ALL POSTS - motor whine or "HUM" (Milling Sound)

[TonyWilliams]

My car, #1134 with 91,000 miles, that I bought new almost 5 years ago at Mossy is currently at Carlsbad Toyota getting a new motor and onboard charger.

It only took a handful of weeks to get all the parts from Tesla.

It was reported that Tesla delivered 32 rebuilt motors for the RAV4 in August 2017.

 

[ToyTesla]

I noticed the motor getting slightly louder, on my 2013 #2227 (59,800 miles), since I purchased it in February 2017. I only had 200 miles left on the Motor warranty. Brought it in to my local dealership (Hendrick's). They contacted corporate and opened a case file. Then they took video and sound recordings of motor along with temperature readings. They informed me a replacement/rebuilt motor is on the way. I was a bit concerned being on the east coast (North Carolina) that they wouldn't be able to take care of this. So far, they have been very helpful. I will update after the replacement happens. What a fun car to drive. Todd

 

[wimbro1]

RAV4 EV with 97,000 miles, bought new 4.5 years ago. We have really enjoyed the vehicle, until unreasonably costly repairs have been required outside the manufacturer warranty recently. No extended warranty purchased.

Our car has been to the dealer more than any other other vehicle I have owned in my 30+ years of driving. Mostly the same issues discussed in this forum. Major repairs include:
51k mikes - Drive motor replaced. This was covered under mfg warranty and I was optimistic the issue had been resolved.
97k miles - On-board charger replaced. $3200 out of warranty cost.

I would like to keep the vehicle, but can't justify with another costly repair. I was told by dealer drive motor failures are not uncommon, one of which has had 4 different drive motors replaced. Very rough math here...but with only 2500 RAV4's produced, at a rate of 32 rebuilt motors a month (384 per year), that represents greater than 15% of the population of motors failing annually. That number seems really high.

Questions:
Are drive motor failures common?
What is the source for the reported Tesla delivered rebuilt motors?
Are those numbers reported on a monthly basis?
Are these the same motors Tesla uses in their vehicles?
Do Tesla vehicles experience the sale drive motor failure rate as RAV4 EV's?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[davewill]

Yes, they've been replacing a lot of motors on Tesla vehicles, too. Tesla does the rebuilding. A year plus ago, Tesla finally changed the rework process to avoid the problem that has been plauging our vehicles. In my understanding, induced currents were flowing through the bearings causing them to wear prematurely. They added a brush to avoid this. Hopefully, after two motor replacements, my car won't need another.

 

[miimura]

Eventually, we will have third parties (independent mechanics) doing major work on these cars. I believe there was a post in the Facebook group from a shop in Quebec that did the bearing replacement on their own. It's not that big of a job. There are videos on the EVTV YouTube channel showing how to disassemble the drive unit. In that case, they were putting a limited slip diff inside for Tesla powered conversions. Changing the bearings at the same time would be minor.

 

[smkettner]

Yes, they've been replacing a lot of motors on Tesla vehicles, too. Tesla does the rebuilding. A year plus ago, Tesla finally changed the rework process to avoid the problem that has been plauging our vehicles. In my understanding, induced currents were flowing through the bearings causing them to wear prematurely. They added a brush to avoid this. Hopefully, after two motor replacements, my car won't need another.

Any way to externally verify if the replacement is the premium rebuild?

 

[wimbro1]

Too much uncertainty about long term reliability...another vehicle seems to be the solution. Ciao.

 

[ToyTesla]

From 9/22/2017:

I noticed the motor getting slightly louder, on my 2013 #2227 (59,800 miles), since I purchased it in February 2017. I only had 200 miles left on the Motor warranty. Brought it in to my local dealership (Hendrick's). They contacted corporate and opened a case file. Then they took video and sound recordings of motor along with temperature readings. They informed me a replacement/rebuilt motor is on the way. I was a bit concerned being on the east coast (North Carolina) that they wouldn't be able to take care of this. So far, they have been very helpful. I will update after the replacement happens. What a fun car to drive. Todd

Update: New motor was installed yesterday (2/28/2018) . It took awhile since the service tech had to schedule a trip from CA to NC to perform the work (actually to oversee the work performed by local dealership). All is well so far, very smooth, no whine and no backlash in the geartrain/axles. Still no Entunes so I dropped Safety Connect.

 

[Jonathan_UK]

Looks like it's my turn to experience the dreaded motor wear-out . I bought my 2013 #2178 from CarMax in Aug 17 at 58,000 miles. My motor has been getting noisier through the last 10,000 miles, and at it's current mileage of 72,000, the motor is now leaking oil and coolant. Toyota Carslbad confirmed the diagnosis today, and an invoice for $13,000 and a two-three month timeline. I'm still driving the vehicle for another few weeks, while I pursue a CarMax MaxCare warranty claim (which I'm expecting to take a while!) before I can get Toyota to order the replacement motor. I believe I'm the first owner to progress a CarMax MaxCare claim for the motor replacement, so I'll try to provide updates on my experience.

