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This guy runs a thorough and descriptive group of trial and error tests and presents well thought out and articulated explanations and solutions for an issue that is plaguing a huge amount of Tesla owners, and even finds that Tesla’s “solution” has actually been making it worse, and this POS sub just downvotes it.
This video is excellent, and this sub proves yet again to be rampant with ungrateful little trolls.
EDIT: At the time I wrote this, the post had negative votes.
It was very well known. It has nothing to do with the drying process.
That said, the solution this dude presents appears to be a decent one. I've been replacing the air filter about twice a year, because I live in Florida and the car spend half the day outside, occasionally in a Florida rainstorm, and using the frunk seal has effectively eliminated the problem.
"Frunk seal" is not a good term to use here because it's not really sealing the drunk, it's a seal for the top of the hood area.
Side effect is that it keeps more water out from under the hood.
It's not a bad thing
Stop_looking_at_it
Do they have one for a model y
Nakatomi2010
Yup, just look up Model Y Frunk seal on Amazon...
gkfesterton
You know l keep hearing that and I'm glad people have found a solution to the problem, but I'm still not sure exactly what's going on to cause the problem in the first place, since owners in extremely dry climates also report the same problem, which leads me to believe it's not from outside water leaking in.But then on the other hand people who got the seals have reported the problem being eliminated. Very confusing
chfp
It's the same with battery management. People in the know tell owners the best way to extend the life of the battery, only to be down voted by those who point blindly to the manual, without grasping that the manual is written for brain dead simpletons with no room for nuance.
Responding to replies all together: All lithium chemistries suffer from increased degradation when charged to 100%. LFP has more cycles than NMC, but it isn't immune. The sweet spot for SoC (state of charge) is 70% which balances useful capacity with minimal degradation. There are charts posted in this and other communities showing degradation vs cycles vs SoC.
The reason that the manual says to charge to 100% is to balance the cells within the pack. It's a tug of war between individual cell health vs overall battery pack health. LFP has a very flat voltage curve and is difficult to balance in the meat of the charge curve. It's only when the cells hit close to 100% that the BMS can reliably detect SoC. The manual used to say always charge to 100%, but now it says once per week. They probably changed it after getting an increase in warranty replacements. A healthy LFP pack only needs occasional balancing: once per month or so. Once a week is so people don't forget. NMC needs it much less frequently since the BMS can more accurately detect the cells' SoC from their voltages. NMC really only needs to charge to 100% a couple times a year, maybe not even that.
They likely are referring to the fact all lithium ion batteries regardless of chemistry are least stressed at 50% SOC and the “Always be Charging” bit was basically marketing to ensure people didn’t run out of charge when the Supercharger network wasn’t built out yet.
Uh no “always be charging” saves your batteries cycles on charging the 12v, running sentry mode/cabin overheat, and preconditioning, it was most certainly not marketing, but yes you should set your charge limit as low as reasonable for your lifestyle
The manual is written for the general case. The absolute best way to keep the battery healthy is to charge to 51% then stop and charge it back up to 51% when it drops to 49%. Obviously at that point, it stops being useful.
The difference between 50% and 80% is minimal enough that the manual has good advice for just about everyone.
The problem is this video showed a clear experiment and analysis (although based on 1 car). The battery advice is based off of general advice for batteries of the same type, and no one aside from Tesla knows has the data on the dropoff in life/capacity based on deviating from the theoretical optimal charge limit (50%).
I don't think anyone believes a number that's not 50% is optimal, they just don't see a good reason to expend effort sitting at that number if Tesla themselves (who hold the warranty liability for 8yr/whatever) tell you 80% is chill. I'd want to see some long-form analysis or get mass consumption data myself to analyze and model around.
Well, Tesla is clear about sharing average degradation of Model 3/Y as well as S/X batteries up to 200,000 miles and presumably since most owners will follow the user manual recommended vehicle operation, then you can assume that 200,000 miles over 8 years will still leave you with a very usable pack if you charge to 80% daily.
That being said, getting that data set would be cool, I agree
He runs a lot of tests and I enjoyed watching both videos as they came out, but he’s a guy posting videos on YouTube. He doesn’t have enough control over all of the tests to prove anything, and I don’t believe he had enough to draw any real conclusions as to why it happens to some and not others.
