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

Will Carlsbad get you a loaner Rav4-EV, or stick you with a Corolla like seems to be the standard for Toyota service depts? Anyone know of a dealer with loaner Rav4-EVs, for that matter?

fooljoe said:

Will Carlsbad get you a loaner Rav4-EV, or stick you with a Corolla like seems to be the standard for Toyota service depts? Anyone know of a dealer with loaner Rav4-EVs, for that matter?

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My understanding was the every dealer was supposed to buy a demo car. That's why they sold "so many" in Sept 2012, starting on the 24th. I remember the day well, because I started calling local dealers and some of them told me that I was basically crazy for thinking Toyota had such a car.

Carlsbad has put me in a Camry twice, I think. But, I didn't ask for anything.

fooljoe said:

Well I think mine's got this problem too. There's definitely a loud "gearboxy" noise especially when at 70+ mph. Can anyone recommend an easy way to get through the service department B.S. and get this taken care of, or recommend a good dealership in the LA/OC area. The guys at Power Cerritos are nice enough, but they admitted it was the first time they've had a Rav4-EV when I needed a software update to fix the "Check EV System" warning light...

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Interesting, mine is loudest at 65mph, and much less at 70mph (I've never gone past 70mph) and not always at the same noise level. Warmer ambient temperature seems to lessen the "probability" that the noise gets louder than road/wind noise, so the level seems to be getting less noisy as we approach summer...or is it that I'm getting used to it?!?

I actually went to Toyota Carlsbad, and the tech there seems to have much more experience with the rav4ev, and Toyota/Tesla seems to be more receptive of their assessment. The dealer said that Toyota will approve a motor replacement, but that Toyota wont give them a timeline...haven't heard back from them for 2 weeks now. Still waiting. Personally, if this noise goes away or lessen over the summer and then stays that way, I'd rather nothing gets replaced.

I went to Toyota for bumper re-align. So I have the them to verify if my car have the "hum" while the car is there.

Here are the verdict from technician after technician, service manager & special deployed field engineer test driven the car. This field engineer was deployed for some other client. It just happen that he is visiting this dealership.

Field engineer also told my service engineer that there is another case currently open with similar symptoms except my RAV4 is louder. I will see what is the course of action on this.

My RAV4 only has 2,400 miles and still don't have plate yet!! Last 3 digit of vin is 22X.

I am still happen with this purchase as I see this is a tesla model S without paying in full MSRP. I called mine a "tesla knockoff". :lol:

occ said:

Anyways, I finally got to recording of my rav's motor hum:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Chf_doE8Q

I didn't put the mic under the hood like Tony did, instead I used a camcorder so I'm recording what you would hear from the cabin. It doesn't sound as loud as Tony's, but it's definitely different than road noise. Those of you who have a rav4ev, please let me know if it's similar to what you hear in yours...is this "normal"? I've driven 2 others (yblaser's and one from Tustin dealership) that isn't louder than road noise, but I've also driven 2 others (a new new from Irvine Toyota, and one extended rental from South Coast Toyota) that have even louder hum... so I can't be sure anymore!!

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Well I finally got my new motor from Toyota two days ago. There is a definite improvement. The "normal" rav4ev noise is not quiet like the LEAF, but much better. There's still the whine of the inverter, I think, which is higher pitch, and to me pretty normal for an EV. Anyways, here's a youtube post of the new motor, same route, same recording method. Listen can compare the two and you be the judge (listen to both starting at around 1:15 for about a minute ).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu8TIocMmVk

I guess it's my turn, sigh! My #1 of 2 Rav4EV, currently has close to 9000 miles, is whining starting at 53 mph. The noise is very small but I can hear it though my daughter disagree it's the same noise as the one from Tony's video.

If I am lucky enough to host Tony for his BC2BC 2013 rally, I will get Tony for a test drive.

I think I am experiencing the same thing as well. The sound is definitely noticeable but not loud enough to annoy me yet. It really sounds like hitting the resonance frequency of something in the motor or gearbox. There seems to be two, one around 20 mph and another around 50-60. The higher speed resonance is more pronounced.

When you guys get this hum/whine at high speeds do you get vibrations through the pedals as well?

I really have no frame of reference for whether I have a "loud" sound at 55-70mph. I mean, I know it's louder then going slow. And it does seem to vibrate the pedal sometimes. But being in Colorado I don't think I can just swing it by the dealership and convince them anything is abnormal. ; )

ground_gainer said:

When you guys get this hum/whine at high speeds do you get vibrations through the pedals as well?

I really have no frame of reference for whether I have a "loud" sound at 55-70mph. I mean, I know it's louder then going slow. And it does seem to vibrate the pedal sometimes. But being in Colorado I don't think I can just swing it by the dealership and convince them anything is abnormal. ; )

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No pedal vibration in the 10-15 minutes 53-55 mph drive. Only the added "base" when listening Jazz/blue music.

ground_gainer said:

When you guys get this hum/whine at high speeds do you get vibrations through the pedals as well?

