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

[waidy]

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:

HI BBQ, did you get your Rav's traction motor fixed? I took mine in this morning and was just told that my noise is "within normal range". Therefore, there is no plan for fixing it.

 

[mikegerard]

Waidy-

Yes...it will be good to know what is considered normal.

I have a little noise right at 62mph but it's more like a harmonic vibration that seems to go away if I accelerate or decelerate from there.

Mike

 

[waidy]

Waidy-
Yes...it will be good to know what is considered normal.
I have a little noise right at 62mph but it's more like a harmonic vibration that seems to go away if I accelerate or decelerate from there.
Mike

I am back with my Rav. I spoke to the technician and he said he didn't use any device to measure the noise. He said the noise he heard from my Rav is nothing in compare to the one (Rav4EV) brought in yesterday.

He wrote on the invoice "Rd tested car at freeway speeds. No excessive trans/gear box noise heard. Noise heard at this time is normal & not excessive. Called TAS CASE#TA131910383 to report concern & was advised some noise from trans/gear box is normal".

 

[swampy rav4ev]

Hum = yes, to put it mildly.

Took to Toyota Marin early November. Tech confirmed noise. Put on rack. Toyota says sounds like the Jetsons, so loud. Dealer had car over a week to make the diagnosis.

Toyota found red fluid on undercarriage.

Toyota replacing the ENTIRE electric motor in the car. Leaking inverter coolant = diagnosis.

Waiting for new motor to arrive for installation. I asked rep what parts and labor cost would be, were it not under warranty. He said no idea but guessed $10,000-20,000.

We've already had the Gateway ECU replaced (Toyota said it was a $4,000 part + labor).

 

[Incredulocious]

Well, for what it's worth, no hum here, so far. Mine is quieter than my LEAF, where the whine was evident (though not troublesome anyway). Got my RAV4 EV at the end of October 2013.

 

[mark_rivers19]

got the RAV4 EV last week of August 2013.
No hum here either.

 

[mhkp]

Hum just started on mine. Low enough not to be bothersome, but noticeable. Perhaps a correlation between lower temps and inverter coolant issues?

 

[robertk925]

I have the hum (primarily at 65mph and above), and was able to get the tech to agree that he heard it as well. My dealer contacted Tesla, and they recommended fixing the drivetrain to correct it. The parts are on order, but I believe they are just going to replace the bushings (not the entire drivetrain). It is really noticeable after driving the rental RAV4EV that they provided, which is was much quieter than mine.

 

[SeattleRav4]

In short, no I cannot hear any HUM in mine.

 

[jrustin22]

I do hear a whine on mine, and if I coast in neutral, it is totally gone.
I am going in for my 5K mile service, and I'll have them check it out.
Seems like when I first got the car there was no whining, and looks like its getting worse as time goes on.

 

[boredcleaner]

Mine whines/whistles too. It did not do it when new, so I suspect some sort of bearing wear-in is happening. I had the service tech note it in case it becomes a problem later.

 

[SeattleRav4]

Funny, I reported earlier that I had no hum.
Lately with the temperature down around freezing, I am starting to hear it. Shifting into neutral or just letting off on the accelerator will result in eliminating the noise for a comparison.
I don't know if it is just starting and will get worse or if it is cold related.

 

[spkobay]

For the folks that had the motor/gearbox replaced, how long did it take to receive the replacement parts? My RAV was diagnosed w/ the issue in October. The TAS case was opened at that time. I called my dealer today to get an update on the status of the replacement. He was told it would most likely be another month. Tomorrow is two months since the initial diagnosis and "order" for the parts.

Dealer also suggested I call Toyota 800 and open a case with them to see if a complaint there could get any movement. Call made/case opened; they're supposed to call me tomorrow with more info.

 

[waidy]

Dealer also suggested I call Toyota 800 and open a case with them to see if a complaint there could get any movement. Call made/case opened; they're supposed to call me tomorrow with more info.

I highly recommend calling the 800# to open a case. My DC2DC converter was on a month back order. I called Toyota (the 800#) and open a case. Two days later, my part arrives. I was able to get my Rav back within a week instead of a month.

 

[occ]

I think I waited for about a month after Toyota approved the new motor/tranny assembly. But I was driving my car during the wait, and the motor replacement only took one scheduled day.

 

[spkobay]

I'm still driving my RAV while waiting for the replacement. I did open the case with Toyota 800 yesterday and received a call earlier today. No action yet, but they wanted to advise me that my case has been handed to a specialist that deals with these type of issues (whatever that means). Anyway, the person to which it was assigned is scheduled out until tomorrow, but wanted to update me since they had promised a call back within a day.

So... I wait for tomorrow and see what a new day brings.

 

[vips]

Anybody in Bay area who has this hum noise and got the technician to confirm that it is not normal?
If so, please pass on the name of the dealer and service manager, technician. I want to check out my EV for this noise to see if it is out of normal.

Thanks

 

[n3ckf]

i do hear a bit of whine in mine but its strictly when your gas-on (accellerating). if i modulate the gas pedal i can modulate the whine.

Its not very loud though (the only reason i notice is because i was deliberately listening).

Its entirely possible its something getting a little looser and vibrating because it wasnt there when the car was new (9000 miles ago now).

Thoroughly not objectiable though. I will mention it when i go in for 10K mile service though. (in a couple months).

 

[occ]

For me, unless I hear it over road/tire noise, I consider it normal. The HUM is heard only when power is applied, as in hard acceleration (normal to certain subjective level, tho), or keeping power on to maintain speed on the freeway - this is where it's most certainly NOT normal, if you can hear the motor cruising at 65mph on the freeway, as at that speed road/tire/wind noise is loud and tends to drown out all other noise. Some on the forum have reported the hum only noticeable at different speed. Mine was HUMming at ~45-48mph, and ~65-68mph. Certainly, any Toyota tech test driving it would say it's normal since they won't know what to listen for (or used to the normal ICE hum).

Also, it seems to come and go, but somewhat tied to temperature, much much more noticeable when ambient temp is 40-60F or less and can be reproducible all the time. At above 80F, I sometimes can't hear it over rd/tire/wind noise when cruising at 65mph.

Even after mine motor/tranny was replaced, it's still there, but much much bearable than before.

 

[spkobay]

I'm still driving my RAV while waiting for the replacement. I did open the case with Toyota 800 yesterday and received a call earlier today. No action yet, but they wanted to advise me that my case has been handed to a specialist that deals with these type of issues (whatever that means). Anyway, the person to which it was assigned is scheduled out until tomorrow, but wanted to update me since they had promised a call back within a day.

So... I wait for tomorrow and see what a new day brings.

Today I am essentially at one month since opening the case with Toyota. I've had a couple conversations with the rep - they trend in the direction of "We're blaming Tesla, we have to wait, no update but will let you know when we do.".

This is now 3 MONTHS since the hum was diagnosed at my dealer, was agreed that the motor/gearbox needed to be replaced and the part was ordered.