Tesla Large Drive Unit (LDU) Motor Teardown and maintenance

[johu]

No he must have replaced it with the DELETED text himself.
When I delete spammers I can delete their posts along with the user. Sometimes I delete users that have no posts and haven't been active for more than a year. But never ones that posted something

[howardc64]

Does anyone know what happened to howardc64?

hello, I deleted the contents myself, Johan is developing the website and info. Hope that helps. Thanks

[asavage]

Bit of crossposting: coolant manifold plug of 6061:
https://www.myrav4ev.com/threads/anothe ... post-30941

Teaser:

Rotor temperature sensor/display:
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/posts/8230849/

Teaser:

[Boxster EV]

I’ve bitten the coolant delete bullet too. Just fitted this from Revolt Systems in California. My car is used as a Daily, so didn’t have the time to have off the road whilst the existing manifold was modified. Took about 2 hours to fit.

[asavage]

Some notes & pics on my journey:

LDU rotor cooling bypass ("Coolant Delete") modification

LDU rotor coolant bypass plug

LDU special disassembly tools

LDU Rotor End Cap removal tool

LDU rotor removal puller tool

LDU rotor temperature monitor (display)

LDU rotor temperature sensor: installed

LDU rotor temperature display: early prototyping with bad alignment.

[sirpewe]

What do you use for seal material (brownish on the maifold)?
And do you have any drawing or cad file for the plug you like to share?
Or possibly if you can sell a plug?

[asavage]

What do you use for seal material (brownish on the maifold)?

That picture is misleading; if you follow the link, it makes more sense. The red gasket you see above is for the pressure test jig I set up to provide proof positive that the plug would not leak.

The red gasket is not used for mounting to the LDU.

And do you have any drawing or cad file for the plug you like to share?

Follow the link, please.

Or possibly if you can sell a plug?

Howard & Mr. Hyde have a batch of SS formed sheet metal plugs coming, that will be cheaper than machined aluminum ones like mine. If you follow that link, you'll read that my two plugs were machined locally by a fellow who doesn't want to get into production; he does only one-off prototype stuff like this.

If there was sufficient demand, I could have a run made by eMachineShop.com . If I bought around (50), I could sell them for about $30 + shipping, but I doubt there will be sufficient demand, and the SS sheet metal plugs will be cheaper; most people will probably want to go that way instead.

I prefer the machined aluminum plug, myself.

[jrbe]

JLCPCB does cnc work now. You can setup a commission based on your design there if you want.

myrav4ev wants you to login to look at pictures. Not everyone wants an account.

The design could be modified to have an o-ring on the OD of the plug. If threading that bore in the housing is an option / easy to do, an o-ring plug / bolt can be used to hold the plug in place.

[asavage]

JLCPCB does cnc work now. You can setup a commission based on your design there if you want.

Lots of places do machining. I got one easy quote from one place, got a ballpark figure, and I'm not interested in chasing lower prices or lower minimum quantities. I'm retired and don't need the hassle of retail sales again. I already "sell" pre-assembled ethernet cables for the Tesla Powertrain Diagnostics program used in the RAV4 EV, and that's been hassle enough. Plus the inevitable people who receive something and then don't like it/claim it doesn't fit/claim it ruined their LDU/etc. Not gonna be me.

myrav4ev wants you to login to look at pictures. Not everyone wants an account.

You know what? I don't care. I am active in three communities around the LDU, and I'm only going to post this info once; it took HOURS -- almost two man-days -- to put the pics and descriptions together, and if someone can't be bothered to run down the pics, I just don't care anymore. Don't want to create an account? I get that. Go do your own measurements on your own LDU and make your own mistakes.

I can't make information barrierless for everyone.

It doesn't matter if I posted on Instagram, X, TikTok, or FB, somebody would complain that "it's too hard" to find the info. I wrote an entire G'damn Wiki on the Tesla GEN1 OBC and still had complaints about this, that, and that other thing. If I put it on YT, I'd get compaints. If I offered to mail detailed specs via snail mail, I'd get complaints. Github? Complaints -- got one just last week from there.

And then there's the people on phones who complain that the pictures are too large and their phone won't render them properly. I've run a hobby website forum for DECADES and have heard it all before, and I'm done trying to accommodate every last person's issue with FREE content.

I spent $50 on Toytota online subscritions and an entire Labor Day weekend a couple of years ago, pulling service content for the RAV4 EV, collected as much as I could and put it in a ZIP file . . . and got complaints that it was "too hard to find things".

In the past, I tried to maintain info in multiple locations, and it just multiplies the work. If you miss an update on one site, you field questions/corrections well into the future, and you just can't maintain multiple data stores. It has to be one place, I chose my one place (the RAV EV is the community I'm not active in), and it'll have to do.

The design could be modified to have an o-ring on the OD of the plug. If threading that bore in the housing is an option / easy to do, an o-ring plug / bolt can be used to hold the plug in place.

Yup, could be done with an o-ring seal instead of Loctite 640 . . . but I discarded that idea fairly early on a year ago. A mechanical retainer would be required, as you noted. And there's no need to ever remove the plug for any reason, so why bother with installing a failure point (o-ring)? Gluing and pressing it in is adequate and has no downsides over an o-ring seal.

[sirpewe]

Thank you for the fast feedback, much appreciated.

That picture is misleading; if you follow the link, it makes more sense. The red gasket you see above is for the pressure test jig I set up to provide proof positive that the plug would not leak.

[asavage]

The second plug, .005" oversize + Loctite 640, passed 30 PSI for two hours with no leakage. 30 PSI pressure differential is at least ten times what that plug should ever see, so I was satisfied with the result.