Waiting on part and Tesla service center won't charge the battery

[nick]

Looking for advice...

My Roadster started throwing "coolant system error" messages and wouldn't charge. Was sitting at around 50 miles remaining.

Tesla had the car for a week diagnosing, left me a message on Friday saying they thing it is the water pump, it has to be ordered from Europe, and will be $1100.

I am concerned about the battery being left sitting at a low charge for an extended period of time. I asked Tesla to charge the battery when I brought it in and reminded them a few days later, however they say that 50 miles is an ok charge and not to worry.

Last time I left the car at Tesla for 2 months it lost about 8 miles of range, and that wasn't with the battery this low.

What should I do?

 

[MileHighMotoring]

Depending on the condition of your battery, that's 30-40% charge, right? I wouldn't think that's a dangerous state of charge to sit at for a short time. That said it's your car and there's no reason they couldn't plug it in for a few hours is there?

 

[nick]

Figure less than 30% charge.

The car won't charge without the water pump working, and the water pump has to be special ordered from Europe. Tesla hasn't provided any indication as to how long that will take. Could easily be months given past history.

 

[ChadS]

I think storage mode lets the battery get down to 20%, so that is presumably OK for a long period of time.

I am not sure where you are, or whether the Roadster is inside or out. But unless it is stored outside in cold weather, 50 miles should be fine, especially if that's in normal mode (and there's another 10% hidden).

If that 50 miles is in range mode...it is probably still OK, but I would be concerned enough that I would check the in a month (if it sits that long) to see where it is at.

 

[ML Auto]

If you are paying you should just buy one for $100 on Ebay and get someone else to put it in. It is just a Bosch intercooler pump from a Ford. Assuming you have a 1.5, as the 2.X has two pumps.

BOSCH COBRA WATER-TO-AIR INTERCOOLER PUMP 0392022002 AUTHENTIC BOSCH NEW

 

[nick]

Wow - thanks! Ordered one day from Amazon.

Would you happen to know where the pump is located?

 

[ML Auto]

In front of the right rear wheel. You just need to remove the wheel well liner to get at it.

 

[tomsax]

We recently replaced the coolant pump in our v1.5 Roadster. I wrote up the process here:

Tesla Roadster Coolant Pump Failure

The failure might be the connector, so I'd order one of those as well. The info is in the write-up.

If you have 50 miles of range, that should give you at least a month to get the pump fixed.

 

[dpeilow]

Looks like another one for the ludicrous parts pricing thread.

 

[nick]

We recently replaced the coolant pump in our v1.5 Roadster. I wrote up the process here:

Tesla Roadster Coolant Pump Failure

The failure might be the connector, so I'd order one of those as well. The info is in the write-up.

If you have 50 miles of range, that should give you at least a month to get the pump fixed.

Thank you! Very much appreciated!

 

[hcsharp]

We recently replaced the coolant pump in our v1.5 Roadster. I wrote up the process here:

Tesla Roadster Coolant Pump Failure

The failure might be the connector, so I'd order one of those as well. The info is in the write-up.

If you have 50 miles of range, that should give you at least a month to get the pump fixed.

Nice write-up! Thank you for your ongoing contributions to the Roadster community.

 

[wiztecy]

Agreed. Thanks Tom. I may pick up one of these cooling pumps as a backup, its only a matter of time before it'll go out and nice to have one in hand and ready to install once it does.

 

[Sparrow]

I have an error code 1425. Low Current pump failure. It appears that the pump works while charging, but I am guessing maybe it shuts off while the car is sitting, but wanting the pump to run? I would assume Tom Sax's pump replacement strategy mentioned above would be the way to go

 

[Sparrow]

Had the pump replaced. What a difference in sound levels. The old pump even when it was quiet could be heard easily from 100 feet away. When it was noisy it was very loud. The new pump is so quiet I can just barely hear a hum if I get close to the car. I even opened the trunk this morning while the car was charging to make sure it was actually running.

 

[Bruins]

We recently replaced the coolant pump in our v1.5 Roadster. I wrote up the process here:

Tesla Roadster Coolant Pump Failure

The failure might be the connector, so I'd order one of those as well. The info is in the write-up.

If you have 50 miles of range, that should give you at least a month to get the pump fixed.

Hey Tom,
Thanks for the writeup. I had the coolant error #1425 come up on my 2008 Roadster recently. I followed your detailed instructions, and I'm back up and running. Appreciate it.