Tesla Maintenance

[ecotourist]

My Model 3 is coming up to 4 years old. Time for some preventive maintenance. Here is a good video on the required and recommended maintenance on Teslas.



What do you think? He doesn't even recommend replacing the brake fluid periodically, which is probably okay in the short or even medium term but maybe not if you keep your cars for 20 years.

What about brake caliper service? Caliper problems probably have something to do with corrosion, which probably has something to do with salt on the roads. Salt is almost never used on the roads here. And on the couple of slippery days a year where there might be salt, we stay home. So there is essentially no exposure to salt. Should they still be serviced?

Some people say you should replace the cabin filters on a Model 3 every 2 years. The Tesla road ranger recommended waiting until my AC gets smelly to replace the cabin filters. We don't drive very much so that might be more sensible than doing it based on years. When I wash my car I put it in car wash mode so the cabin filters don't get wet. It's rainy here but the car lives in the garage most of the time so the cabin filters get a chance to dry out if they do get wet.

What about coolant? The Tesla road ranger said replacing it isn't necessary but he said that was because there were no exhaust gases to deal with, which while true, may not be the only issue. What do you think? Replace the coolant periodically anyway? How often?

 

[JeffKeryk]

Not much to do... Blue warsher fluid and check the nut behind the wheel...

 

[AZjeff]

Service the parts at the same intervals you would normally service your ICE vehicles. Fluid is fluid, calipers are calipers etc. Waiting til the AC gets stinky sounds like bad advice. Are you normally proactive or reactive?

 

[ecotourist]

Service the parts at the same intervals you would normally service your ICE vehicles. Fluid is fluid, calipers are calipers etc. Waiting til the AC gets stinky sounds like bad advice. Are you normally proactive or reactive?

I keep a spread sheet on maintenance on every car I ever own, so closer to proactive. The spread sheet also states my best information on service intervals. Which is why I'm asking.

In my younger days I was very proactive, but I've loosened up a bit. I suspect I wasted money and effort replacing stuff that didn't need replacing (at least not yet).

 

[altaylar]

Brake Fluid is not really like engine oil that would lead to long term issues if you don`t freshen it up often enough. If it gets old, your breaking performance will deteroiate, the pedal will feel spongy etc.. The rule of thumb is changing them every 5 years, but I have seen so many cars with +5 year break fluid that was functioning perfectly. Whereas my racing brake fluid attracts enough water to demand a flush every 6 months or even less.

Edit: It seems like Tesla uses dot 4 fluid. That is definitely not a good candidate for 5-8 years usage I mentioned above. For a regular DOT 4 every 2 years sounds like a good and conservative interval. Probably you could get away with a 1-2 additional years though. There are cheap devices on Amazon that you can use to find the water content of the fluid to see when you need to change it.

 

[GrumpyCat]

"Break" fluid?

For 2013 Tesla specified the same common industry recommendation: initial flush at 4 years, 2 years thereafter. After my initial flush they changed to an annual moisture content test.

 

[badtlc]

i got a neighbor that just turned 180k miles on a tesla and just now had to do something other than new tires. That new maintenance item? Get an alignment. The car alerted him he needed it. Pretty crazy.

 

[Torrid]

i got a neighbor that just turned 180k miles on a tesla and just now had to do something other than new tires. That new maintenance item? Get an alignment. The car alerted him he needed it. Pretty crazy.

The car can tell because of the way it calculates steering angle and how it monitors everything by camera for FSD. I'd heard of this being the case for alignments, but I think yours is the first comment to confirm this. Cool stuff.

 

[badtlc]

The car can tell because of the way it calculates steering angle and how it monitors everything by camera for FSD. I'd heard of this being the case for alignments, but I think yours is the first comment to confirm this. Cool stuff.

I just couldnt fathom going 180k w/out an alignment and yet it seemed clear the car didnt need one that entire time. The roads around here aren't great. I wonder if a tesla can hold an alignment better than traditional cars for some reason?

 

[Torrid]

I just couldnt fathom going 180k w/out an alignment and yet it seemed clear the car didnt need one that entire time. The roads around here aren't great. I wonder if a tesla can hold an alignment better than traditional cars for some reason?