The biggest take away from his videos is what happens when spraying water around the intake with the fan on, and why it’s important to have the intake closed when washing.
Moral of the story, use car wash mode whenever washing, as it closes the intake vent. Don’t shoot water down your windshield with it open…
I’m going on 3 years now with no smell (22 M3LR). I have replacement filters on hand, but the original ones are still installed and the service menu shows nearly 100% life on them.
I’ve always used car wash mode when washing 100% of the time. I also park in a garage at home and at work. I’m in a 22 MYLR as the only difference and i definitely have a dirty sock smell that is most pronounced after driving in rain, no matter the intensity of the rain. There’s definitely more to it than “use car wash mode”
Same for everything you said, and I live in Las Vegas. Even with the dry air out here, I still get the dirty sock smell. I even switched the filters to the foam ones he mentions, and the smell is still there.
Edit: I wonder if the cabin overheat protection is causing it.
Maybe it’s just me but I have the same smells with all my previous vehicles. 2004 Toyota Matrix, 2007/2009 Mazdaspeed3, 2010 Honda Civic, 2015 Ford Focus ST, 2017 Prius Prime, 2018 VW Golf R, 2021 Kia Soul and probably now with my 2024 MYP. It’s simply the AC condensation making things gross when going from cooled interior to suddenly powering off the car and not running the air without the conditioning part.
BruceLeeTheDragon
I’ve had a 1987 Corolla, 1994 Acura integra, and a 2004 Mazda 6 and never had any of those smells. It’s only happened to my 2023 model 3.
Serialtoon
I haven’t smelled it with my MYP so maybe it’s a different smell than what I’m thinking? People referring it to like a smelly sock is def not what I was thinking lmao.
BruceLeeTheDragon
It smells like mildew
bolero2000
I had these problem with my Prius 2012. No problem with my 3 and Y
gkfesterton
I'm in LA and l still get the smell even if l haven't washed the car in while in the extremely dry heat of the summer. There's definitely more going on than simply external water leaking in.I remember some people saying it's the condensation from running the AC not being able to drip off the evaporator coil fins because they're horizontal and not vertical like in most cars
Just curious, do you use auto climate settings all the time as well?
I have nothing to gain about lying about this, so I’m just curious what the difference could be. I live in the Madison WI area, so I experience all the seasons and quite humid summers.
I’m in Southern Louisiana and the relative humidity here is 70-90% most of the time. I’m not sure what you mean by auto climate settings - but I usually have a set temperature of 68-72° depending on the day and I keep recirculation on.
I'm in Melbourne, Australia - and haven't always used the car wash mode when washing the car. I tend to hose it off after driving in the rain before reversing into garage, to get the worst of the gunk off before it dries.
Rain when parked isn’t an issue if the blower motor isn’t running and pulling in air from the fresh air vent. It’s the turbulent air over the drain in the vent that causes it to mix with the air and get drawn in the hvac module.
It kinda depends. Recirculation would need to be off, and the rain would have to be torrential while the car is not in motion. Once you are driving, the direction of the air over the hood and windshield will push most of the water away from the intake.
FlashFlooder
This ain’t it. It’s condensation from the air conditioning, not outside water
When interior temperature reaches (90,95 or 100° F depending on setting) AC turns on to cool it. Was used on Model S as screens used to have heat issues at high temperatures and it’s stayed ever sense. You can also set it to just use the Fan mode and not turn on AC.
Mine is a year old and just started getting this smell with summer temps hitting an all time high of 110 + humidity. Not totally sure why it's happening since I haven't taken it for a car wash recently and no rain. I followed the advice to crank the heat to dry the coils and it fixed it temporarily. But came back with the heat. I'm guessing the humidity making the coils wet
To be honest, I should, which is why I finally bought the filters to do so. I was kind of waiting for “the smell” that everyone talks about, figured that would be a good indication of when it’s needed.
Right as I bought the filters, Tesla released the update to the service menu that shows you the estimated life of the filter. I checked mine and it was mid 90’s so I wasn’t too concerned yet.
Edit: also apparently I can’t math good, I’m coming up on the 2 year mark this month, not 3… just hit 25k miles as well.
