Tesla Model S Main Battery Repair | Gruber Motors

We decided to venture into the Model S battery world this week and took apart a customers vehicle to isolate the bad sheet and cell. All it took was one single cell out 7000+ to completely shut down the main propulsion battery pack.
In this 2 part series, we show you our process for taking apart the battery and repairing it’s underlying issues.
Stay tuned for part 2, and thank you so much for supporting our channel!
For more information on the battery repair, you can visit our website below for pricing and options.
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[@Andy-im3kj]

Right To Repair is a movement everyone should get behind so that we as consumers and also private business repair shops of all kinds can have the ability to repair these products without being forced to only go through the original manufacturer for repairs. Bring back the old days when we all had access to parts, schematics, manuals, etc. To do the work ourselves.

[@nick0780]

​@sparkie996 We now have access to the "tool box" and service screen, so that's great. We just need access to order all parts.

[@George-ph5pz]

Anyone who claims to care about the environment should be actively supporting right to repair.

[@electric-rideshare]

Musk added apink slime to the new batteries so you cant replace (right t repair) modules yourself. It's why I wont ever buy a Tesla . Replacement Modules for my ID 4 are $500-$800 cheap and I can have my loclal mechanic swap them out for me

[@wathaet1386]

Is this purely a US issue or do we have the same problems here in the EU? Unsure what the EV repair situation is, although I briefly looked around locally and did not find any car battery refurb shops here in Stockholm.

[@thedolphin5428]

CRAZY DESIGN. 1 bad $3 cell disables a whole car, a whole battery pack, for such a massive dismantling, diagnostics, then "we just snip it out of circuit". CRAZY DESIGN.

[@crazeguy26]

the F150 with the Ecoboost it easier to remove the engine or more commonly remove the cab to do engine work.

[@robertsmith6408]

Agree, we should have software in the car where it would show the bad cell. It should be easy to drop the battery with a few bolts, open it up and replace the battery. Wonder if you get a warranty with Gruber motors after they replace it!

[@chrishewlet5471]

I love how you explain things. Very clear and informative.

[@marcroy8023]

I was going to post the exact same thing, this guy should a teacher!

[@chrishewlet5471]

@@marcroy8023 Great minds...

[@callmeishmael7452]

So true. Not an actor, no dramatization, just a guy who knows exactly what he is talking about and edited down to the density of a Hemingway short story.

[@roadscholar05]

The problems is, there are not many shops who can repair these batteries. They are increasing, but they are still few and far between. If you are in some place like Montana, you may have to be towed a thousand miles! And, somewhere between 150k and 200k miles, you are gong to have to get the battery pack fixed.

[@DannyWalker247]

@@roadscholar05 If somebody in Montana buys a Tesla they are asking for trouble.

[@therealcdnuser]

Glad to see Mike Ehrmantraut has found honest work in renewables.

[@robdude1969]

Amazing that one bad $2 battery cell can be the demise of a $130,000 supercar. Cheers to you for your sleuthing skills and sharing the inner workings and solution with us. As we transition more into a BEV society, these repairs will happen more often. I imagine a more serviceable product will be mandated. Thanks!!

[@siliconalleyelectronics187]

Just like a $0.01 resistor being the demise of a $1200 phone, $1600 video card, or $3000 laptop. Electronics are just expensive things made of thousands of very very cheap things.

[@ADDMEONPSN]

That electric jack you have to remove/move the Battery pack is way better than what they give us at Tesla to remove/move them. What we use essentially a padded table with 4 coaster wheels we have to push around and its at a Set height lol.

[@DaveVelde]

Awesome, nice to know that there are options for older Tesla vehicles besides purchasing a new battery pack.

[@tommyb6611]

Of course there are. Not just for tesla. Imagine this car is an overgrown cordless impact driver. If only car manufacturers would make the battery pack maintenance and inspection easy and accesible, not requiring extensive and expensive equipment to access. The right to repair, not to be abused by dealers that will push you onto new battery packs because the old one is old and dead, when in fact a single cell replacement makes it great again, even after maaaaaany years of use. But that is the scsm of the official dealership, a monopoly to prevent customers from fair repair.