I wouldn't wait that long either. I'd think it would have to be pretty far off for the car to detect it too. Realistically if the tire wear was even and nothing felt weird there's not a whole lot of reason to do an alignment. I always watch my tire wear intently on every car I've owned and knock on wood, I haven't hit a curb in over 20 years. I don't know how sensitive that system is though. It can't be too sensitive or I'd hear of Tesla owners getting random messages like this and I'm part of a few online Tesla groups.

 

[ecotourist]

I was just at the Tesla maintenance and repair outlet (they're not really a dealership) for a final in-warranty repair. They replaced the tailgate lift cylinder. It had been sluggish a couple of times and was now back to normal. But they replaced it anyway.

So far, after 4 years of ownership I rotated the tires once. I'm not sure they needed it though as they were wearing very evenly.

They recommend a brake fluid flush and caliper service which I'll have done shortly (about $300). Tesla does not recommend a coolant change - ever. They say that if the coolant ever needs replacing you have a bigger problem than that. Maintenance on the Tesla (so far) has been minimal and quite inexpensive.

There is a maintenance app on the touchscreen. Tells you the status of required and recommended maintenance. That was news to me.

 

[Torrid]

I was just at the Tesla maintenance and repair outlet (they're not really a dealership) for a final in-warranty repair. They replaced the tailgate lift cylinder. It had been sluggish a couple of times and was now back to normal. But they replaced it anyway.

So far, after 4 years of ownership I rotated the tires once. I'm not sure they needed it though as they were wearing very evenly.

They recommend a brake fluid flush and caliper service which I'll have done shortly (about $300). Tesla does not recommend a coolant change - ever. They say that if the coolant ever needs replacing you have a bigger problem than that. Maintenance on the Tesla (so far) has been minimal and quite inexpensive.

There is a maintenance app on the touchscreen. Tells you the status of required and recommended maintenance. That was news to me.

The only service I've had done with Tesla was done in my driveway. They rotated the tires on our Model 3, replaced the cabin filter, topped the fluids and checked the low voltage battery which was at my request. Cost was $136. That may seem high for a filter change and tire rotation, but it saved me an hour round trip to a service station. Customer service has been excellent. I can't see a reason to go back to a dealership model. No one else is coming to my house to do a tire rotation in my driveway. Some may pick them up and take them to the dealer, but not another $45k vehicle without a premium nameplate on it.

 

[ecotourist]

The only service I've had done with Tesla was done in my driveway. They rotated the tires on our Model 3, replaced the cabin filter, topped the fluids and checked the low voltage battery which was at my request. Cost was $136. That may seem high for a filter change and tire rotation, but it saved me an hour round trip to a service station. Customer service has been excellent. I can't see a reason to go back to a dealership model. No one else is coming to my house to do a tire rotation in my driveway. Some may pick them up and take them to the dealer, but not another $45k vehicle without a premium nameplate on it.

I had the tire rotation and rear corner light replaced in my driveway too. That's a great service.

But I was happy to go to the Tesla outlet to have the tailgate lift cylinder replaced. I wanted to talk to the staff there. It's a nice place and very close to our local Costco store which is a kind of bonus.

Neither of the warranty repairs was strictly "necessary". They were both done to forestall potential future problems. I've been quite impressed with Tesla.

The service center says the low Voltage batteries tend to go out at about 5 years. Mine might do better than that because it's been plugged in most of the time, our climate is very mild and it lives most of the time in a garage. Considering the problems that occur if the low Voltage battery goes out completely, I'll get right on it if there is a warning. I have a tiny 12 Volt battery stored beside the frunk release connections and it does open the frunk (I've checked).

 

[Torrid]

I had the tire rotation and rear corner light replaced in my driveway too. That's a great service.

But I was happy to go to the Tesla outlet to have the tailgate lift cylinder replaced. I wanted to talk to the staff there. It's a nice place and very close to our local Costco store which is a kind of bonus.

Neither of the warranty repairs was strictly "necessary". They were both done to forestall potential future problems. I've been quite impressed with Tesla.

The service center says the low Voltage batteries tend to go out at about 5 years. Mine might do better than that because it's been plugged in most of the time, our climate is very mild and it lives most of the time in a garage. Considering the problems that occur if the low Voltage battery goes out completely, I'll get right on it if there is a warning. I have a tiny 12 Volt battery stored beside the frunk release connections and it does open the frunk (I've checked).

