Bought a non-running Tesla Model S at auction - Have questions

[brainhouston]

Hey Brain, appreciate the detail explanation to my questions. As I said initially this vehicle was a parts vehicle for a body damage tesla that I wasn't able to secure. I have been rebuilding ice vehicles for a while and body repair is my thing but I'm new to tesla and it's hv components if that's not obvious yet. You guys have been very helpful and thank you for sharing your knowledge with this newbie. I have learned a lot about my tesla already but will need to continuing educating myself more if I ever want tackle this issue at that level. I was intrigue but I think I'm at the end of my comfort zone. I think my best option is to find a complete p85 battery pack to swap it in or go back to my initial plan of trying to secure a body damage one to rebuild using this parts vehicle. I'll post updates to this when I get to that point. Thanks again!

if u do go with other pack, get at least a 90kwh or 100, don't get 85... those have lots of issues...

 

[MVT72]

if u do go with other pack, get at least a 90kwh or 100, don't get 85... those have lots of issues...

Thanks again for the heads up on that! So would the car be able to use 100kwh battery when it came factory as an 85kwh that I've read is software limited?

 

[henderrj]

Thanks again for the heads up on that! So would the car be able to use 100kwh battery when it came factory as an 85kwh that I've read is software limited?

There was only one person doing the 100 KW hour upgrades, Jason hughes, and he's out of the business now. You can get a hold of recell in Texas and talk to them. It's probably well worth it to talk to them anyway because you need to know what kind of trade in they would give you on your battery pack towards a "new" one. Or how much they would charge you to fix yours. It doesn't cost all that much to have a car flat bedded to them, but you can't be in a hurry! In any event give them a call and see what they say. That, at least, won't cost you anything.

 

[livesmith]

There was only one person doing the 100 KW hour upgrades, Jason hughes, and he's out of the business now. You can get a hold of recell in Texas and talk to them. It's probably well worth it to talk to them anyway because you need to know what kind of trade in they would give you on your battery pack towards a "new" one. Or how much they would charge you to fix yours. It doesn't cost all that much to have a car flat bedded to them, but you can't be in a hurry! In any event give them a call and see what they say. That, at least, won't cost you anything.

There's also EV's Republic in California I've seen mention that they do 100kwh upgrades.

EV'S REPUBLIC - Electric Vehicle Service & Community | Rancho Cordova CA

EV'S REPUBLIC - Electric Vehicle Service & Community, Rancho Cordova, California. 467 likes · 5 talking about this · 54 were here. EV's republic is a network of car services specialising in the Tesla...

www.facebook.com

 

[brainhouston]

on P85, 100kwh upgrade might be more involved but like i said, contact the member i told u about earlier or use ref above, i'm sure there's others just have to search or ask around.
on P85d i believe its easier
but 90 upgrade should be easiest on both, many, including Tesla, done it many times

 

[MVT72]

So I just found a candidate to rebuild, a 2013 MS 85 with very low miles (30k) with a minor front end accident and has a damaged front radiator that's leaking coolant. It runs and drives fine and currently has over 50% charge on it but has a bms_u019 error with a low coolant error. I wasn't able to connect my scan my tesla to it so I don't know the details of the bricks and this might be a stupid question but is there any chance that this bms_u019 error is a result of the lost of coolant or is it just the battery itself failing and I should run front anything that has a bms_uxxx error? I have read that this might be the coolant related or failing contactors but giving it only has 30k miles, I would be surprise that the battery has already started to fail. Thanks.

 

[brainhouston]

contactors replacement isn't hard but will require lifting up main cover a bit on older packs
but p85 is a better car n batteries aren't compatible (as a whole) between them i think...

 

[MVT72]

contactors replacement isn't hard but will require lifting up main cover a bit on older packs
but p85 is a better car n batteries aren't compatible (as a whole) between them i think...

I think you misunderstood me. I'm not going to swap this 85 battery pack into the p85. I am thinking of rebuilding the running body damaged one using the parts car. Basically if I take this one, I will need to replace the front end and paint it to match, something I have done numerous times with ice vehicles. I already have everything needed to do a complete body using the p85 front end parts. My concern was the bms_u019 error that's present and from what you're say it's a contactor issue, meaning the battery pack has to be drop and open up for repairs on older packs, so how can I tell if it's an older or newer pack? Thanks.

 

[brainhouston]

i meant that using p85 as parts for s85 is not the best bang for the buck, other way around would be better...

so how can I tell if it's an older or newer pack? Thanks.

if pyro fuse is on the top of HV pack, its old style..

 

[NewbyMaybe]

So I just found a candidate to rebuild, a 2013 MS 85 with very low miles (30k) with a minor front end accident and has a damaged front radiator that's leaking coolant. It runs and drives fine and currently has over 50% charge on it but has a bms_u019 error with a low coolant error. I wasn't able to connect my scan my tesla to it so I don't know the details of the bricks and this might be a stupid question but is there any chance that this bms_u019 error is a result of the lost of coolant or is it just the battery itself failing and I should run front anything that has a bms_uxxx error? I have read that this might be the coolant related or failing contactors but giving it only has 30k miles, I would be surprise that the battery has already started to fail. Thanks.

Age is the issue. Low mileage could be due to the car sitting for years and that's not good for the battery.

 

[lencap]

I enjoyed reading your post, but I wonder if your ICE rebuilding skills extend to EVs in general, and Teslas in particular?

When you add up the cost of both cars, and expected time spent putting things back to operating condition, what will be the total you’ve invested? For that amount are you confident that you’ll have a safe vehicle free of continuing problems? Would you feel confident in the car’s reliability and safety?

Only you can answer these questions, but years ago I remember a friend who tried a similar experiment with a well worn Ferrari that had lots of issues. He’s a skilled mechanic and thought all would turn out well. It didn’t and he wound up going to a Ferrari expert to get everything sorted. The mechanic told him the famous line: “There’s nothing more expensive than a cheap Ferrari”.

I’m not saying this will happen to you, but before you jump in with both feet maybe checking with Tesla would be worth the expense and time. Ferrari has proprietary diagnostic computers that are highly specialized to sort out problems. My guess is that Tesla does as well. Compare that cost to trying things on your own, and possibly finding out that some of the work you did won’t solve the problem.

Best of luck - You’re a braver man than I!