Mine likes the old parraffin based swill.
Tesla Maintenance
- Thread starter ecotourist
- Start date
Mine might too but it's still a young thing and I'm trying to keep it from developing bad habits.
Brake fluid does deteriorate, it will get more water in it and that will lead to corrosion. It all depends on the factory fluid. The fluid Hyundai used in the i20 2 generations ago would turn green in no time, from water and subsequent corrosion.
There's no way I can advise anyone to go 5 years on fluid, unless that's how long they will keep the car.
Not those kinds of vehicles but much bigger
been seeing problems with coolant passage corrosion in the pack if the coolant isn't changed on time.What sort of time are you talking about? 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?Not those kinds of vehicles but much bigger
I've seen failures happen as low as 2 years past the maintenance interval.
Which is how many years? Tesla says there is no need for coolant replacement so there is no "maintenance interval".
Tesla's theory (apparently) is that the lack of combustion means no exhaust gas contaminants to degrade the coolant and therefore no need to replace it. I'm not so sure that makes any sense but that's what the road ranger said. Tesla originally recommended a periodic change but not any more.
We had hot water heating in a 1930s house. The water in that system was black and as long as it didn't leak out there was no need to replace it or add any corrosion inhibitors either. Completely different system of course - tap water and cast iron and steel pipes and fittings. There was initial corrosion of course but seemingly the pipes and water came to some sort of long term balanced state.
There is a list of recommended services, some at a specified time or mileage (doesn't say which). For example tire rotation is a recommended service (and my car says it's overdue, but the road ranger forgot to update the screen when he rotated them because it says the last rotation was at 0 Km). Brake caliper service and wiper blade replacement for example are "as required".If you click on the maintenance screen, is it just blank?
There is no listing at all for coolant replacement, and both the road ranger and the service agent at the Tesla outlet said that coolant replacement is not required. I asked.
What's amazing to me is how many people never change it. Just crazy.
With an ICE vehicle I generally change coolant and brake fluid every 3 or 4 years. Have never run into a problem with corrosion in either system and I keep my vehicles a very long time.
I suspect you're right. A lot of people never or rarely change their brake fluid. I wonder how many people who never change their brake fluid actually run into problems. Spongy brakes maybe, but how about a corrosion related failure?
I suspect coolant is more problematic. Several different metals and lots of potential for corrosion (radiator and water pump especially).
and two years on motorcycles, something many riders do not know. (Dont ask me how I know, when the rear brake failed on my Yamaha coming down a mountain in the Smoky's with my wife on the back. Cause? Moisture in the brake fluid heated up and boiled, vapor lock in the rear caliper caused it to fail, once cooled down 15 or so minutes it worked again, fluid change and never happened again, talk about being scared ****less to not knowing if the front was going to give out before getting to the bottom of the mountain)
But yes, very prudent to change fluid in automobiles if you want your calipers to last and not corrode.
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I would change it at least once. Look at what other cars using the same coolant can do. if there's an anti corrosion barrier built up in any way, it has degraded the original coolant somewhat. Changing it once or parts now and again replaces what was used.
ICE don't mix exhaust and coolant, or those sniffers for exhaust gasses wouldn't work. If they mix, there's parts needing replacing.
Hot water systems are sealed, no extra oxygen can enter, but car coolant systems are not sealed, and get much hotter and colder.
Despite not being recommended by Tesla I would still have the brake fluid addressed. Not sure how Tesla braking system is but I am assuming it's not the basic booster/master cylinder setup of normal gassers. My ID.4 has some complex non-sense going on beyond the pedal so I am making dang sure I follow the VW recommendations (3 years for first flush then every 2 years after).
I had brake failure on my 2nd car while I was delivering pizzas (1991Toyota Pickup) due to the brake fluid not being changed for ~20 years and that shook me enough that I am not ignoring that fluid. Sure I could save some bucks but when you have no brakes it is not a fun time.
I had brake failure on my 2nd car while I was delivering pizzas (1991Toyota Pickup) due to the brake fluid not being changed for ~20 years and that shook me enough that I am not ignoring that fluid. Sure I could save some bucks but when you have no brakes it is not a fun time.
Tesla recommends changing the brake fluid, I'm just not clear how often. I'll be doing mine shortly after 4 years in service. Day to day braking is mostly done by regeneration (through 1 pedal driving). It does have an apparently conventional brake system as well but with an EV you hardly ever use the actual brakes.
They don't advocate changing the coolant. Seems odd to me.
Brake fluid deteriorates over time. The additive package wears out and moisture will contaminate the fluid. Relying on regenerative braking does not affect this.
VAG has not recommended coolant changes for quite some time.
Also, Tesla does have gearbox fluid. A change isn't required, but...
https://service.tesla.com/docs/Mode...UID-C5B5120A-0F8B-406E-95DA-EEC9F63BCDF1.html
Maybe after 10 years and 100,000 km. Procedure seems quite involved.
I had full complete component failure of the brake booster, brake master cylinder, and ABS valve block on a 2014 Edge in around 2021. It's the only vehicle I neglected on this. Whether or not it caused this is beyond me.
The only thing I I've seen on this is a drain and fill and it has an external spin on filter at least on the earlier models. Maybe it takes a bit to get to the fill and drain plugs, but the only videos I've ever seen on this were done after disassembly of the rear of the car when taking care of the coolant issue with the older motors.
This - while the VAG specific coolant has proven to be quite robust and very long life it still isn't lifetime per se. More often than not some component (pump, thermostat, hose, etc.) will probably fail and need replacement before the coolant degrades too much and system will be spilled and filled at that point anyways.
I am currently planning on doing the gearbox fluids on my my ID.4 at 50k and sending it off to Blackstone for analysis, need to order some jack stands and a few little tools to do the job but figure do it at 50k and see what the analysis says. Guessing 50k is too early but honestly this car needs so little else I am really just finding some reason to wrench on it outside of the easy peasy cabin filter and filling up the washer fluid.
