Car dead, need help. Gurus, please help read errors

[peakay]

Hey there,

Can anyone help with reading these codes, helping figure out what the problem is and hot to navigate with Tesla?

Backgroung: I'm driving the car the other night with some fast accelration, the car freaked out and went turtle mode, reduced power, may not restart, etc. I limped it home, let the car sit 15 minutes, then went back outside. Started, power restored, but still seeing error messages. let it sit another hour or so, then the car was more or less completely dead and had 12v battery alert issues.

I popped the nosecone, put a trickle charger on it and recorded the attached errors in service mode. Since its a 2012/MCU1, I cannot get into the screen that shows green lights/red lights for bad components.

I submitted to Tesla for analysis, they sent back a service order to replace the 12v battery and then do an hour of testing. Since I didn't want tow and get my car stuck there, I had the 12cv battery replaced by ranger service yesterday. Power restored, but error messages poersisted.

Today I go to Tesla, talk to my regular service rep and he submits the car for further remote diagnosis. He said his tech thinks its a coolant heater, but I fear they are just throwing parts at it. i asked what happens if thats not it and he said he'd take care of me. I trust him on that, but I don't want to go down an expensive rabbit hole.

On the original error code list there was no coolant heater error and now there is. this is what the car is showing after powering it up just now:

Help - tryign to avoid emptying my bank account on this!

 

[Big Earl]

You have a high voltage isolation problem. The coolant heater is one of the most common causes of this.

Other potential causes are the AC compressor, a drive unit, the cabin heater and the battery pack itself. Tesla can narrow the failed component down by using a megger (megaohm meter) to test each HV component. That said, since you have a specific code for the coolant heater (THC_d0013_coolantHeater), it seems likely that it is your problem.

 

[PCMc]

On the original error code list there was no coolant heater error and now there is. this is what the car is showing after powering it up just now:

I'm not sure I understand your comment that there was no coolant heater error and now there is.

I see the error code THC_d0013_coolantHeater in both images you posted.

Shows pretty much right in the middle, half way down the first photo showing it detected on 29-Nov 19:30:21.

 

[peakay]

I see the error code THC_d0013_coolantHeater in both images you posted.

Shows pretty much right in the middle, half way down the first photo showing it detected on 29-Nov 19:30:21.

I stand corrected - you are right. I missed that one originally. As dumb as this mistake is, it’s one of the reasons I posted- mistakes happen.

So most likely culprit is the coolant heater? I’m 300 into this already for a battery I may not have needed and here is the estimate I just received.

Should I go for it?

 

[karkrazy]

What other options do you have if you don’t go for this estimate/replacement?

 

[peakay]

What other options do you have if you don’t go for this estimate/replacement?

Not much, but that hour of diagnosis scares me that they don’t really know. 3rd party repair or DIY the coolant pump and see if that fixes it?

 

[Big Earl]

I stand corrected - you are right. I missed that one originally. As dumb as this mistake is, it’s one of the reasons I posted- mistakes happen.

So most likely culprit is the coolant heater? I’m 300 into this already for a battery I may not have needed and here is the estimate I just received.

Should I go for it?

View attachment 996027

This looks like an accurate quote to me. Testing the HV system as I described above, the coolant heater part and the labor to replace it. If you're reasonably mechanically inclined, you can probably do this job yourself. If not, I'd go ahead and have Tesla do it.

 

[Big Earl]

Not much, but that hour of diagnosis scares me that they don’t really know. 3rd party repair or DIY the coolant pump and see if that fixes it?

The hour of diagnosis is to confirm which component is defective. Parts and labor are expensive, so it seems reasonable that one would want to test and confirm prior to replacing things.

An hour of diagnostic labor is less expensive than guessing, replacing the heater, then discovering the problem persists and you have to change something else.

 

[peakay]

The hour of diagnosis is to confirm which component is defective. Parts and labor are expensive, so it seems reasonable that one would want to test and confirm prior to replacing things.

An hour of diagnostic labor is less expensive than guessing, replacing the heater, then discovering the problem persists and you have to change something else.

I agree logically, but that is not what they do. They replaced the lifts on the hatch of my S 3 times and never got it right until I found a slope on their property and made them watch it fail with their own eyes (I had submitted video at least 6 times). Then they were magically able to fix it after previously throwing a thousand dollars of parts at it.

 

[peakay]

OK, well, as I suspected the coolant heater was not the issue. The "analysis" Tesla does remotely seems to be nothing more than looking for the easiest part that the errors say to change and going with that. Now my car is in their possession with a huge bill.

Estimate updated to 7200 and repair is to install a reman rear drive unit (see below). This will be at least the 3rd installed over 100k miles and it's clearly a faulty design/part by Tesla. Further, I'm reading that the faulty designed seal issue can be even worse in a reman unit.

I was told that there is a unit that gets rid of this issue "Their lingo is "seal delete manifold" and it's part number 1002633-01-U". Is this true?

Any advise here ius appreciated. I plan to ak them to cover at least part of it due to the faulty design, ask for the better ubnit without the problems 9if its real) and if nothing is satisfactory, is there a 3rd party i should go to instead?

