Clunking Vibration type sound
- Thread starter blakehaas
- Start date
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Definitely mellow driver here. Based on my research of other drivers with clicking, it's not related to aggressive acceleration. I don't think anyone launches their Kona or Niro like a ludicrous-mode Tesla. 
I do drive mostly highway at ~70 mph average so maybe that's a factor compared to someone doing mostly low-speed city driving?
I do drive mostly highway at ~70 mph average so maybe that's a factor compared to someone doing mostly low-speed city driving?
KiwiME
Well-Known Member
Among the many other variables there's also temperature. There are around 1,000 Konas and e-Niros in NZ and I'm pretty sure I would have heard if anyone had experienced such a significant repair, yet I think there have been none. Our ambient spans about 0-35°C.
Perhaps someone could take the time to write up an online spreadsheet to collate the data from those Kona/e-Niro with this issue?
Perhaps someone could take the time to write up an online spreadsheet to collate the data from those Kona/e-Niro with this issue?
Jamas
Active Member
I fall into the “mostly low-speed city driving” category.Definitely mellow driver here. Based on my research of other drivers with clicking, it's not related to aggressive acceleration. I don't think anyone launches their Kona or Niro like a ludicrous-mode Tesla.
I do drive mostly highway at ~70 mph average so maybe that's a factor compared to someone doing mostly low-speed city driving?
R P
Well-Known Member
Well, I got my car back this afternoon and they did replace the reduction drive as planned. They showed me the drive in the box ready to ship back to Hyundai for their examination. While they can't say what might have caused the problem, they did note some metal shavings in the part where the motor joins the reduction drive. It is as if there may have been some fretting going on. Anyway, no more clicking/tapping noise. Will see if that lasts.
R P
Well-Known Member
Thanks, yeah, and can only hope that it lasts.That was Quick! Happy it worked out for you
Would be interested in hearing from others that have had the reduction drive replaced, and if/when the clicking returned. I vaguely recall someone earlier that replaced the reduction drive, but my recollection was that it did not fix the problem, even for a short time. Could be wrong of course...
R P
Well-Known Member
No, looked pretty clean, no oil. The metal shavings/particles were not in the shaft area, but in the housing where it attaches to the motor. Maybe somehow the two parts (motor and drive) were not connected tight enough, and were able to fret causing the shavings. I am just guessing... But the service guy thought the shavings were an indication of something not right.
Wonder if it is worth following up later to see what Hyundai says. However, I have my doubts that they would tell us anything. At best a TSB might be issued at some time, and then things should be clearer.
R P
Well-Known Member
Another variable might be drive mode. Pretty well all my driving has been in ECO mode, with L3 regen. That means that I almost never use my brakes, except when coming to a full stop. And lots of city driving. So that means that my drive train would be constantly alternating between drive torque and regen torque. That would produce many more opposing torque direction changes to the motor and reduction gear connections. That includes not just the spline connection but also the housing parts, dowls, bolts, etc. Maybe that could loosen something up with fretting consequences. Again, just guessing...
ericy
Well-Known Member
It fascinates me that some manufacturers are using induction motors and others are using permanent magnet motors, and it seems like it is just simple economics that determines which way they go. Even PM motors have different arrangements of magnet - each manufacturer going their own way - all trying to optimize cost/performance.
It surprises me that nobody has done a tear-down of Hyundai/Kia. I have seen tons of material on the Bolt and the Leaf, and people are obviously interested in various Tesla models. At the end of the day, they would probably need to buy a new car off the lot (unless they get lucky and find something in a junkyard).
Munro has an interesting business model - they do teardowns and sell the reports to other manufacturers. One would think that *someone* would have wanted to see a report on Hyundai/Kia somewhere along the way.
Fastnf
Well-Known Member
So just out of curiosity I counted the number of people on this thread that have the problem and a get about 14 (might be a few more or a few less) I am curious how many Kona owners are members. If we had that we might have a better idea of the percentage of cars affected. There or over 8000 views of this thread and I realize that a lot of those may be repeat views by people following this thread. But it seems like a lot more Konas don't have the problem than do. Of course I would be annoyed if my cars was making the noise, as any one would be. But I would still like to know how prevalent or not this condition is.
KiwiME
Well-Known Member
I was surprised how similar the PM motor designs were and how small the magnets are. I know the GM EV1 used an induction motor, almost certainly an economic choice at that time. And I understand Tesla mix and match based primarily on performance and efficiency.
This isn't the only place where people report the problem. Most international forum for the Kona or Niro has a thread about it. Also every time a youtube video gets posted about it, you have owners commenting below about having the same problem. Of course with the way things work, the people with the problem will be most vocal about it so they will be over-represented online. As a result, we will never know the true percent of cars affected unless there is a formal recall or TSB.
I'm just amazed no news outlet or EV blog has run a story about it considering the constant coverage Tesla gets over every single defect.
Jamas
Active Member
Don't discount the people that may have the problem, but don't notice it. To this day, my wife still says she hears nothing wrong.
R P
Well-Known Member
Its starts with a faint tick, tick, tick that is only audible under certain conditions. Had to shut off the radio to hear it better. But it quickly escalated to become more evident pretty well every time I drove the car. However, it would still stop after about 20 kph. I got my reduction gear replaced soon after, so not sure what it would have been like had I left it longer. But I think it is pretty hard to miss, if you have owned your car for a while and then it started.
I've also got the same problem (In Australia, 2 month old car, just under 4000km driven), I'm planning on recording a video at some point and seeing if I can get it fixed.
I'm probably going to wait until this whole pandemic blows over and have someone deal with it then.
I think there are probably a lot more people that are just ignoring it. My partner doesn't care about the noise, while I find it very annoying.
I'm probably going to wait until this whole pandemic blows over and have someone deal with it then.
I think there are probably a lot more people that are just ignoring it. My partner doesn't care about the noise, while I find it very annoying.
I have kind of been waiting as well until things get closer to normal. A video should not be necessary if the noise presents itself to the service tech on a test drive.
When was your car manufactured? There is usually a date code on the label on either the driver or passenger door frame. Alternatively, at least on the Niro, it's also possible to snap a photo of the motor itself (which also has a serial date code) through the wheel well opening (passenger on LHD, or driver on RHD cars).