I believe our “heat pump” version doesn’t have this smell problem, unless someone washes a car without switching on the wash mode. I even don’t turn on climate for couple miles after washing
Absolutely, car wash mode has an additional setting to allow it to free roll on tracks, which is what you’re thinking of. I also prefer hand washing or a touchless wash in the winter months, and always use car wash mode.
I remember this being a problem years ago (though I personally never experienced it). I've hardly seen anybody posting about it in the last year or two.
His “conclusion” doesn’t support your comment that it’s the same issue.
He says the system makes it worse by running the humid outside air across the filter during the drying period. If you are doing this in a dry desert, you will be making it much better and not adding moisture back to the filter.
Exactly, this video is well intentioned but doesn't take into account of other environmental factors in climates unlike what the YouTuber encountered.
I've extensively tested in LA to find out why it smells so bad, it's short stops where the AC turns on for a drive, turns off for 2-15 minutes, then turns on again. That's when it stinks to high heavens. It's got very little to do with humidity outside, since I tasted it on dry days and there's basically no rain in LA.
Summer stinkiness is caused by condensation out of the hot air as a result of the cold air conditioning. The net effect is the same--you have a wet air filter that gets moldy. You don't have to have high humidity for this to happen. This often happened with my Toyota Prius in the summer (also a low humidity area).
There are several YouTube videos talking about this and how to handle it.
I agree and I know. Your point is correctly and it absolutely disproves the conclusion of the video where he claims the culprit is moist air or liquid being sucked in through the intake.
Healthy_Display5650
Well, whenever my car sits, it runs cabin temp protection. I get into my car and it’s always mildew smelling from the time I used it last.
That’s an interesting point, I hadn’t thought about how cabin overheat protection could play into it, especially since it can be run with or without A/C.
Dang. I thought it was solved. My ‘23 does not smell at all and I’ve had it for over a year. Our ‘21 MY stunk after the first 6 months and hasn’t stopped smelling :(
For what it's worth, I have had this problem using 2 sets of OEM filters in my 2019 non heat pump car and switching to the foam edged hepa filters seems to have solved the problem completely for me. don't discount this video
I’ve had my Model 3 for six years. For the first couple of years, the automatic drying feature didn’t exist-and EVERYONE who had a Model 3 complained about the smell. I changed the filter three times in my first two years of ownership, and cleaned the evaporator twice. Smelled fine for a couple of months, then it would start coming back. And I live in Phoenix, where the relative humidity averages about 20%, so there’s no humid air getting sent through the filter. The release of the automatic drying feature was a godsend.
Now you get to hear another random internet yahoo’s opinion. After lying on my back way too many times, and staring at the mechanical assembly, I believe that the issue is the filter is too close to the evaporator, touching it even, and condensed moisture transfers from the coil to the filter. The filter absorbs the water, and stays damp continuously. The smell doesn’t come from the evaporator, but from the filter media that’s damp for months at a time.
How to fix it? I haven’t had the problem for three or four years, so I can’t do much experimenting. At one time, I thought that using packing tape on the cardboard frame of the filter would prevent it from absorbing moisture from the coil, but never experimented.
So THIS is what it is! I live in south TX where its as we say "humid as balls" most days. My M3 usually smells like a combo of mulch and mildew. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out why. Gonna try this clip and see if it changes anything
Can anyone verbalize Clearly how the plastic clip over the drain area Stops moisture from accumulating in the filter Exactly?
Has anyone with very frequent HVAC smell issues tried this clip and seen long term improvements over the same amount of time and similar seasons as a new filter and coil cleaner ?
If it works, it works. But have not been seeing much feedback on improvements, now that some time has passed with the supposed fix. Moreover, I don’t think the underlying reason the clip should work was logically stated and explained in the context of the humid air.
Why if the humid air is pushed through the filter in a dry cycle does that small clip at the bottom of the filter media Prohibit moisture from collecting at that specific point or anywhere in the filter media?
Maybe I’m misunderstand, but feel like there is a gap in the logic as explained, and would like to see further long term testing and explanation.
Not that it should be the users job to solve this problem...but the manufacture has had the time and opportunity to fix it with the refresh, and seemingly have failed to do anything about this problem in certain geographical usage areas!
