Vehicle Coolant Low - can we refill coolant by ourselves

[Kashkash]

Hello Tesla People,
I have received “Vehicle Coolant Low” sign in my dashboard. Can we refill the coolant by ourselves instead of getting serviced by Tesla , they are charging $207 , which is very much costly. And also what coolant do we need to use , here is what I found in other websites “Tesla uses a G48 coolant to cool the battery cells. The color of this coolant is blue/green. It is an ethylene glycol-based coolant.” and here is the link “ What Kind of Coolant Does Tesla Use? Surprising Cooling System Details | Plug-in Car World “
I saw coupling YouTube videos looks like it’s very easy. Please suggest me. Thanks
Kash

 

[smogne41]

Probably yes, just be sure to get the right stuff. More of an issue though is why is it low? Nothing in a Tesla gets nearly as hot as an ICE car, so boil-off should be effectively zero. Have you noticed any blue/green puddles where you park your car? Also, is this an older or newer X?

 

[DCGOO]

Hello Tesla People,
I have received “Vehicle Coolant Low” sign in my dashboard. Can we refill the coolant by ourselves instead of getting serviced by Tesla , they are charging $207 , which is very much costly. And also what coolant do we need to use , here is what I found in other websites “Tesla uses a G48 coolant to cool the battery cells. The color of this coolant is blue/green. It is an ethylene glycol-based coolant.” and here is the link “ What Kind of Coolant Does Tesla Use? Surprising Cooling System Details | Plug-in Car World “
I saw coupling YouTube videos looks like it’s very easy. Please suggest me. Thanks
Kash

I would be more concerned about WHY the coolant is low. It is a closed sealed loop that should never go low. If there is a leak somewhere, it probably needs to be addressed. The coolant should not just disappear.

 

[ShawnA]

Hi @Kashkash ,

Tesla does not like owners adding coolant to the closed loop system.

Why? If you contaminate the coolant it will be a very expensive cleaning
to remove the contaminated fluid, especially from the traction battery...
Think thousands of dollars...

Is your car under warranty???

Mobile service could/should check for a leak.
The underbody panels can catch or capture a
fairly large amount of coolant before it is visible
outside of the car.

I had Tesla help adding coolant to mine.
We found that rear motor drive hoses were leaking
and needed to be replaced.

The real problem is to find out WHY the coolant is low.

Good Luck,

Shawn

 

[dmurphy]

I would be more concerned about WHY the coolant is low. It is a closed sealed loop that should never go low. If there is a leak somewhere, it probably needs to be addressed. The coolant should not just disappear.

Correct. There's absolutely NO normal situation where coolant would be low. The only time I'd consider adding coolant would be to get it to the service center.

I just had mine in for a leaky 4-way valve. Thankfully was under warranty, but had the same thing - low coolant. I checked the bottle and there was enough in there that I felt comfortable taking it to the service center. Beyond that, there's absolutely no reason for any of us to be opening the bottle or adding fluid.

 

[David29]

I agree -- It should not be leaking. I just had my car into service for a similar warning message. The Service Center found that both the 3-way and 4-way valves were leaking, and replaced both. Then when they tested the system, they found another issue and replaced the "thermal controller" in the cabin HVAC system. Fortunately, I have an Extended Service Agreement. But in any case I was glad that these issues were addressed. You don't want to be stuck someplace with a coolant system that has leaked so much that the battery overheats or something.

 

[RCFLMA]

I just had this issue two weeks ago. Warning Low Coolant showed up on the middle screen on my 2017 Model S with 115k miles. I thought the coolant system was sealed - the SC pointed out that was correct but if the coolant was low they needed to find out why.
The SC found a stuck 3-way valve and suggested I change the 4-way valve at the same time since it was nearby.
I believe I might have had a heating problem because the heat was working much better after replacement.
First real mechanical problem in almost 6 years.