Clunking Vibration type sound

I can appreciate reasons for concern, I don't think anyone can reliably answer your questions other than Hyundai themselves. If it helps it does not appear that the frequency or understanding of the problem has been significant enough to warrant any technical service bulletins. Outside of the maybe dozens of anecdotal reports(of over 50,000 units sold worldwide in the past year)on this and several other forums there really is no real evidence that the problem is pervasive.

 

For what it's worth, I'm at 3100 miles and haven't had an issue to date. Hard to know with such a new car, but people have reported encountering the issue anywhere from 100 miles to 5000 or 10,000 miles into the car ownership.

My biggest gripe with the car is the seatbelts seem to get twisted too easily, leading to them rattling a lot after anyone uses the passenger seats. Other than that, it's been great for me.

 

If that's your biggest gripe you're doing very well!

 

I was just watching a couple of Rich Rebuilds vids, and he mentioned that
some of the early Model S drive units would start making a tapping/rattling
noise, that left to itself would just get worse. Some of the early cars have
been through 2 or 3 of the drive assemblies [motor, inverter, reduction all
packed into sort of a "sausage" sitting between the wheels].

Hmmm. Monster torque has its price??

_H*

 

Well, wouldn't you know it, my car is now doing the click, click, rapid tapping sound. I said many times on this forum how my car was good, but looks like it finally got me (at 17,000 kms, Dec 2018 build). A few weeks ago I had a clicking sound, but was due to some pebbles in the tires. But this is different, very rapid tapping, and barely audible, have to turn off the AV and climate control to really hear it.

I first noticed it about a week ago after charging at the free station near our home. It was barely audible at about 10 kph and immediately went away as I sped up. Couldn't duplicate at home or other places, but next time I charged I heard it again. I paid really close attention to it, and noticed that it does it under gentle acceleration between 10 - 20 kph and then stops. Again couldn't duplicate it, until it did it after leaving my garage at home. This time it only sat for maybe an hour.

So eventually, in the last week, I was able to nail down more specifically the conditions under which it happens. When the car is cold, as when sitting overnight, it won't do it. And when the car is warm, after only a short stop it won't do it. But when charging for 2 hours, I guess the car is not completely cooled off, and it will do it every time when I take off.

As it happens I was scheduled to have my coolant case (recall) replaced at the dealer today. So when I took it in, asked them if they had heard of this issue, and the service desk guy said no. And he was very skeptical when I mentioned it was a common reported problem on the forums. I don't think these guys like car forum issues. Anyway, I explained it to him and he wrote it up. But before I left with the courtesy car, he offered the technician to go for a test ride with me to try and duplicate the problem. And sure enough, the tapping sound was there, and only had to go around the lot a couple times to confirm it. So at least they acknowledged the problem.

After back home a couple hours later, they called me to tell me they ordered a reduction drive gearbox which will arrive in a couple weeks. I mentioned that others had tried that and it didn't fix the problem, and required a motor replacement. I suggested they call Hyundai Canada, but he said it is the technician's call per their diagnosis. I was a little surprised that they would make that decision themselves, given they have never encountered this issue. And they didn't fix the coolant case issue either, as it would be better to do both at the same time, which does make sense.

However, am a little concerned about this dealer (not where I bought the car), and can see me going back and forth a few times before this will be properly resolved with a motor replacement (like some others, incl the e-Neros). I suspect maybe the dealer is just trying to run up some warranty business, and would be quite happy to let it take a couple of fix efforts to resolve.

I live in Vancouver, BC and just took it to the local dealer (Langley) here. But there are about 6 or 7 Hyundai dealers in the metro area, so there are other choices. Just wondering if anyone else in my area has had this problem and got it fixed, and which dealer?

 

Sorry to hear this issue has finally caught up with you. While the clicking sound is most notable when gently accelerating under 10 MPH, you will notice that it becomes what I like to refer to as a high-pitched "muffler" sound when accelerating at higher speeds (>30 MPH). The noise immediately disappears when you ease off the accelerator.

I'm still torn as to whether I want the dealer to attempt a repair yet given that no consistent approach to resolving this problem exists yet, that some people have had the problem worsen after a "fix", and that I have a major disdain for the back and forth bickering the I'm sure will await me should I report it. I've been hoping that the engineers at Hyundai will eventually figure it out and issue a corporate approved fix.

In any case, keep us informed as to your progress.

 

I have an appointment for the recall next Tuesday. I'll have them check my clicking sound and will post back with what they find.

 

Keep us updated.

 

They (Langley Hyundai) just want to replace the gearbox, and refused to contact Hyundai Canada. Said they could do their own diagnosis and that is their first solution to try. Sounds stupid to me. Like I said, I think they are just trying to run up some warranty business. I don't think they care if it is fixed or not.

Just got back from a long US road trip (down to AZ and surrounding areas) in my ICE car, and had to go in self isolation when we returned. But had a voice message saying the parts are in. Called them and said I would hold off for now (at least until this virus stuff settles down). They understood.

But I also talked to the Abbotsford Hyundai service, and they also have a couple customers with the clicking sound. They did contact Hyundai Canada, and decided to hold off any fixes for now until they have a clearer understanding of the cause and a proper fix. They expect a TSB at some point. That makes more sense to me.

 

TSB would be such a relief at this point as it would offer an explanation of what's happening. We would know if it was a bad batch of motors, poor installation, a design flaw, etc. Without any official information we have no idea if this problem is a fate that awaits every single Kona/Niro owner in the future.

Has anyone taken delivery of a recently produced 2020 Kona and checked their motor revision? So far it appears no Kona or Niro has left the factory with the updated 701 (Kona) or 711 (Niro) motors. Motors on new cars have manufacture dates that are more recent than the dates on the revised repaired motors which is strange. They appear to be continuing to build the original motors even after introducing the new revision.

 

My 2020 Kona is Oct 2019 build with a 700 motor. With the recent warmer weather and HVAC turned off I have started to appreciate the clicking noise intermittently at 7000 km on the odometer. Its still fairly mild and I think if the VESS was still connected it would have been mostly masked by it. I am going to wait until it gets worse before I address it with the dealer and hopefully they have a TSB.

 

Yup that is pretty much it, anything above 20 kph and the clicking noise harmonizes with the other road and motor sounds.

 

I warned people that driving with this defect could lead to drastic failure since it was reported on the eNiro. Luckily in my case the dealer determined it wasn't safe to drive and eventually gave me a loaner while they spent 6 weeks repairing the Niro EV with motor swap.

@Domenick , Any reason this common motor issue has not been covered on the front page? We have Gustavo constantly running anti-Tesla articles but nothing at all about these Hyundai/KIA issues.

 

Problem is the absence of a TSB and intermittent presentation, which implies you can't reproduce it on demand. Unless your lucky how do you convince a technician without sounding like a complete nut job ? Until then I wait until it gets worse.