It’s a brand issue, most others don’t have a problem with, can’t believe they don’t seem to care about resolving.
Perhaps instead of the clip we could just soak the bottom of the bottom filter in some sort of hard sealer like shellac or urethane such that after it dries the bottom of the filter is hard and waterproof? Just an idea I haven’t tried yet.
Another thing that is not talked about. Doesn't matter what it is, if the filter is cold on a hot day moisture will collect on the (whatever brand) filter and it and it'll get damp. I think that cabin overheat with no A/C is the best option to keep it dry(brings down the temp of the filter). Personally It's to damn hot I run the AC before I ever get in, so I rarely smell anything. 23 MYP
Incredible.
This guy runs a thorough and descriptive group of trial and error tests and presents well thought out and articulated explanations and solutions for an issue that is plaguing a huge amount of Tesla owners, and even finds that Tesla’s “solution” has actually been making it worse, and this POS sub just downvotes it.
This video is excellent, and this sub proves yet again to be rampant with ungrateful little trolls.
EDIT: At the time I wrote this, the post had negative votes.
The cabin filter smelled before they implemented the drying.
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/intelligence-to-dry-cabin-air-filter.157842/
It was well known before I purchased in 2019. Dirty socks. I learned to clean and replace mine myself.
It was very well known. It has nothing to do with the drying process.
That said, the solution this dude presents appears to be a decent one. I've been replacing the air filter about twice a year, because I live in Florida and the car spend half the day outside, occasionally in a Florida rainstorm, and using the frunk seal has effectively eliminated the problem.
What frunk seal?
One of these.
It prevents water from getting into the vents
"Frunk seal" is not a good term to use here because it's not really sealing the drunk, it's a seal for the top of the hood area.
Side effect is that it keeps more water out from under the hood.
It's not a bad thing
Do they have one for a model y
Yup, just look up Model Y Frunk seal on Amazon...
You know l keep hearing that and I'm glad people have found a solution to the problem, but I'm still not sure exactly what's going on to cause the problem in the first place, since owners in extremely dry climates also report the same problem, which leads me to believe it's not from outside water leaking in.But then on the other hand people who got the seals have reported the problem being eliminated. Very confusing
It's the same with battery management. People in the know tell owners the best way to extend the life of the battery, only to be down voted by those who point blindly to the manual, without grasping that the manual is written for brain dead simpletons with no room for nuance.
Responding to replies all together: All lithium chemistries suffer from increased degradation when charged to 100%. LFP has more cycles than NMC, but it isn't immune. The sweet spot for SoC (state of charge) is 70% which balances useful capacity with minimal degradation. There are charts posted in this and other communities showing degradation vs cycles vs SoC.
The reason that the manual says to charge to 100% is to balance the cells within the pack. It's a tug of war between individual cell health vs overall battery pack health. LFP has a very flat voltage curve and is difficult to balance in the meat of the charge curve. It's only when the cells hit close to 100% that the BMS can reliably detect SoC. The manual used to say always charge to 100%, but now it says once per week. They probably changed it after getting an increase in warranty replacements. A healthy LFP pack only needs occasional balancing: once per month or so. Once a week is so people don't forget. NMC needs it much less frequently since the BMS can more accurately detect the cells' SoC from their voltages. NMC really only needs to charge to 100% a couple times a year, maybe not even that.
What about battery management?
They likely are referring to the fact all lithium ion batteries regardless of chemistry are least stressed at 50% SOC and the “Always be Charging” bit was basically marketing to ensure people didn’t run out of charge when the Supercharger network wasn’t built out yet.
But I’m just a random internet dude.
Uh no “always be charging” saves your batteries cycles on charging the 12v, running sentry mode/cabin overheat, and preconditioning, it was most certainly not marketing, but yes you should set your charge limit as low as reasonable for your lifestyle
What’s the best way?
I’m not a braindead simpleton. Should I not be at 80% all the time?
The manual is written for the general case. The absolute best way to keep the battery healthy is to charge to 51% then stop and charge it back up to 51% when it drops to 49%. Obviously at that point, it stops being useful.
The difference between 50% and 80% is minimal enough that the manual has good advice for just about everyone.