I really have no frame of reference for whether I have a "loud" sound at 55-70mph. I mean, I know it's louder then going slow. And it does seem to vibrate the pedal sometimes. But being in Colorado I don't think I can just swing it by the dealership and convince them anything is abnormal. ; )

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Does it get quieter when you put it in neutral? Does it get quieter if you go faster?

All clues to a failing gearbox.

waidy said:

If I am lucky enough to host Tony for his BC2BC 2013 rally, I will get Tony for a test drive.

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Depending how fast I can get through northern California!!

Certainly, I can stop by in the day of July 5 for some much needed 240v/40amp service!!

I'm hearing a tone (whine?) when I accelerate aggressively that I never heard before. Perhaps it's because the radio is usually on and I never noticed it, but there must have been times in prior months where I've driven without music playing and accelerated quickly. I don't hear this tone at specific speeds, just when I floor the accelerator. I'll continue to monitor this sound and see if it gets worse.

The whine is the inverter under heavy load... normal.

yblaser said:

I think I am experiencing the same thing as well. The sound is definitely noticeable but not loud enough to annoy me yet. It really sounds like hitting the resonance frequency of something in the motor or gearbox. There seems to be two, one around 20 mph and another around 50-60. The higher speed resonance is more pronounced.

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The noise at the 20mph is different and sound strange, which I can't describe with words. This noise is VERY reproducible, always at 18-20mph speed. I've heard it for practically all different rav4ev I've test driven, and it's in mine before AND after my motor replacement. This noise is within such a short speed interval (18-20mph) that at most times, we drive pass that speed interval so fast you never notice it. To hear it you have to slowly come up to 18mph, and then keep it within that speed interval WHILE applying power. This is actually hard to do because it's hard to apply power and keep it at 18-20mph. The best way is to go up a slight incline. Anyways, I think this is a normal characteristic sound for this car, and it's so fleeting it doesn't bother me at all.

The other higher speed constant HUM is abnormal, I think, if you can hear it above road noise. You can characterize tire/road noise as a rumbling, with many frequencies, but this motor/tranny constant HUM is somehow more than that, and annoying on the freeway.

waidy said:

I guess it's my turn, sigh! My #1 of 2 Rav4EV, currently has close to 9000 miles, is whining starting at 53 mph. The noise is very small but I can hear it though my daughter disagree it's the same noise as the one from Tony's video.

If I am lucky enough to host Tony for his BC2BC 2013 rally, I will get Tony for a test drive.

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Ouch. I'm hoping that this is not a trend. Your other Rav4EV, there's a definite difference in this HUM level?

I'm starting to put these Rav4EV noises into 3 types:

1) Up/Down motor whine during acceleration/deceleration - normal (for any EV, but the Rav4EV is louder).
2) Inverter HUM, more high-pitch, but low in volume, usually cant hear it after 40mph because tire/road noise is higher - normal.
3) Motor HUM, very mechanical, very constant, usually with power applied, and sometimes feel the vibration through your pedal/legs. If you can feel/hear it above tire/rd noise above 60-65mph, it's not normal.

ground_gainer said:

When you guys get this hum/whine at high speeds do you get vibrations through the pedals as well?

I really have no frame of reference for whether I have a "loud" sound at 55-70mph. I mean, I know it's louder then going slow. And it does seem to vibrate the pedal sometimes. But being in Colorado I don't think I can just swing it by the dealership and convince them anything is abnormal. ; )

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I think it's a matter of degree, whether you start to feel it through the pedals. I think if you do feel it, it should have already been above rd/tire noise when driving at speeds of 65pmh+.

I will soon be a RAV4 EV owner, basically because of this website and all of you! I've been wanting an electric SUV for a while and don't want to spend $70k or wait another year for a model X. I was almost resigned into getting a Leaf on a 3 year lease, when I decided to try to see how hard it would be to try to get a RAV4 EV.

Like one of the other posters, I was wondering if anyone might be in the neighborhood of Dianne's dealership (Carson Toyota) in the next week so they can drive my car and see if it has this noise. I'm not saying yet where I live, but it's going to cost me a good amount of money to get the car shipped to me and I'd love to have the peace of mind that I'm not getting one that I'll need to fight with an out of state dealer to get the motor replaced.

Madcow-

I had mine shipped to NY and bought it from Dianne. She is aware of the issue too.

We're in the 1500 mile range at this point and very happy with it. In hindsight I would not have bought a Sienna two years ago. I should have bought 2 Rav4 EVs and rented a van for our longer trips (maybe 4/year).

Our range in standard charge seems to be around 115-120 miles. Have not played with extended range yet but plan to next weekend.

Mike

Mike,

Is yours a 2012 or 2013? Seems like the motor problem is limited to early 2012 models. You are located a bit farther away than I am, but I think it might be cheaper for you to return your car to CA if that was absolutely required.

I took mine in this morning for the Humming noise fixed. After they did a test drive with noise measurement, I am told that my humming noise is within the "normal range". I asked them for the noise spec of "normal range" in dB, they cannot provide it to me. I will ask my technician when I pick up my Rav in couple of hours.