Motor whining, needs replacement

[Ferdball]

Here's the verbiage from the work order. Picking it up tomorrow.

28429 MOTOR ROAD TEST CONFIRMED NOISE, LOCATED NOISE TO ELECTRIC
DRIVE MOTOR. PER TEAM LEADER ORDERED ELECTRIC MOTOR. FOREMAN WANTS TO
RELEASE VWHICLE-SAFE. WILL CALL CUSTOMER WHEN PARTS ARRIVE.**

 

[JeffRay]

Ferdball,

What the heck does vehicle-safe mean? You are entitled to an explanation as to definition and their liability should you have an accident. Also, when do they expect the motor?

I wouldn't want to be cruising on I-5 and have to pull over for any reason.

 

[Ferdball]

He said that they had a meeting, and determined that the car was safe to drive. I'm not too concerned with its safety, to be honest. The worst thing that could happen is the motor seizes. If the noise gets louder, or if efficiency get worse, I'll definitely bring it back in. I've asked about the ETA, but all he could tell me is that the parts guy told him it took 3 months last time.

 

[JeffRay]

Ferdball, here's to your safe driving then sir.

 

[Ferdball]

I appreciate that. . I think any catastrophic failure will have some gradual issues beforehand. If not, I have my life insurance paid up.

 

[oilerlord]

High pitched noise (whining?) was since beginning (almost 2 years). A lot of quieter than ICEngine noise and only noticeable over 50% power or on low speed and quiet road.
I never worries about it - seems to me as "natural" sound of electric motor.
Nothing else (like acceleration) was affected.

What makes you think that this is a issue?

Same here...wondering the same thing. I recall the same (rather faint) motor sound on the brand new 2016 we test drove at the dealer, being the same sound on the my 2014 that I bought used with 6,000 miles on it. I've never given it a second thought either, and assumed it was only the "natural" electric motor sound.

 

[JeffRay]

Oilerlord, I likely hear the same as you, an engine spooling up to provide power. When they describe high pitched whine, I believe that they are talking about something more serious. In general, our cars are pretty quiet so if grating noise, have it checked out. If like a golf cart, I am going to ignore it.

 

[Ferdball]

Got part on Monday, dropped off car Tuesday. Going to pick it up today. Here's what the invoice says.

LINE OPCODE TECH TYPE HOURS
18300 W30
01 242-340-42-01-80 REMAN ELECTRIC DRIVE
LIST
NET
23J
28852 ELECTRIC MOTOR NOISY REMOVED & REPLACED ELECTRIC POWER
UNIT/MOTOR. SDS SHORT TEST, PERFORMED DIAGNOSTIC POWER DOWN. DRAINED
COOLANT, R&I BOTH FRONT AXLES, R&I SUPPORT BEAMS, R&I ENGINE BOTTOM
PANELS, R&I BOTH WHEEL WELL LINERS, R&I SOUND GENERATOR & WASHER
BOTTLE, D&C HIGH VOLTAGE CABLES, D&C & REMOVED MOUNTS, REMOVED &
REPLACED ELECTRIC MOTOR/ POWER UNIT. PERFORMED POWER UP, SDS SHORT
TEST, PERFORMED POWER TRAIN CONTROL UNIT INITIAL START UP, PROGRAMMING
& INITIALIZATION. FILLED WITH COOLANT, FILLED WIT DCT FLUID FOR
TRANSAXLE. ROAD TESTED TO VERIFY REPAIRS, OK. CLEARED OUT DTC MEMORY.
COMPLETE

 

[jwarcd]

Looks like it is a remanufactured unit:

Part # 242-340-42-01-80: https://www.mbwholesalepartsonline.com/oem-parts/mercedes-benz-reman-electric-drive-242340420180

ouch... $5,900 list price if it was out of warranty.

 

[mikegerard]

Is this the sound?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LiI5xmDRbw

 

[Ferdball]

It was more like this. https://youtu.be/S4AmLcBLZWY?t=55s

 

[Ferdball]

But in al seriousnous, my noise wasn't so bad. I first started hearing it when the windows were down and driving next to a wall. The reflected sound was easy to hear. Then after a while, it was easy to hear even with the windows up. It was a whining sound.

