing'. I also asked about capacity reduction and he said packs are generally performing better than expected with many packs with only a few % reduction in 4+ years .. the most problematical batteries are from cars which get little use, (balance and sheet errors).

Of other common faults on roadsters he said the 400v - 12v converter is a regular re-fit, mainly from damp problems. Noisy suspension is often caused dry bushes (OK to use petroleum based lube, not silicone). Fogged up headlamps should all be cured by now, by 'the gortex patch' ! (basically drill 2 holes, and cover, literally with a gortex patch which wicks moisture one-way (out). 12v batteries are usually changed as part of the annual service. Otherwise he stressed the cars with problems tend to be mainly the infrequently used 'garage queens' or the rare abused, high milers.
 
... Of other common faults on roadsters he said the 400v - 12v converter is a regular re-fit, mainly from damp problems. Noisy suspension is often caused dry bushes (OK to use petroleum based lube, not silicone). Fogged up headlamps should all be cured by now, by 'the gortex patch' ! (basically drill 2 holes, and cover, literally with a gortex patch which wicks moisture one-way (out). 12v batteries are usually changed as part of the annual service. Otherwise he stressed the cars with problems tend to be mainly the infrequently used 'garage queens' or the rare abused, high milers.

Hi Mark - good to hear the comments about 'doing the right thing' .. hope they mean it.

I've had the 400/12v converter replaced 2 yrs in, and Tesla UK have often said this is a regular fault. Not sure if my suspension is any worse/better than others - we need a group meeting to feel each others cars !!

But your comment about the Gortex Patch is interesting right now. I've got the HID headlights and have often been annoyed at the misting/fogging after a damp night. I recently parked up outdoors at a friends house and they live right next to a river. Both headlamps came out looking like the two pics below. Can you provide more details on the mod involving 'drilling' holes ? I have my dremel ready ..

Roadster HID headlight misting 2.jpg


Roadster HID headlight misting 1.jpg
 
Hi Arch - yes it appears this 'gortex patch' must have bypassed UK !
The Guy at Dana Beach said they have done all their local Roadsters and cured this for ever. He also said that if UK service wanted some patches to contact dana Beach direct as they have loads of spares .. ditto other Roadster spares, some of which may be in short supply in CA. For a temporary fix if you take out rear light rubber bungs, leave light on for about 15+ mins to warm and allow ~5 mins to cool a bit that seems to cure the misting too.

And YES I would like to have a meet up - its a good way to see what needs fixing on a service - Dpeilow & I recently did a swap and found a few things a miss in each others cars (ask him about tyre pressures :)
I guess we should all swap address' and stick a compass on the map with a 100 mile radius Its probably somewhere in the middle, like Newbury.

BTW how did your service go ? Did you see @Dash 's Blue roadster in there sans battery > help! total electric failure :(
 
Hi Arch - yes it appears this 'gortex patch' must have bypassed UK !
The Guy at Dana Beach said they have done all their local Roadsters and cured this for ever. He also said that if UK service wanted some patches to contact dana Beach direct as they have loads of spares .. ditto other Roadster spares, some of which may be in short supply in CA. For a temporary fix if you take out rear light rubber bungs, leave light on for about 15+ mins to warm and allow ~5 mins to cool a bit that seems to cure the misting too.

And YES I would like to have a meet up - its a good way to see what needs fixing on a service - Dpeilow & I recently did a swap and found a few things a miss in each others cars (ask him about tyre pressures :)
I guess we should all swap address' and stick a compass on the map with a 100 mile radius Its probably somewhere in the middle, like Newbury.

BTW how did your service go ? Did you see @Dash 's Blue roadster in there sans battery > help! total electric failure :(

Just as a FYI, Goretex patch: 3M Gore Tex Patches Moisture vents Headlights
 
I replaced the rear suspension bushings as the old ones were creaking bad. A ranger send me new ones under warranty, just at the end. I had to install myself but not too hard, about 3 hours or work for me per side. And while handy I am not a mechanic. Now that warranty is out I plan to do most of my own repairs. Do you have a phone number or address for the battery repairs. I would like to keep tabs on that.
 
... Except for battery repairs, where even if there is a battery certified Technician, for ANY ESS/battery pack faults, even minor relay trips etc. They drop the battery and return it to California to be repaired by a specialist team .. this appears to be on a global scale, Roadster batteries from Europe will take longer to fix due to shipping time - aircargo is not an option.
...
Fogged up headlamps should all be cured by now, by 'the gortex patch' ! (basically drill 2 holes, and cover, literally with a gortex patch which wicks moisture one-way (out).

Apparently, there is a certified Battery Technician in Europe, based in Eindhoven (NL). The owner of a shop that does electric car conversions and sells 70A Roadster charge stations, told me last week he has a problem with his heating not working. He owns a Signature 2008 car. The Tesla Service Center will bring it to Eindhoven, as the battery needs to be dropped and opened to solve this..

The Gortex patches did not work in my case.. I was told the Xenon have patches by default, they added more, but still the same...
 
Apparently, there is a certified Battery Technician in Europe, based in Eindhoven (NL). The owner of a shop that does electric car conversions and sells 70A Roadster charge stations, told me last week he has a problem with his heating not working. He owns a Signature 2008 car. The Tesla Service Center will bring it to Eindhoven, as the battery needs to be dropped and opened to solve this..

The Gortex patches did not work in my case.. I was told the Xenon have patches by default, they added more, but still the same...

My car lost its heating last year, at the coldest wettest time of year, and it was almost impossible to drive 75 miles home one damp cold winters night because I couldn't clear the fogging on the windscreen. I eventually figured out that if I drove along with the window open 2 inches, I could make it back home. But I had to drive home wrapped up in everything I had available, and when I got home I had to thaw out in a hot bath for ages !!

When investigated by Tesla Service they found that a very high current fuse had blown *within* the battery, and even they were surprised by this. They never figured out why it had blown or why a smaller fuse within the normal fuse panel in the cockpit hadnt blown instead.

Anyway, it was repaired under warranty by lowering the battery, replacing the fuse and reassembly, taking 6 hrs overall. Hope this helps !
 
Hi Mark - good to hear the comments about 'doing the right thing' .. hope they mean it.

I've had the 400/12v converter replaced 2 yrs in, and Tesla UK have often said this is a regular fault. Not sure if my suspension is any worse/better than others - we need a group meeting to feel each others cars !!

But your comment about the Gortex Patch is interesting right now. I've got the HID headlights and have often been annoyed at the misting/fogging after a damp night. I recently parked up outdoors at a friends house and they live right next to a river. Both headlamps came out looking like the two pics below. Can you provide more details on the mod involving 'drilling' holes ? I have my dremel ready ..

The service center will do the goretex patch for free as a good will gesture. I just had mine done a few weeks ago. Of course, I did have to pay to replace the coolant pump, so maybe if that was the only thing that needed to be done they wouldn't have slid it it under the 'good will' bit. But you should ask before doing it yourself.