Notice several oil spots on the garage floor under the drivers side rocker panel. Ran my hand along the plastic piece attached to the rocker panel and found oil from front to back; likewise; there was a film of oil along the entire painted part of the rocker panel from front to back. I wiped off this oil because if it is brake fluid it will ruin the paint. The oil is almost clear not blue or purple. Does anyone know what is routed inside the drivers side rocker panel? brake lines, diff/motor oil coolant lines, HVAC lines? I have put in a service request via the Tesla app but the earliest I can get in is the 24th. Any insight from any owner that has had a similar leak would be greatly appreciated.
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2023 Model 3 RWD oil leak from driver side rocker panel area
- Thread starter rrolsbe
- Start date
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Tesla got me in first thing this morning to assess the oil leak. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of using the washer fluid to clean the windshield on my way down to the SC. Since the car was not recording any errors and the washer fluid ran down the side of the car, they did not look any further for a leak. A few days ago I wiped the oil from bottom and painted part of the rocker panel (there was an oil film over the enter area). I did this because if it was brake fluid it would ruin the paint. The leak appears to be slow as I have not seen any further oil on the garage floor. It had probably been leaking slowly for weeks until enough built up to drip on the garage floor. I will be monitoring it closely because if it is HVAC oil the AC will stop cooling or the compressor could be damaged. If it is a slow brake fluid leak the level in the reservoir should drop.
I p
I pulled the rear Aero Shield that is located under the rear motor. Did not find any significant gear oil other than a film around the diff pump spin-on filter and the heat exchanger located at the top rear of motor. Did find two patches of what has the texture of grease located on the motor side of the cover. I guess fairly slow leaks of diff gear oil would mix with road dust and have the texture of grease. The rear motor still has the externally serviceable diff pump and spin-on filter like my 2018 had (thought that had been changed?). There is a small drain hole on the cover that is designed to allow any water that pools on top of the cover to drain. Looks like if there was enough gear oil leaking it might drip out of that hole instead of making a paste of oil and road dirt. This Model 3 only has 1700 miles and it looks like less than an ounce might of leaked. I will be monitoring this closely over the next several months. Bottom line the oil leak down the entire length of the rocker panel appears to not be coming from the rear motor area. Find attached a picture of the cover showing what I described above.
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