Traction Motor replacement
- Thread starter Rickker
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NRH
Active Member
Yeah, certainly I'd be happy to not have any troubles. I will say that for me, warranty service has gone pretty well (or about as well as I expect at a dealership - maybe I benefit from having low expectations). Parts supply seems to have recovered - It's taken my dealership a week to get the various parts needed. The first couple times I mentioned the ticking noise, I wasn't surprised that they didn't hear it, because it was intermittent and fairly quiet.
At least here in the sticks (45 minutes from a Hyundai dealership, and half a day away from any Tesla presence) I don't think Hyundai is about to lose customers to Tesla. The wait on body parts for Teslas is apparently measured in seasons.
NRH
Active Member
Got my Kona back last week, with a new traction motor, and the ticking noise is gone!
Happy to have a nice quiet EV again.
Out of curiosity, could someone here tell me whether the gear oil would have gotten replaced when the traction motor (but not the reduction gear) was replaced?
Happy to have a nice quiet EV again.
Out of curiosity, could someone here tell me whether the gear oil would have gotten replaced when the traction motor (but not the reduction gear) was replaced?
KiwiME
Well-Known Member
Very unlikely, IMO.
At your miles the value of an early change has long gone. Perhaps after you are sure the noise problem has been solved (noting that in many cases both items eventually need replacing) then get the oil changed.
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In Igor's post he's referring to this video in which the axle-shaft spider spherical thrust washer has failed. A suggested reason was spinning of the tires in snow.
At your miles the value of an early change has long gone. Perhaps after you are sure the noise problem has been solved (noting that in many cases both items eventually need replacing) then get the oil changed.
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In Igor's post he's referring to this video in which the axle-shaft spider spherical thrust washer has failed. A suggested reason was spinning of the tires in snow.
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JohnnyBeeVee
New Member
@KiwiME - I've seen you posting a bit about this subject (including the TSB). I'm a Kiwi owner of a 2020 Kona EV.
I initially noticed a faint rumble shortly after purchasing secondhand from Turner's in Oct 2024. The car had done just over 15,000km at the time. I raised it with the local Hyundai dealership after approx 16,000km. After quite a few delays at the dealership, and the rumble slowly getting more evident, the dealership have finally diagnosed that a replacement traction motor is required.
Hyundai NZ have offered me an approx $6500 "goodwill" discount on the traction motor, but I'm likely still on the hook for approx $5000 in parts, $1000 in aircon degassing and regassing, and approx $1600 in labour.
It's interesting for me to hear about the marked differences in Kona EV warranty lengths/conditions in NZ vs Canada. My take is that the NZ Consumer Guarantees Act is not tied to how old a product is (i.e. the length of a warranty means little if anything). Rather, the product must "meet the guarantee of acceptable quality". No response from Hyundai NZ yet when I asked them to confirm that my Kona is "of acceptable quality"...
Do you have any experience/knowledge with NZ 'out of warranty' (earliest of 3 years or 100,000km to my knowledge) traction motor replacement?
I initially noticed a faint rumble shortly after purchasing secondhand from Turner's in Oct 2024. The car had done just over 15,000km at the time. I raised it with the local Hyundai dealership after approx 16,000km. After quite a few delays at the dealership, and the rumble slowly getting more evident, the dealership have finally diagnosed that a replacement traction motor is required.
Hyundai NZ have offered me an approx $6500 "goodwill" discount on the traction motor, but I'm likely still on the hook for approx $5000 in parts, $1000 in aircon degassing and regassing, and approx $1600 in labour.
It's interesting for me to hear about the marked differences in Kona EV warranty lengths/conditions in NZ vs Canada. My take is that the NZ Consumer Guarantees Act is not tied to how old a product is (i.e. the length of a warranty means little if anything). Rather, the product must "meet the guarantee of acceptable quality". No response from Hyundai NZ yet when I asked them to confirm that my Kona is "of acceptable quality"...