The problem is this video showed a clear experiment and analysis (although based on 1 car). The battery advice is based off of general advice for batteries of the same type, and no one aside from Tesla knows has the data on the dropoff in life/capacity based on deviating from the theoretical optimal charge limit (50%).
I don't think anyone believes a number that's not 50% is optimal, they just don't see a good reason to expend effort sitting at that number if Tesla themselves (who hold the warranty liability for 8yr/whatever) tell you 80% is chill. I'd want to see some long-form analysis or get mass consumption data myself to analyze and model around.
Well, Tesla is clear about sharing average degradation of Model 3/Y as well as S/X batteries up to 200,000 miles and presumably since most owners will follow the user manual recommended vehicle operation, then you can assume that 200,000 miles over 8 years will still leave you with a very usable pack if you charge to 80% daily.
That being said, getting that data set would be cool, I agree
What about the LFP batteries?
Is this in response to them switching from 90% to 80% recommended?
He runs a lot of tests and I enjoyed watching both videos as they came out, but he’s a guy posting videos on YouTube. He doesn’t have enough control over all of the tests to prove anything, and I don’t believe he had enough to draw any real conclusions as to why it happens to some and not others.
The biggest take away from his videos is what happens when spraying water around the intake with the fan on, and why it’s important to have the intake closed when washing.
Moral of the story, use car wash mode whenever washing, as it closes the intake vent. Don’t shoot water down your windshield with it open…
I’m going on 3 years now with no smell (22 M3LR). I have replacement filters on hand, but the original ones are still installed and the service menu shows nearly 100% life on them.
I’ve always used car wash mode when washing 100% of the time. I also park in a garage at home and at work. I’m in a 22 MYLR as the only difference and i definitely have a dirty sock smell that is most pronounced after driving in rain, no matter the intensity of the rain. There’s definitely more to it than “use car wash mode”
Same for everything you said, and I live in Las Vegas. Even with the dry air out here, I still get the dirty sock smell. I even switched the filters to the foam ones he mentions, and the smell is still there.
Edit: I wonder if the cabin overheat protection is causing it.
Temporary solution is to turn on defrost from the app so the coils can dry. Then back to regular AC. Super annoying
Maybe it’s just me but I have the same smells with all my previous vehicles. 2004 Toyota Matrix, 2007/2009 Mazdaspeed3, 2010 Honda Civic, 2015 Ford Focus ST, 2017 Prius Prime, 2018 VW Golf R, 2021 Kia Soul and probably now with my 2024 MYP. It’s simply the AC condensation making things gross when going from cooled interior to suddenly powering off the car and not running the air without the conditioning part.
I’ve had a 1987 Corolla, 1994 Acura integra, and a 2004 Mazda 6 and never had any of those smells. It’s only happened to my 2023 model 3.
I haven’t smelled it with my MYP so maybe it’s a different smell than what I’m thinking? People referring it to like a smelly sock is def not what I was thinking lmao.
It smells like mildew
I had these problem with my Prius 2012. No problem with my 3 and Y
I'm in LA and l still get the smell even if l haven't washed the car in while in the extremely dry heat of the summer. There's definitely more going on than simply external water leaking in.I remember some people saying it's the condensation from running the AC not being able to drip off the evaporator coil fins because they're horizontal and not vertical like in most cars
Just curious, do you use auto climate settings all the time as well?
I have nothing to gain about lying about this, so I’m just curious what the difference could be. I live in the Madison WI area, so I experience all the seasons and quite humid summers.
I’m in Southern Louisiana and the relative humidity here is 70-90% most of the time. I’m not sure what you mean by auto climate settings - but I usually have a set temperature of 68-72° depending on the day and I keep recirculation on.
I'm in Melbourne, Australia - and haven't always used the car wash mode when washing the car. I tend to hose it off after driving in the rain before reversing into garage, to get the worst of the gunk off before it dries.
I'll probably start doing it now. :-)
No funny smells in the car. 2022 LR3.
But what about when it rains and its parked outside?
Rain when parked isn’t an issue if the blower motor isn’t running and pulling in air from the fresh air vent. It’s the turbulent air over the drain in the vent that causes it to mix with the air and get drawn in the hvac module.
