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

[Airton]

So I got an update today from Kevin Spillane, a replacement drive unit is in route to Toyota of Morristown, NJ where the Field Engineer will do the replacement.
Everyone has been super nice and a pleasure to work with so far.

 

[TonyWilliams]

So I got an update today from Kevin Spillane, a replacement drive unit is in route to Toyota of Morristown, NJ where the Field Engineer will do the replacement.
Everyone has been super nice and a pleasure to work with so far.

This is the very first out-of-state motor replacement that I'm aware of!

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

I am SOOOO pleased to learn they're doing warranty work out of state! There's hope.

Now if they will get SeattleRav4's replaced right here in the Puget Sound area I may get downright giddy. Hope they'll handle the recall locally too.

 

[n3ckf]

4EVEREV,
Can you have the many people that have had no issues replacing their motors give us some pointers ?
We have 2 that are being denied the warranty replacement, and the reason is "the noise is in spec" ..
...
Thanks for any advice in advance ...

Its just a matter of finding the right dealer. I got that run-around 3 times at Fremont Toyota but i took it to Palo Alto once and bam, they replaced it right away. Have about 6K on the new one with no noise, so here's hoping that continues.

 

[Airton]

So I got an update today from Kevin Spillane, a replacement drive unit is in route to Toyota of Morristown, NJ where the Field Engineer will do the replacement.
Everyone has been super nice and a pleasure to work with so far.

This is the very first out-of-state motor replacement that I'm aware of!

The Toyota New York Regional Office is located in West Caldwell, NJ (11 miles away from me) and the Field Engineer is also local but not sure if that has anything to do with it.
my car will be the second motor change he has done, here on the east coast, the first one he did was due to a bad sensor in the Drive Unit not the hum.

 

[fromport]

Kevin of Toyota called me back today regarding the 2 sound recordings I made.
I have an appointment tomorrow at my nearest dealer (DCH toyota of oxnard) to open up a special case.
Will report when done.

 

[fromport]

Went today to the local dealer.
Even though Toyota had ordered the dealer to open a ticket, the manager of the service department made several calls to Toyota and made me wait 30 minutes before a tech took another test drive with me.
Last time another tech at the same dealership didn't even introduce himself to me, didn't say a word during the test drive and said "within specs" at the end.
Todays tech agreed with me that the noise was there, was too loud and made a positive recommendation to have it replaced. \o/
He told me that they another rav4ev with the same problem but that 'they' (toyota/tesla ?) are waiting for the general recall before they do any motor/drive train replacements.

So still waiting, but I believe the first serious step further compared to the first time I started to complain 11.000 miles ago ;-)

 

[miimura]

'they' (toyota/tesla ?) are waiting for the general recall before they do any motor/drive train replacements.

When the recall was announced, I fully expected that they would not be doing any more replacements for noise until the recall procedure and supply chain was worked out. Of course, when the car is not driveable, that's another story.

 

[branstone]

so my part arrived yesterday and they are fixing today 46 days for it to come in. I really expected them to wait for the recall. See how it goes when i pick it up !

 

[ground_gainer]

Speaking of the recall.... what's taking so long??

 

[n3ckf]

i have gotten nothing on the recall. I'm actually sitting on my 30K service because i was waiting so they could do whatever it is they're going to do, on that service. However i've gotten nothing from Toyota in the mail. Has anyone?

 

[user 340]

I've also gotten nada re. the recall. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't hear anything for at least another month. This can't be a high priority for Toyota, and they have to coordinate the fix with Tesla. That last part good take awhile if the fix involves more than a straight software update.

 

[branstone]

so my part arrived yesterday and they are fixing today 46 days for it to come in. I really expected them to wait for the recall. See how it goes when i pick it up !

so i went and picked up the Rev, super quiet, i don't think i remember what it was like !

One problem, they F'd up and the battery was not cooling, I got alarms and warnings like 3 miles away !!!

according to them , they didn't fill the coolant properly and so it was extremely low.

Of course now i am concerned about damage to the battery ! I was assured that the error is documented and if problems occur they would be covered....we will see.

But oh so quiet !!!!!

 

[Airton]

That's the thing about the "Motor Hum" it slowly creeps up on you over time, it's not like one day the DU is quiet and the next day there's a hum.
Still waiting for my replacement, it's not annoyingly loud enough that It bothers me but I know it's there and is a problem that needs to be eventually resolved.

 

[evbuddy]

I took my EV to Hayward Toyota after taking in many times to Fremont Toyota for noise (whizzing under 50mph and Clunk at gas pedal on/off) issues. Mine has 18K miles.
Hayward Toyota was persistent and now Toyota has agreed that motor needs to replaced which is on back order.

Tesla motor drive unit came sooner! than anticipated (less than 4 weeks). It took couple of days to put it in. Following work was done:
- replaced the traction motor unit, tightened the front CV bolts and replaced the battery coolant.

Whining and clunk noises are gone!

 

[fromport]

Spent 3 hours today at my nearest EV toyota dealer, including a toyota US "field technical specialist".
Real nice & knowledgeable person.

We agreed with me \o/ that the sound means drive train replacement.
I have been placed on the waiting list, normally 4-6 weeks but even he didn't know what the recall is/would be and if "they" would like to combine the work or not.

I also have the clunking sound that is getting worse and worse.
When gently applying power and then releasing the throttle, _I_ hear the clunk/feel the vibration through the drive train.
He didn't hear/feel it. He tried to reset part of the electronic brake system, but that didn't help.
Than they tightened the CV joints but he told me they were only able to tighten it 5 degrees.
I still hear/feel the sound/vibration. but will wait till after the drive train and take it from there.

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

fromport: Did they have anything to say about your JdeMO being right there in the engine compartment?

 

[yblaser]

I also have the clunking sound that is getting worse and worse.
When gently applying power and then releasing the throttle, _I_ hear the clunk/feel the vibration through the drive train.
He didn't hear/feel it. He tried to reset part of the electronic brake system, but that didn't help.
Than they tightened the CV joints but he told me they were only able to tighten it 5 degrees.
I still hear/feel the sound/vibration. but will wait till after the drive train and take it from there.

I had that clunk going in between acceleration and regen. Replacing the drive unit fixed it for the most part. After a couple of thousand of miles I started to hear the same sound when transitioning to regen only. It was more subtle and hasn't gotten worse yet. I also have a thunk which I think is a CV or wheel issue. I'll have it checked out during my next visit.

 

[fromport]

fromport: Did they have anything to say about your JdeMO being right there in the engine compartment?

They were listening for CLUNKING sounds and wining noises, they never looked under the hood ;-)

 

[fromport]

I had that clunk going in between acceleration and regen. Replacing the drive unit fixed it for the most part. After a couple of thousand of miles I started to hear the same sound when transitioning to regen only. It was more subtle and hasn't gotten worse yet. I also have a thunk which I think is a CV or wheel issue. I'll have it checked out during my next visit.

I hear/feel the clunk.
When I point it out, my wife also hears it.
Keep us posted

btw: with my 15k service check, they suggested i need a 4 wheel alignment.
That might be true, but I will do that once the drive train has been replaced ;-)