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

 

[MP3Mike]

I was told that there is a unit that gets rid of this issue "Their lingo is "seal delete manifold" and it's part number 1002633-01-U". Is this true?

Any advise here ius appreciated. I plan to ak them to cover at least part of it due to the faulty design, ask for the better ubnit without the problems 9if its real) and if nothing is satisfactory, is there a 3rd party i should go to instead?

There are multiple part numbers depending on if you have a normal or sport drive unit. It looks like they quoted you one with the U revisions, which I think means it has the new coolant bypass. (I'm not positive that the revisions are synced between the different part numbers. That revisions shouldn't be prone to leaking coolant into the drive unit, but I would think cooling would be impacted which could cause the drive unit to overheat sooner. (Or maybe they found it really wasn't necessary to try to cool the rotor.)

 

[peakay]

Thanks @MP3Mike . OK, so "-U" means seal delete and you can find one new or remanufactured now with this done? I'm just confirming. The only part# I was given above was for a 1002633-01-U, which I believe is a new one.

I'm wondering if reman is OK in this case if the seal delete is included. Its certainly cheaper.

 

[MP3Mike]

The only part# I was given above was for a 1002633-01-U, which I believe is a new one.

I doubt there are any new ones available, Tesla likely isn't making them anymore.

Your quote lists 1025598-01-U as ASSEMBLY - REMAN - SPORT REAR DRIVE UNIT - LDU

1002633-01-U is listed as ASSEMBLY - PRODUCTION- SPORT REAR DRIVE UNIT - LDU (If vehicle is over 1k miles, please order 1025598-01-* instead.)

So maybe 1002633 is a new one and 1025598 is a reman, and they only use new ones if a vehicle has less than 1,000 miles on it?

OK, so "-U" means seal delete and you can find one new or remanufactured now with this done? I'm just confirming.

I can't guarantee that both being a U revision means they have the coolant bypass. But I suspect it does, and they are the only part numbers listed for that drive unit. (Most current version of both new/reman.)

 

[peakay]

Ok, thanks to all for the help. The reman drive unit is confirmed to be the coolant delete type and the service center is installing it today. Hopefully the delete manifold means this one will last a lot longer (I sure won't be doing any sustained high stress driving on it though with no coolant moving hrough it). Not sure if I'll keep the car long enough to find out, but it will come with 4yr/50k warranty time.

 

[peakay]

 

[howardc64]

View attachment 997370

Thanks for the pic. Glad to see -U says coolant delete on the sticker. Very helpful confirmation as these are just statingvto be deployed.

Your LDU is T19 which means initially manufactured in 2019. R1 means remanufactured once.

 

[peakay]

Thanks for the pic. Glad to see -U says coolant delete on the sticker. Very helpful confirmation as these are just statingvto be deployed.

Your LDU is T19 which means initially manufactured in 2019. R1 means remanufactured once.

Thanks, I thought this might help the community. I appreciate the reman info - glad to hear its a relatively recent unit and only 1 rebuild.

How important do you you guys think a 4 wheel alignment is after this? Reason I ask is since I had been planning to keep this car for the long haul, I had aftermarket camber and toe links installed and the alignment set to non standard specs with suspension set to Low. I sent them my alignment sheet and they came back and said they wouldn't do it that way for me, so i deleted that service.

How out of whack do you think it will be alignment-wise?

 

[howardc64]

Thanks, I thought this might help the community. I appreciate the reman info - glad to hear its a relatively recent unit and only 1 rebuild.

How important do you you guys think a 4 wheel alignment is after this? Reason I ask is since I had been planning to keep this car for the long haul, I had aftermarket camber and toe links installed and the alignment set to non standard specs with suspension set to Low. I sent them my alignment sheet and they came back and said they wouldn't do it that way for me, so i deleted that service.

How out of whack do you think it will be alignment-wise?

I would align. Removed and installed my LDU and have misalignment tire wear patterns after (tire was nearly done so I didn't alignment and opted to monitor for rebuild coolant leaks after, ended up having to pull again) . Subframe has 4 bolts to body and a little play. Axles need to be removed to pull LDU from subframe so either the upper links or bottom arm need disconnect. You probably have 21” wheels so dialing out aggressive camber more important than 19s to preserve inner tire edge.

 

[brainhouston]

There are multiple part numbers depending on if you have a normal or sport drive unit.

Someone mentioned in some other thread somewhere that Tesla been using Sport version only for some time now.
I guess just locking it down with software for Base models...

 

[peakay]

I would align. Removed and installed my LDU and have misalignment tire wear patterns after (tire was nearly done so I didn't alignment and opted to monitor for rebuild coolant leaks after, ended up having to pull again) . Subframe has 4 bolts to body and a little play. Axles need to be removed to pull LDU from subframe so either the upper links or bottom arm need disconnect. You probably have 21” wheels so dialing out aggressive camber more important than 19s to preserve inner tire edge.

Thank you - I'll have my suspension shop at least give it a check. Am i entitled to the old drive unit? Any value? I suspect not, but thought I'd ask since you have rebuild info in your sig.