[@AudiTTQuattro2003]

@@tommyb6611 ...exactly my thoughts too. It's still expensive to repair, similar to an engine rebuild on ICE vehicles.

[@mondotv4216]

@@AudiTTQuattro2003 It’s nothing like an engine rebuild? You disconnect the HV, drop the battery out and remove the lid and a couple of hose fittings. You can check the battery voltage with a $20 multimeter. Yes it’s a sealed lid and removing and resealing it isn’t easy and that’s the part where specialist tools come in but that’s because it’s a completely sealed system - on purpose. That’s hardly engine rebuild territory. To put it into perspective, Neo (Chinese EV maker) just completed it’s 2 millionth battery swap. It takes about the same amount of time as filling your car with gas. Even Tesla’s battery is pretty modular.

[@adambiv100]

@@christinalaw3375 how is that unlike any car maker with non EV cars?

[@jorgegatica8065]

@@AudiTTQuattro2003 you have no idea, you pull out a 10 year old battery pack to replace dead cell, put it back together and in a few weeks weeks or months another cell dies and need to do it all over again? That’s why Tesla want to replace the whole battery pack, and when you rebuild an ice engine it’s good for another 10-20 years

[@drewjevans]

Thank you for sharing this! My 2014 P85D has two years of battery warranty left and given the track record with drive unit replacements (3 so far) it’s comforting to know that there will be a non-Tesla option when the time comes for work on the main battery pack. I asked the Tempe service center last time I was there what the cost to replace the pack would be (since they do not repair, only replace) and they said “about $25K”. And that includes the credit for trading in the old pack! Very glad to have you guys as a local alternative to the Tesla service center - you’ve already saved me a ton of money on air suspension and other maintenance items. I think you’re going to get VERY busy as the 2012, 2013, 2014 cars begin to come off their powertrain warranties!

[@petegruber2353]

We plan on expanding to meet the needs of our customers. Thank you for your business. Pete

[@msimmons]

@@petegruber2353 Would be curious what options are for east coast cars-- since cross-country shipping is $$. Maybe partner with Electrified Garage? They need more locations too though. No viable options in my area that I'm aware of.

[@youtubeaccount9808]

@@petegruber2353 Please open a location on the East Coast around DC or NY :)

[@deava9336]

It's a steal consider fe battery price today at about 100$ per kw

[@celeron55]

You can sell a pack with one failed module for like $8000 (they are bought for DIY powerwall and gasoline to electric conversion purposes). What's the cost for Tesla to install a new pack into a car that has had its pack removed and sold already? It could be more cost effective, ending up with a new pack and all.

[@Dave-in-France]

This is an excellent video which goes to show that whilst your Tesla battery MAY get a problem, it's not usually totally dead and buried.

[@puffnstuff12]

Thank you for sharing. I watched the electrified garage fix a battery pack and their system identified the bad sheets and bad cells within those sheets while the battery was still in the car so they knew where to go before they dropped the battery pack.

[@ALCAPONE5655]

Great video; you should be a university professor. You explain things clearly using simple and plain language that anyone can understand. 👍👍👍

[@heartrem2]

You guys are great, as a tesla model 3 owner i am so glad to see you out there doing this work and offering options for people i wish you all the best!

[@mohannadsadeddin8201]

I work and fix tesla batteries in my country for 2 years now. The battery is super sensitive and you must take care of every step you make. One of the most hard things are sealing the battery pack so it will return sealed as it was, the problem is that it will not be water resistant as it was before, which means you cant drive it in winter again. For now the best sealing way is using rubberized silicone and a nylon cover. This prevents water from getting in by approximately 70%.

[@iroquoisfunky]

I like tô learn more about batterys on Electric cars

[@iroquoisfunky]

Where can I find online courses

[@jrmorrissey207]

There are 3M sealants that are 100% waterproof used on boats and in salt water (3M 5200). So if you are getting water into your batter casing you're doing it wrong. Either you're not using the correct sealant, or you're not applying it correctly.