So if the AC is on during rain it causes an issue?
It kinda depends. Recirculation would need to be off, and the rain would have to be torrential while the car is not in motion. Once you are driving, the direction of the air over the hood and windshield will push most of the water away from the intake.
This ain’t it. It’s condensation from the air conditioning, not outside water
Getting close to a year owning mine and I always use car wash mode and auto climate control when driving.
Not sure if I am lucky but I haven't had any bad smells yet.
I have the same as you with my 22 YLR. I have 40k miles. Changed the cabin filters once and have no issues here.
Do you use cabin overheating mode?
I do not, I don’t have kids to worry about being left in the car.
What does that do or not do?
When interior temperature reaches (90,95 or 100° F depending on setting) AC turns on to cool it. Was used on Model S as screens used to have heat issues at high temperatures and it’s stayed ever sense. You can also set it to just use the Fan mode and not turn on AC.
I have replacement filters on hand
Any recommendations on which replacement filters to buy?
I bought the cheap ones off Amazon, maybe ~$20?
Mine is a year old and just started getting this smell with summer temps hitting an all time high of 110 + humidity. Not totally sure why it's happening since I haven't taken it for a car wash recently and no rain. I followed the advice to crank the heat to dry the coils and it fixed it temporarily. But came back with the heat. I'm guessing the humidity making the coils wet
Why don’t you change the filter? It should be replaced every 2 years. 38kkm / 23k miles:
To be honest, I should, which is why I finally bought the filters to do so. I was kind of waiting for “the smell” that everyone talks about, figured that would be a good indication of when it’s needed.
Right as I bought the filters, Tesla released the update to the service menu that shows you the estimated life of the filter. I checked mine and it was mid 90’s so I wasn’t too concerned yet.
Edit: also apparently I can’t math good, I’m coming up on the 2 year mark this month, not 3… just hit 25k miles as well.
I believe our “heat pump” version doesn’t have this smell problem, unless someone washes a car without switching on the wash mode. I even don’t turn on climate for couple miles after washing
I thought car wash mode does something with the car so it moves. Like I use a touch less car wash, so I just sit in place. Is that still okay to use?
Absolutely, car wash mode has an additional setting to allow it to free roll on tracks, which is what you’re thinking of. I also prefer hand washing or a touchless wash in the winter months, and always use car wash mode.
I remember this being a problem years ago (though I personally never experienced it). I've hardly seen anybody posting about it in the last year or two.
No wonder. My model 3 always smells mildewy when it sits even though I’m in the hot desert.
His “conclusion” doesn’t support your comment that it’s the same issue.
He says the system makes it worse by running the humid outside air across the filter during the drying period. If you are doing this in a dry desert, you will be making it much better and not adding moisture back to the filter.
Exactly, this video is well intentioned but doesn't take into account of other environmental factors in climates unlike what the YouTuber encountered.
I've extensively tested in LA to find out why it smells so bad, it's short stops where the AC turns on for a drive, turns off for 2-15 minutes, then turns on again. That's when it stinks to high heavens. It's got very little to do with humidity outside, since I tasted it on dry days and there's basically no rain in LA.
Summer stinkiness is caused by condensation out of the hot air as a result of the cold air conditioning. The net effect is the same--you have a wet air filter that gets moldy. You don't have to have high humidity for this to happen. This often happened with my Toyota Prius in the summer (also a low humidity area).
There are several YouTube videos talking about this and how to handle it.
I agree and I know. Your point is correctly and it absolutely disproves the conclusion of the video where he claims the culprit is moist air or liquid being sucked in through the intake.
Well, whenever my car sits, it runs cabin temp protection. I get into my car and it’s always mildew smelling from the time I used it last.
That’s an interesting point, I hadn’t thought about how cabin overheat protection could play into it, especially since it can be run with or without A/C.
Are these issues solved in the later models? Just bought a 2024 MY..
I have heard of ac stank but not sure if i should be proactive or not
Rn, after long drives im trying to run the heat on for 4 mins after i park my car
Nope, I’ve had my 2024 M3 for a month and it’s starting to smell.
Dang. I thought it was solved. My ‘23 does not smell at all and I’ve had it for over a year. Our ‘21 MY stunk after the first 6 months and hasn’t stopped smelling :(
:(
How stupid would it be to just duct tape the bottom of the bottom filter?