I got itchy about the low voltage battery because I've had bad luck with 12v batteries dying out of no where on me. The last one was my GTI where I had no warning signs, stopped to pick up food for the family, and in the 5 minutes it took me to start the car it was completely dead. Tesla assures me the 16v lithium ion battery will give plenty of warning when it needs replaced. I'm still nervous about it though. The only car I've ever had that actually warned me to replace the 12v was a false warning that continued even after I replaced the battery. Every other car I had just failed to start one day. None of them even hard started the day before.

 

[JeffKeryk]

@Torrid after 5 years the 12v battery on our '18 Mid Range threw a warning message on the tablet. I forget exactly what t said, but something like "replace 12v battery within 10 days" maybe. Tesla came out the next day and replaced it for like $130; the tech also checked the car over and deemed it one of the better early cars fitment wise.

Of course there have been plenty of Tesla service complaints, so there's that.

 

[Torrid]

@Torrid after 5 years the 12v battery on our '18 Mid Range threw a warning message on the tablet. I forget exactly what t said, but something like "replace 12v battery within 10 days" maybe. Tesla came out the next day and replaced it for like $130; the tech also checked the car over and deemed it one of the better early cars fitment wise.

Of course there have been plenty of Tesla service complaints, so there's that.

I know it should, but I've had plenty of cars that are supposed to and I've never had it work. I don't know if it's my climate or if I just have great luck at getting stranded 10 minutes before the phone rings for work.

 

[boom10ful]

My Model 3 is coming up to 4 years old. Time for some preventive maintenance. Here is a good video on the required and recommended maintenance on Teslas.



What do you think? He doesn't even recommend replacing the brake fluid periodically, which is probably okay in the short or even medium term but maybe not if you keep your cars for 20 years.

What about brake caliper service? Caliper problems probably have something to do with corrosion, which probably has something to do with salt on the roads. Salt is almost never used on the roads here. And on the couple of slippery days a year where there might be salt, we stay home. So there is essentially no exposure to salt. Should they still be serviced?

Some people say you should replace the cabin filters on a Model 3 every 2 years. The Tesla road ranger recommended waiting until my AC gets smelly to replace the cabin filters. We don't drive very much so that might be more sensible than doing it based on years. When I wash my car I put it in car wash mode so the cabin filters don't get wet. It's rainy here but the car lives in the garage most of the time so the cabin filters get a chance to dry out if they do get wet.

What about coolant? The Tesla road ranger said replacing it isn't necessary but he said that was because there were no exhaust gases to deal with, which while true, may not be the only issue. What do you think? Replace the coolant periodically anyway? How often?

I work on electric vehicles and electrolysis plus additive package depletion is a big problem in old coolant. You may have saved $40 in coolant, but how much is a battery pack module coolant leak going to cost?

 

[ecotourist]

@Torrid after 5 years the 12v battery on our '18 Mid Range threw a warning message on the tablet. I forget exactly what t said, but something like "replace 12v battery within 10 days" maybe. Tesla came out the next day and replaced it for like $130; the tech also checked the car over and deemed it one of the better early cars fitment wise.

Of course there have been plenty of Tesla service complaints, so there's that.

I suppose the reason you get a warning before everything "seizes up" is that it only takes 12 Volts to make things work, and a fully charged (AGM or even lead acid) battery is above that. If the battery voltage is less than a normal fully charged lead acid battery's 12.7 Volts (but more than the required 12 Volts) it's time for a new battery, but you should still have a few days. And there is no heavy draw component like a starter to finish off that wounded battery immediately

I agree with @Torrid that batteries often fail suddenly. For example one day I started my Volvo quite normally, drove it for a few blocks and it wouldn't start again. And people wonder why I carry heavy duty booster cables in the trunk.

 

[ecotourist]

I work on electric vehicles and electrolysis plus additive package depletion is a big problem in old coolant. You may have saved $40 in coolant, but how much is a battery pack module coolant leak going to cost?

When you say you work on EVs are you including Teslas? Have you seen coolant-related corrosion issues?

What is your suggested replacement interval?

 

[ripcord]

My Tesla really likes Castrol 0w-30