[@mohannadsadeddin8201]

@@jrmorrissey207 Honestly this is the first time I've heard of this sealant, I did some research about it and it seems like it is the best sealant on the market. I am ordering couple of them soon. Thanks for the advice though.

[@SuperMan-xy8ui]

You must use 100% polyurethane-based caulk only lasts 25% as long as pure silicone does?

[@diggleboy]

You are so far ahead of the curve! Glad I found your channel today. I look forward to watching more of your content to learn all about Tesla EVs from the inside out.

[@murali.sethuraman]

Elegant, simple but very crisp explanation of the problem and solution.

[@thebrain7065]

I didn't know John Locke from "Lost" is repairing Tesla battery packs....pretty cool.

[@frothywalrus]

I was going to go Paul Shaffer, but I see what you are saying

[@avpcoating2279]

I am so happy your around the corner with my latest acquisition. 😁

[@petegruber2353]

Welcome to the world of sustainable energy and Tesla Paul. Pete

[@tonychristensen6714]

yeah welcome to the wonderful world of expensive repairs and high depreciation!

[@RayonWhittaker]

Gruver I know you were a university professor, great presentation and explanation sir.

[@ChaseThrifts]

Yes, someone that can explain clearly and precise on battery cell packs!

[@edgarwright9486]

Great and very interesting talk, I just got my brain oppened up to how the battery system workson Tesla.

[@bobmac9070]

What a great simple explanation of how it works and how you repair them. Awesome!

[@Rj-nh1df]

Love how he explains this fix video. Talk about someone who isn't full of himself but really wants you to grasp the way Tesla's perform and function. Excellent video!!! PS) I had no idea that those (VapeCigBatteries) 18650's were in parallel. That was all that's in a dang Tesla. I know that's the same with Renogy Solar Batteries too!!!

[@Rj-nh1df]

I need to know where we can find those replacement sheets (a single battery sheet)?

[@kojomensah7474]

Knowing the ledge is very good and sharing is good also we all cannot do everything but having some idea about how things work is very good also

[@Wadley225]

4:43 - to clarify, 4.2 volts is a normal 100% charge voltage for lithium ion batteries, and the 3.6 volts he speaks of is the NOMINAL or average voltage, not at 100% charge. Same battery different charge levels.

[@MortimerSnerve]

Could be different battery chemistries. LiFePO4 charges to 3.65 max, 3.2 nominal.

[@gelisob]

@@MortimerSnerve no model S uses lifepo batteries. Only standard range in china model 3 does atm. Also I think those in teslas are the higher capacity panasonic ones that are 4.3v for 100%, but never charged to that for better life cycles.

[@anthonyreynolds2365]

@@gelisob Well in reality, any Nickel based Lithium Ion cell can be charged to 4.3V. It's just always a compromise as each voltage increase of 100mV beyond 3.9V decrease cycle life by a factor of 2.

[@sirglennn4807]

Probably different batteries

[@blackfistnyc718]

Your videos and company is needed ..thank you much.. from watch your videos.. I actually feel better about owning mine

[@johnretama3402]

What an incredibly informative video.. made it understandable for folks like myself that have 0 clue what the future looks like.

[@revy_moto]

Great video, explained very well. You are a great teacher in that regard.

[@fansurisheikhferuq6753]

Solid work from the people at Gruber Motors!

[@kEVsterTech]

Nice work keeping the battery cover flat for reuse.

[@jamesjennings3048]

Great info will surely need one of these days.

[@AZBEEMR]

I always wondered what Gruber electric Co. did and it never occurred to me that you always had a Tesla or three in the driveway! Stumbled across this excellent video by a feed in Google. I immediately subscribed. The photo is of me and Betty, your neighbors.

[@VijayBhalla]

Nicely presented with details and no bullshit. I like such informational videos. Don’t own Tesla yet but following closely for future ownership. Thanks

[@tmabry5515]

Excellent video and explaining of the battery. Thank you very much!