Incidentally, Toyota Carslbad stated that I need to remove the JdeMo unit before they can replace the motor. Tony W - expect a visit from me in the next few weeks, assuming the warranty claim goes smoothly ...

I have a Model 3 reservation and configuration invite, which I may need to follow through on, if the Rav will be out of action. I'm still driving the Rav at the moment, however, I am wondering how much longer I can continue driving it safely.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Carlsbad Toyota has done oodles of motor replacements with JdeMO.

I recommend Jana or Steve G. As your service advisor.

 

[Jonathan_UK]

Tony, thanks for the advice.

Will go back to them about this. I was surprised myself at the request to remove it.

 

[asavage]

Jonathan, any update on your warranty pursuit?

 

[Jonathan_UK]

The CarMax warranty came though. They are paying up to the purchase price of the vehicle, covering almost $13K. I am having to pay about $1K on top. I am happy with this outcome.

The one downside I hadn't factored in, is that my warranty now comes to an end and will not cover any future repairs, so I will have to source my own replacement parts in future.

I'm now waiting for the replacement drivetrain to arrive at Toyota Carlsbad, which could take up to two months.

 

[dstjohn99]

The CarMax warranty came though. They are paying up to the purchase price of the vehicle, covering almost $13K. I am having to pay about $1K on top. I am happy with this outcome.

The one downside I hadn't factored in, is that my warranty now comes to an end and will not cover any future repairs, so I will have to source my own replacement parts in future.

I'm now waiting for the replacement drivetrain to arrive at Toyota Carlsbad, which could take up to two months.

Interesting, wasn't the warranty for a specified time and mileage? If so, was there a clause that limits their liability and allows them to cancel it because of the cost of repairs? It seems they should be on the hook for the duration of the warranty period, otherwise the warranty was sold in a misleading manner.

 

[miimura]

The CarMax warranty came though. They are paying up to the purchase price of the vehicle, covering almost $13K. I am having to pay about $1K on top. I am happy with this outcome.

The one downside I hadn't factored in, is that my warranty now comes to an end and will not cover any future repairs, so I will have to source my own replacement parts in future.

I'm now waiting for the replacement drivetrain to arrive at Toyota Carlsbad, which could take up to two months.

Interesting, wasn't the warranty for a specified time and mileage? If so, was there a clause that limits their liability and allows them to cancel it because of the cost of repairs? It seems they should be on the hook for the duration of the warranty period, otherwise the warranty was sold in a misleading manner.

Even the Toyota Platinum warranty has similar limitations. Toyota's warranty will only pay for a single repair up to the present market value of the car and will only pay a cumulative amount up to what the car was worth at the time the warranty was purchased. After all, it is basically an insurance policy, not a manufacturer's guarantee. I can post the specific language in the warranty booklet later if you're interested.

I just got my drive unit replacement approved on the manufacturer's Powertrain Warranty which expires after 5 years or 60,000 miles. These limits on the extended warranty are the reason that I made sure to get the car evaluated for drive unit noise while it was still on the manufacturer's warranty.

 

[asavage]

Mine's at 58k. It had noise when I bought it, but not really annoying. It's gotten quite a bit louder, so I dropped it at Toyota of Seattle yesterday for the evaluation . . . driving the E300 again instead

I knew I was going to get the DU replaced, I just figured I'd wait until I got closer to 60k. The noise is now louder than the VPNS.

 

[Incredulocious]

Just got my motor replaced yesterday at Toyota of Palo Alto. (Mine's an October 2013 with 36K miles.)

Oh my word, it's so quiet!! The sweet sound of silence (tire noise aside). I had forgotten how quiet it originally was!! Here I had been waiting for the noise to become apparent enough to avoid any hassle with the dealership. I probably could have brought it in a while ago.

However, see also this discussion about how Toyota of Palo Alto will likely try to charge you close to $600 to replace your "battery service plug", starting here:
http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=27257#p27257

The consensus seems to be that this is, uh... bunk.

 

[Jonathan_UK]

As Miimura stated, warranties pay a cumulative amount up to what the car was worth at the time the warranty was purchased. I got my RAV4 for a very low price ($13K) hence my warranty will be over after this claim.

 

[asavage]

Mine's scheduled for a DU replacement on 31May. When they'd confirmed it qualified for replacement, I was told, "two weeks to two months, we won't know until it shows up."

Turns out, about five weeks was the number. I hope they turn it around fast; I've come to dislike commuting in the Mercedes

 

[asavage]

DU has been replaced. One-day turnaround. The tech was "available" 31May, so I dropped it off the day before. I received a text 4pm 31May that it was clear for pickup.