Just so long as it doesn't come off the edges to create a basin for moisture to sit in, yeah that could work.
My idea was to use hot glue and then press it down with a spoon but I like your idea better
You could got clue the edges to make sure it doesn’t peel
does the 2024 Model 3 suffer from this Davey Jones's crotch smell problem?
For what it's worth, I have had this problem using 2 sets of OEM filters in my 2019 non heat pump car and switching to the foam edged hepa filters seems to have solved the problem completely for me. don't discount this video
I’ve had my Model 3 for six years. For the first couple of years, the automatic drying feature didn’t exist-and EVERYONE who had a Model 3 complained about the smell. I changed the filter three times in my first two years of ownership, and cleaned the evaporator twice. Smelled fine for a couple of months, then it would start coming back. And I live in Phoenix, where the relative humidity averages about 20%, so there’s no humid air getting sent through the filter. The release of the automatic drying feature was a godsend.
Now you get to hear another random internet yahoo’s opinion. After lying on my back way too many times, and staring at the mechanical assembly, I believe that the issue is the filter is too close to the evaporator, touching it even, and condensed moisture transfers from the coil to the filter. The filter absorbs the water, and stays damp continuously. The smell doesn’t come from the evaporator, but from the filter media that’s damp for months at a time.
How to fix it? I haven’t had the problem for three or four years, so I can’t do much experimenting. At one time, I thought that using packing tape on the cardboard frame of the filter would prevent it from absorbing moisture from the coil, but never experimented.
How much of this is relevant to model Y owners? With BWDM
You are an absolute legend. Thank you for this video!!
So THIS is what it is! I live in south TX where its as we say "humid as balls" most days. My M3 usually smells like a combo of mulch and mildew. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out why. Gonna try this clip and see if it changes anything
How do I not have this issue?
Can anyone verbalize Clearly how the plastic clip over the drain area Stops moisture from accumulating in the filter Exactly?
Has anyone with very frequent HVAC smell issues tried this clip and seen long term improvements over the same amount of time and similar seasons as a new filter and coil cleaner ?
If it works, it works. But have not been seeing much feedback on improvements, now that some time has passed with the supposed fix. Moreover, I don’t think the underlying reason the clip should work was logically stated and explained in the context of the humid air.
Why if the humid air is pushed through the filter in a dry cycle does that small clip at the bottom of the filter media Prohibit moisture from collecting at that specific point or anywhere in the filter media?
Maybe I’m misunderstand, but feel like there is a gap in the logic as explained, and would like to see further long term testing and explanation.
Not that it should be the users job to solve this problem...but the manufacture has had the time and opportunity to fix it with the refresh, and seemingly have failed to do anything about this problem in certain geographical usage areas!
It’s a brand issue, most others don’t have a problem with, can’t believe they don’t seem to care about resolving.
I tried the clip, it doesnt work
Buy and install the seal that fits the four holes on the back edge of the bonnet. That stops water going down into the filters.
Perhaps instead of the clip we could just soak the bottom of the bottom filter in some sort of hard sealer like shellac or urethane such that after it dries the bottom of the filter is hard and waterproof? Just an idea I haven’t tried yet.
Plasti Dip perhaps? Very easy.
IIRC, he made a follow up video where he addressed some other explanations.
FWIW, I had the smell too, but ever since I replaced the original filter with one from Amazon, I've been odor-free.
A year and a half in about 40,000 miles and I started getting a smell had Tesla replaced the cabin filter and then the smell is gone.
Tried the plastic clip, does not work. Had installed after changed filters and cleaning.
Just replaced mine but this is good info
Bravo to this guy. He really is doing God’s work.
Think the HVAC system improved via software recently half year?
Seems I'm having less smell issues with the filter recently, abeit still with the design flaw.
Another thing that is not talked about. Doesn't matter what it is, if the filter is cold on a hot day moisture will collect on the (whatever brand) filter and it and it'll get damp. I think that cabin overheat with no A/C is the best option to keep it dry(brings down the temp of the filter). Personally It's to damn hot I run the AC before I ever get in, so I rarely smell anything. 23 MYP