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VCFRONT a210 coolant Valve Calib
- Thread starter integlikewhoa
- Start date
Image not working for me.Saw your display shots but dont see service center quote.
akveluru
Member
Went on another trip this weekend and I noticed that there was basically zero coolant flow between the power train and battery loops. I let the car sit on a 10kW L2 charger and precondition for 3 hours and the battery temp didn’t improve at all.
I think the only permanent solution is to have the valve/superbottle replaced so I’m going to try to get that scheduled soon. Unfortunately, my closest SC is 2hrs away so I need to figure out some how I’m going to be able to get this work done…
I think the only permanent solution is to have the valve/superbottle replaced so I’m going to try to get that scheduled soon. Unfortunately, my closest SC is 2hrs away so I need to figure out some how I’m going to be able to get this work done…
The car displays "test in progress" when I initiate the test, however, for hours, there seems to be no activity. The objective of the test is to drain the battery to 0% by utilizing electricity through means such as the heater, cycling coolant, or other methods. Although I ran the test for 24 hours, there was only a 2% decrease in battery level. The test should not exceed 24 hours in total.
Do you happen to have the report from the service center after they completed the valve calibration? Did they charge you for the calibration?
They didn’t charge but it didn’t solved the problem either. So I was paying with my time sitting there as they rejected to give me a loaner or Uber credits. They said no guarantee no Uber credits.
Yes the same here. Must be superbottle issue. I booked time at sc for this this Friday but it sucks to pay over 900$. The superbottle itself cost 320$ so I’m actually thinking of buying only the parts and replace it by myself but not sure if I’ll have time for that.
That requires refrigerant charging, too, correct? Plus You’re opening the coolant loop. But at a high point. Does it need a drain & replace?
akveluru
Member
There’s a few YouTube videos that walk through the superbottle replacement process.
I don’t believe you need to mess with the refrigerant loop, but it looks like at least a partial drain of the coolant loop will be required so it should be simple enough to top it off after the swap.
The official service manual states that the refrigerant loop is impacted if you replace the Superbottle since the new one comes with a A/C heat exchanger. I was only able to find one YouTube video showing the replacement of a Superbottle, but he clearly just unhooks the A/C lines and does not address it at all.
That being said, it appears that you can remove the heat exchanger, so you might be able to reuse the one currently on the car. If that is the case, then I will likely try and replace it myself... if I have to get into the A/C system, I'll probably just take it to a SC for replacement.
Superbottle Replacement Video
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Another update…. I decided to go ahead and try to replace the 5-valve actuator to see if that would fix my issue… it did not…. lol.
It did seem to get rid of the VCFRONT_a249 (a code only I seem to be getting), but VCFRONT_a210 was still an active alert.
Armed with the knowledge that the actuator isn’t the problem, I got a quote to have Tesla replace the super bottle and they came back with a $644 estimate… which I think is cheap enough for me to just let them do it.
Let me know if you have any questions on replacing the actuator… all in all, it was fairly easy.
It did seem to get rid of the VCFRONT_a249 (a code only I seem to be getting), but VCFRONT_a210 was still an active alert.
Armed with the knowledge that the actuator isn’t the problem, I got a quote to have Tesla replace the super bottle and they came back with a $644 estimate… which I think is cheap enough for me to just let them do it.
Let me know if you have any questions on replacing the actuator… all in all, it was fairly easy.
akveluru
Member
Code a210 is just a calibration code - if you were able to clear the other error by just swapping the actuator, try running the Thermal Performance test to see if you can force the coolant system calibration in service mode and clear that code.
akveluru
Member
What was your approach to replacing the actuator? I don’t see an easy way to get at it unless I unbolt the cross car support beam
I had my actuator replaced today and it fixed the a210 service alert on m3, 2018. The 5 way valve was only $45 but they charge $225 for general diagnostic (such a rip off since I provided a picture of service alert to them in advance) and $113 for labor. In total, $386. Repair work done in SoCal sc. There was service bulletin for this 5 way valve back in 2018.
I ran the Thermal Performance test and it said the car "failed" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The code was still present too, so at this point, I'm just going to assume I dont have the equipment to do the calibration.
Apparently, there is a test that the toolbox can prompt the car to do called "TEST-SELF_VCFRONT_X_FIVE-WAY-VALVE.". I may see if I can just get tesla to run the test for me... I'll follow up if I learn anything.
Yeah, thats exactly what I did. I Just followed the directions in the service manual which. You basically just unbolt the crossbeam, wedge something under it to give yourself some more room and then work at a very awkward angle to get the actuator out... It wasn't that bad really.
The only difficult part was creating a tool to get the valve in the correct position to put on the new actuator... I basically took a PVC end cap and dremeled a shape close enough to use as a wrench to adjust it. I'll take a picture of it when I get home. It's not pretty, but it got the job done. lol
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