Do you have any experience/knowledge with NZ 'out of warranty' (earliest of 3 years or 100,000km to my knowledge) traction motor replacement?
KiwiME
Well-Known Member
It seems to me that a 2020 car with a paltry 16,000 km should not require a new, um, let's call it an "engine" to emphasise its prominence as a functional part. Wikipedia classes 'motors' with 'engines' and although I disagree with that definition, sometimes it's convenient to help make a point to those less familiar with EVs.
Motor failures were more common around 2018-2019 Kona/Niro but seemed to have tapered off. This is the first I've heard of such a failure in NZ but of course not every owner here would report such an event on forums.
But unless the car was driven through deep water (and you might want to look for any signs of that) there's no excuse for the motor to fail so early, if ever.
Unlike the gear reducer, I have not personally investigated the motor failures outside of what's mentioned in this thread but I tend to believe it's (also) a design error. Hyundai NZ have some cheek billing you anything at all for what's obviously a manufacturing defect. No consumer expects a new 'engine' to be a reasonable expense for a car barely 5 years old that cost over NZ$75k new.
There have been a few 'wheel of fortune' incidents reported on Konas bought from Turners auctions in the past year, which presumably are corporate fleet lease returns. Hyundai NZ has been known to cover at least one such repair out of warranty for a Kona of similar age, but also balk at others. Turners has been asked to cough up in one or two cases and I understand they make it difficult as well.
I understand there is a firm in Taupo that will replace the bearings on an Ioniq motor and that might be an option for you as it's a similar job. But the the motor is not easy to R&R on the Kona, dropping the entire powertrain unit out from underneath is one approach. $1600 in labour does seem right although the AC re-gas cost seems absurd.
Hyundai don't have the luxury of the lower cost of simply changing the bearings as it's a black box to them, same as the gear reducer and traction battery, it's just a part number.
If I were you I'd make more noise about this. Post your story on FB group NZ Hyundai and Kia EVs and NZ EV Owners.
Motor failures were more common around 2018-2019 Kona/Niro but seemed to have tapered off. This is the first I've heard of such a failure in NZ but of course not every owner here would report such an event on forums.
But unless the car was driven through deep water (and you might want to look for any signs of that) there's no excuse for the motor to fail so early, if ever.
Unlike the gear reducer, I have not personally investigated the motor failures outside of what's mentioned in this thread but I tend to believe it's (also) a design error. Hyundai NZ have some cheek billing you anything at all for what's obviously a manufacturing defect. No consumer expects a new 'engine' to be a reasonable expense for a car barely 5 years old that cost over NZ$75k new.
There have been a few 'wheel of fortune' incidents reported on Konas bought from Turners auctions in the past year, which presumably are corporate fleet lease returns. Hyundai NZ has been known to cover at least one such repair out of warranty for a Kona of similar age, but also balk at others. Turners has been asked to cough up in one or two cases and I understand they make it difficult as well.
I understand there is a firm in Taupo that will replace the bearings on an Ioniq motor and that might be an option for you as it's a similar job. But the the motor is not easy to R&R on the Kona, dropping the entire powertrain unit out from underneath is one approach. $1600 in labour does seem right although the AC re-gas cost seems absurd.
Hyundai don't have the luxury of the lower cost of simply changing the bearings as it's a black box to them, same as the gear reducer and traction battery, it's just a part number.
If I were you I'd make more noise about this. Post your story on FB group NZ Hyundai and Kia EVs and NZ EV Owners.
An appropriate response fitting for this particular issue (including the witticism)
JohnnyBeeVee
New Member
Thanks KiwiME. I'll wait for a formal response from Hyundai regarding the following before I go more public:
"The Consumer Guarantees Act is not tied to how old a product is (i.e. the length of a warranty means little if anything). Rather, the product must "meet the guarantee of acceptable quality". Either the vehicle in question meets this acceptable quality, or it does not.
Please confirm whether or not Hyundai believes that this vehicle meets the required "acceptable quality", having seemingly developed the now diagnosed fault shortly after 15,000km."