[@vfrexup]

Very clear and informative tutorial - thanks !

[@nextautomotive7274]

This is awesome! Would love to see the replacement happen too - as well as the "power up" and drive.

[@petegruber2353]

We are working on the sequel. It supercharged this morning.

[@petegruber2353]

Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXmVk4mNl9h-jbM

[@ochiet77]

@@petegruber2353 This video and the one linked dont show you repairing a damn thing. take the fucking cell apart and do the actual repair.

[@darod850]

love the channel, so happy youre giving these great cars new life.

[@bobjohnson6371]

Ha, reminds me of going through the old Christmas tree lights trying to find the bad bulb. Interesting video.

[@8637paul]

Really great to see what you do, giving a new lease of life to battery packs.

[@BHARGAV_GAJJAR]

So one cell here and there doesn't affect overall battery life that's truly a stellar example of redundancy

[@jbrizio7812]

Great video, couldn't have explained it any better!

[@mawsaleh]

Besides tech, you're an excellent teacher :)

[@deava9336]

I love this sort of jobs, great stuff.

[@henvan8737]

Great service, the model S is alive again.

[@matthewjackson9615]

Just what I was looking for on my scavenger hunt today. What great Fortune.

[@roybrown4944]

Beautiful, great job.

[@rkan2]

1:26: "It requires special equipment to remove": Hold my Rich Rebuilds

[@graciescottsdale]

It's engineered to be removed in 2 minutes.

[@apn42]

A lot simpler than an engine repair on an ICE car.

[@brad9529]

@@graciescottsdale perhaps one day, defo not yet.

[@graciescottsdale]

@@brad9529 There are videos.

[@nickhsu2812]

Very easy to understand even I am not a native speaker. Amazing!!

[@refugiopoint]

Very nice guy, great video, appreciate the time and effort!

[@MrRb13]

Superb video! Lots of tech stuff which is tough but nicely explained

[@Bugin1967]

Very good information especially how you explain it in very simple terms

[@Dee-ou7vd]

That was amazing.

[@proxlamuz4591]

Excellent video. Good speech rate and very informative.

[@d.p.9567]

Oh it’s like those annoying Christmas lights that if one goes out they all go out. So smart and green. 😂

[@SuperVetura]

What a great explaining ! Thank you

[@Randomchickensmoo]

Huh, this channel is actually kinda cool! Found it through some random internet blog/news website and for once it actually led me to something cool!

[@petegruber7564]

Much more content is coming.

[@gobeforeshow]

Great video thank you

[@ziasong]

As a former electrical service & design engineer, I can tell the battery monitoring and services are most complex tasks in substation services.

[@rioborzeli147]

Well spoken , learned lots. Thanks

[@Ebaybbq]

Very informative and simple explanation

[@scheffman]

Thank you for providing this service. I will be shipping my 90d to you soon.

[@shawncell1247]

impressive ,thank you for the video

[@toddshaw6658]

You are the future of mechanics

[@grubermotorcompany]

Thank you - kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4O2Z5Kcpd55n8k

[@TranTek]

i absolutely love this company reviving Tesla to improve them.

[@joe2825]

Amazing, I have confidence I could easily do this myself. I'm pretty good with this stuff.

[@hieroglyph321]

Still alive, bro?

[@joe2825]

@@hieroglyph321 yes, but lost my right arm

[@JO-zl9vt]

Great Video- thanks Mr. G

[@sped6954]

I had heard something to the effect a long time ago that these cars were powered by a shitload of 18650 batteries, but I never followed up on it. Nice to know that what I heard several years ago was true and accurate information.

[@sheppard24]

Brilliant, well done.

[@patbaptiste9510]

I've worked on electric buses which uses software that looks at each cell within a battery pack - voltage and temperature - therefore can tell exactly which cell or cells are defective. I'm not a software engineer so I have absolutely no idea what's involved there. All I know is, whenever there was a problem, I could plug in my laptop into a specific network port to look at each battery pack, then zero in on all or individual cell in the defective pack. That made my job really easy.