 

[mikegerard]

I think the motor is a Tesla Model S motor (the same as the Rav4EV).

If that's the case the early motors have a "milling" sound (search for "model s milling").

If that's what you had it's not a safety issue. There have been no reported cases of one of these motors stopping completely, it's just annoying.

 

[itskoji]

mine is in for 'motor and transmission replacement'

i was going to ask if they meant the motor controller, but decided not to explain to the service advisor...

 

[wtzouris]

I have heard the milling sound is from metal shavings in the sealed Tesla motor-- a manufacturing or tolerance defect. It has happened in motors as young as 5k miles and as old as 50k miles. My B-Class is the same after 30k miles -drives better in fact. But I would not drive this car out of warranty knowing that a $10k motor repair or a $5k computer gateway repair is something that could occur at any time. I love electric vehicles, but I am sticking with newer ones under full manufacturers warranty.. The noisy motors are not dangerous. They get louder and louder over several months and at that point you usually have another motor on order. Safe to drive is correct -- it is like having a squeaky hinge or a bad bearing. Just keep driving it would be unbearably loud before it failed outright. Toyota has a "Platinum" warranty covering everything on the RAV4EV for up to 7 years/125k miles -- is there an equivalent warranty for Mercedes B-Class? Don't think so. I'm switching to a BMW i3 REX (2017 model) this December. They've finally worked out the kinks.
Looking forward to driving a car by a company that is passionate about EVs.

 

[SheEV]

Greetings everyone

Just posted in the loss of power but thought I would chime in here. Background: 2015 B class, currently 32K miles.

Just towed my car into the dealer today. Experienced non-recoverable loss of power yesterday. Charged overnight and still no luck in the AM.

However, fellow EV drivers (golf, leaf) noted my 'humming' was unusually loud. I blamed it on being a german car wanting everyone to know it was coming. Yet, the failure yesterday makes me think the two may be related.

Hoping there is no 3 month wait for a replacement motor given I have 11 months remaining on my lease.

I'll post an update when I have more details in case anyone is interested.

 

[Ferdball]

My replacement took about 3 weeks. I had a nice E300 as a loaner though...

 

[snowds]

One of my 2014's went in with a whiny noise. Similar to others, it is first noticeable accelerating through about 20 mph, especially next to a wall or parked cars. It gets louder over time. The sound is more grating on your hearing than the usual high pitch motor whine; hard to describe. Anyways, they're replacing the motor. No estimated time frame yet from the dealer. It seems that this is a common enough issue that they ought to be recalling for it, especially given the expense of the repair.

 

[snowds]

They had mine for pretty close to 4 months to replace to the motor for the milling noise. Just got it back a couple weeks ago, and it is *so* quiet. Also had a problem with the center console USB charger not having any power. They ended up having to replace the entire COMAND unit. All in, the bill to Mercedes was $13,000. Only another year of warranty on this thing; I'd be very scared of owning one out of warranty.

One of my 2014's went in with a whiny noise. Similar to others, it is first noticeable accelerating through about 20 mph, especially next to a wall or parked cars. It gets louder over time. The sound is more grating on your hearing than the usual high pitch motor whine; hard to describe. Anyways, they're replacing the motor. No estimated time frame yet from the dealer. It seems that this is a common enough issue that they ought to be recalling for it, especially given the expense of the repair.

 

[snowds]

We have two 2014 BEDs. As mentioned above, one of them suffered from a buzzy motor, which was replaced. Update to the story is that not long after that, the other BED started to make the same buzzing noise, which got louder over time. After a month at MB, that car has now come home with a new motor. It's really scary what these cars are going to cost to own out-of-warranty. I am going to write a letter to MB sharing the concern. They should at minimum offer to pay for an extended warranty. If others of you out there have had motor replacements, please let me know so that I can say I know of X others who have had motor replacements.