Yes, my thought as well. Honestly I was thinking of using a shop a bit over an hour away that was recommended to me to do the coolant bypass assuming it was still in OK shape, then it occurred to me reading this and the other thread that wait, I have a month left on warranty, see if it's already leaking.
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RDU/LDU coolant bypass innovation
- Thread starter NV Ray
- Start date
I'd be concerned that the cooling rod is removed. Possibly causing gear box air gap and/or lack of upper gear box cooling. I realize lower gear box is still cooled by coolant returning from inverter...
Do you have data to alleviate my concern? Thx
Yes, we have been using this bypass in all of our cars and monitoring ATF gear box temp. We have not seen any difference and temps remain cool even at high speed long drives. The motors water jacket does most of the cooling for the gears and the aluminum case does a great job of transferring heat. We do race cars as well and no issues have come up.
The water jacket is for the motors stator cooling. Also transfers heat for the entire gear box.
I opted for a new Tesla U version LDU,
I don't endorse this method in the video because it omits the flyover tube/pipe. But here answers your question.
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Remember, if you already have coolant leakage, especially if it's reached the inverter, that coolant leak issue will need to be addressed first. Implementing some type of coolant delect device will not address any current coolant leak issue.
I dont have any symptoms of a coolant leak. But it seems to be more of a when not an if on these LDU's. Id be doing it as a preventive measure. I was just hoping there was a way to do the delete without having to drop the motor that didnt involve doing permanent or not easily reversible changes to the LDU.
This should be in your signature. I swear you post 5 times a day about your U LDU.
I’m in Australia, and thinking this would be something to keep my 2015 MS purring now she’s out of Warranty, mines logged nearly 140000 klms all original bar a few door handles, spent heaps on up upgrades over the journey on Screens and Computers and Ludicrous and L+ and now it seems same for a LDU, I will check the speed sensor next time I have her on a ramp to see if she’s damp, also wouldn’t you notice a loss of coolant in the water bottle in the frunk if the coolant is leaking, this does seem like Tesla should fix imo because it’s a fault of design obviously, and clearly been going on for years, what percentage of these LDU,s leak ??? Is it just a small percentage or eventually all will leak and destroy the LDU of all our S,s and X,s because if that’s the case a Clear Fault Tesla has known about has been festering in our cars for sometime, and could be called a dangerous fault if they seize while in use !!!!
I’m slightly amazed this is the first I have heard about this major issue with a car I have owned for 9 years and is only recently out of warranty !!!
I’m slightly amazed this is the first I have heard about this major issue with a car I have owned for 9 years and is only recently out of warranty !!!
All LDUs have the same design so all will fail eventually. Don't look at this as "well my car is working fine I'll worry about it later." Now is the time to decide what you want to do. Do the proactive modification or wait until failure to buy a new LDU.
The motor will not seize, the first sign that it's gone too far is bearing noise and then the real failure will be when the car decides it doesn't pass the isolation test. The car may warn a few times that it may not restart or it will simply refuse to start.
The motor will not seize, the first sign that it's gone too far is bearing noise and then the real failure will be when the car decides it doesn't pass the isolation test. The car may warn a few times that it may not restart or it will simply refuse to start.
My biggest concern is that by bypassing the coolant away from both the stator and the gearcase, it will cause heatsoak and damage to the gearcase or other parts of the LDU. I do drive my MS very "spiritedly" you could say. I think i am going to be on the lookout for a good deal on a used LDU I can purchase to keep as a spare and do the modifications on. If I never use it with my MS, ive been wanting to find a old muscle car rolling chassis and do a EV conversion.
Everyone drives these cars spiritedly, you're no different. Good deals on used LDUs don't exist. The only reason cheap ones exist is because they're broken. Everyone wants one for just the same reason you do, to convert an old car.
As for the heatsoak problem everyone likes to talk about it. Tesla did this bypass themselves so I don't know what else you could ask for. Either you can do the bypass and worry about the rotor getting warmer or do nothing and worry when the coolant will break down your stator and bearings.
But doesnt the Tesla revised "U" version LDU still supply coolant to the Gearcase?