[@ajharrisTX]

Very cool vid, glad to have found you guys.

[@ronaldrussell5481]

Very interesting and informative, thank you. It's exciting to watch a company such as yours enter into what I would call "uncharted waters", apparently not to you, so good work and keep it up!

[@martinschuler1490]

Interessant wie so ein Model S- Akku ausgebaut aussieht 🤔!!! 👍👍👍

[@astonbright]

Great video. Thank you.

[@cervelo9465]

Fabulous content, fabulous channel. Sincerely, from UK, Wales :)

[@LuisVargas-ey9sy]

mil gracias y saludos desde Costa Ri ca

[@sandrosachser]

Hello Mr., you´re a awesome. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Regards from Brazil.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

I'm glad the newer designs they are using today in the Model 3/Y and new Model S don't have this issue. These old Model S's are when Tesla was still struggling as a company, they've come a long way. But it's good there is an independent repair option.

[@zaneenaz4962]

Curious how the newer designs overcome this ? Is this indeed true ? Also curious how long it takes to find the module and then the particular brick and finally the "rogue" cell ?

[@randolphtorres4172]

THANKS4GIVING a great post

[@MarkRodenburg]

The sun is shining in the shop.

[@jonesfredrick94]

And in some peoples finance after receiving this type of help

[@aussietaipan8700]

I wish we has a company like yours here in Australia. Very clear and concise information and thanks for sharing. And subscribed

[@grubermotorcompany]

Thank you! We work hard on these videos and feedback like this is very uplifting. Hope your weekend is a relaxing one!

[@aristideau5072]

@@grubermotorcompany if the only other option is a $US25,000 ($AU33,000) repair it would be economically feasible to fly you out to Australia to do the repair.

[@azspotfree]

You guys are giving away the farm. I appreciate it though. Very informative.

[@amitsinghthakur8709]

Really grateful

[@williamboyle8918]

Very well explained.

[@natheerbecker7460]

You rock Sir, I wish you have a shop here in Houston.

[@suhaspatil5728]

Very nicely explained

[@rayheatley9910]

We have the 2018 Tesla MS 100D and it has been reliable until yesterday. I was driving from San Francisco to San Diego. I stopped near Bakersfield to charge the car to about 270 miles. We started down freeway 5 and I got a warning that I needed to charge the car and to pull over to the side of the road. I was lucky we were not hit by other traffic as it was about ten am. We had to wait for about two hours for Geico to send us a tow truck. Tesla in Bakersfield told us that the main battery needed to be replaced. Worse case it may take seven weeks to get it done. The battery is still under warranty so that helps. The car has about 83000 miles on it. They provided a model 3 to continue our trip home. I had to learn how to drive this M3 as it does not operate like the MS does. I have to say it rides ok, but I like my MS. Tesla Workers at the Bakersfield location are very nice. Our Model S did not give us any indication in the days leading up to this battery failure. Has anyone else had something like this happen to them? Are the batteries installed in the newer cars better? Thank you for the video.

[@richard1835]

Thats amazing great video.

[@vinaykh2613]

You explained nicely

[@itzkabbu9860]

Awesome information

[@1949ala]

Very informative good job

[@mieldescorpion]

Very well explained..

[@jdweaver1482]

Very cool!

[@Gukerl]

Nice! Very good infos. Greetings from Austria :)

[@METALGRAMMYS]

His future is so bright.

[@engrhamzaliaqat9830]

Very impressive information

[@shabbirahmed2230]

Great 👍 very knowledgeable.

[@Myksgarage]

Very well done! You guys are my company when my battery dies

[@theohlinsguy4649]

Engineered like an old fashion Christmas tree light string.

[@shawn2763]

And I thought I was a kid genius when changing a bulb on Christmas lights

[@zwartwittzwartwitt7247]

wel done thansk for the video..

[@sardororipov1302]

Thank you for sharing!Im curious what would be the billed hours for the repair?