Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Make it Bead (Windshield)

I thought my Windshield was clean.  But when I changed wipers to new, high-quality wipers (Michelin), they quacked more than a happy duck. Turns out, there's a reason for that.  You see, Tesla coats the glass, then the wipers remove the top coat, leaving the underlying adhesive and chemical gunk behind.  This causes rain to sheet (not bead) and wipers to streak and squeal.

How to fix?  Here's what worked for me:

  1. Prep the glass.  You can lightly polish the windscreen and remove contaminants with one of the following:
    1. CarPro Ceriglass Kit
    2. Griot's Garage Glass Cleaning Clay and Speed Shine
    3. Chemical Guys Heavy Duty Clay Bar and Luber (what I use)
  2. Clean the glass.  Clean the windows with an alcohol based cleaner such as Griot's Garage Window Cleaner to remove any residue. Polish/dry with a waffle weave towel.  I suggest doing this twice to make sure the window is as clean as possible before moving to the next step.
  3. Seal the glass.  This will ultimate make that water bead.  Use a good sealer such as Griot's Garage Sealant with a microfiber towel.  Here is the procedure:
    1. Apply a liberal amount of Griot's sealant to a clean microfiber towel and wipe it horizontally across the windshield until the whole windshield is covered. 
    2. Immediately apply a little more sealant to your towel and apply a second coat vertically to the entire windshield (you are cross hatching). 
    3. Let the product dry for 5-20 minutes. 
    4. Once the product is dry, apply a second application in the exact same manner you did the first (cross hatching). 
    5. Let the product dry 5-10 minutes.
    6. Buff off the hazed sealant with a clean microfiber cloth.  If you are having problems buffing the sealant, lightly dampen your towel and it will make the buffing process much easier.
That's it!  If the previous steps were completed correctly, you may not have to use the wipers for most rain - it should bead and roll right off.

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone....

Friday, January 31, 2020

Get Your Motor Runnin'....

Head out on the highway!
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever come our way!

If you use this tip, you are born to be wild.  Do not do this on public streets - only for track, large empty parking lots or dyno-testing.  This will disable safety features and make the car more difficult to drive.

Here is how you disable traction control:
Car must be in park
Hold left stalk down
Press and hold the Tesla logo for several seconds (will blink)
Access code: dynotest
Let go of left stalk.

Here is how to re-enable it:
Go into the car menu
Safety & Security
Power Off



I like smoke and lightning
Heavy metal thunder!
Racin' with the wind
And the feelin' that I'm under.