[Devon Dumpling]

A poll to see how many of the UK imported cars are actually suffering from this clicking noise.
If your car is one of those affected, can you post in the comments below the poll at what mileage you first started noticing the problem - and if the dealer has since managed to fix it.

 

[Alanmo]

Imported to Spain so you may want to ignore my vote - started around 800 - 900 Km - Dealer still waiting for a response from Kia Spain to the recording I gave them and the dealer technician confirming he could hear the noise ( 3 weeks with no response so far )
I do wonder how many owners have the problem but have just accepted it as normal or pressume it's the vess sound - I find it very annoying and will not keep the car long term if this is not permanently fixed soon and not just masked over with what appears to be a hit and miss drive shaft re-alignment bodge.

 

[wizziwig]

I have the clicking noise. Started about 1000 miles. My car is from USA so you can ignore if you want but all these cars come from same factory in Korea. Have not taken it to dealer for this issue until I'm confident there a good chance they can fix it without making things worse. Also don't want to go through the trouble if the noise is going to eventually return anyway.

 

[Devon Dumpling]

Although only a few people have voted, only two cars seem to be affected (and those two are from abroad). So where are all the UK people who have been affected? Where are all the votes from 200 or so other UK owners? I realise that not all of them will be members here, but surely there are more than just 9 of them.

 

[wizziwig]

The rest sold the car because they couldn't deal with the noise. ?

If you go through the other thread, there were at least 4 UK owners with the clicking. Hopefully they'll add their votes.

For those who already voted, keep an ear on the issue and be sure to update your vote if you notice any changes. The best method to test in my experience is to turn off VESS audio, press accelerator until you hit 10 mph, then let go of all pedals and let regen slow the car to a crawl. Repeat accelerating to 10 mph a few times on different regen levels for best odds of reproducing it. Once you know what it sounds like, you'll recognize it in more typical driving situations if your car is affected.

I seriously hope it's not a widespread problem but it's been difficult to get a large enough sample size to draw any solid conclusions. Over on the USA forum, 5/5 claim to have the problem but I'm sure that's not an accurate percent either given the results collected here.

 

[Woodulike]

Good to see there are many more that don't have the issue, but we do have several more members with an e-Niro. Hopefully we will hear from a few more.

I've only just got round to voting. I mostly use tapatalk on my phone and I can't vote on that for some reason I havn't bothered exploring.

My car has the noise, I think it started around 2-3000 miles but really can't remember. It has been in twice, the second time with Kia UK tech staff, and they are going to replace the motor.

Seeing there are a few of us with the problem and there is a problem with the Kona and there are reports of gearbox changes as well it seems they are taking it seriously enough to sort the problem for those who shout.

There is one Kona we know of that has over 40k miles on it and stageshoot hasn't reported any noise from the drivetrain that I have seen. Hopefully that means only certain cars are affected and replacing the part will sort the issue.

 

[Eniro]

Imported to Spain so you may want to ignore my vote - started around 800 - 900 Km - Dealer still waiting for a response from Kia Spain to the recording I gave them and the dealer technician confirming he could hear the noise ( 3 weeks with no response so far )
I do wonder how many owners have the problem but have just accepted it as normal or pressume it's the vess sound - I find it very annoying and will not keep the car long term if this is not permanently fixed soon and not just masked over with what appears to be a hit and miss drive shaft re-alignment bodge.

Yes the same as mine almost at 800 miles the noise started on acceleration no matter what the speed. The faster you are going the faster the repetition. But only when the accelerator is pressed.

 

[Alanmo]

Interesting to see around a 30% failure rate so far - seems very high to me for new cars with low mileage.
Not at all convinced that the shaft re-alignment is going to be a permanent fix either judging by the comments from the ones who have had it done.

 

[Nobby]

I just had something very similar with my Nissan Leaf. There's even an official fix. The problem is due to "Stick slip" between the driveshaft and the hub mating surface. The fix is to clean the mating surfaces of the driveshaft and hub, apply some grease and then torque the driveshaft/hub lock nut to an increased value (100 - 120Nm).

Of course, this refers specifically to the Nissan Leaf but I suspect a similar problem with the Kias. I think the driveshaft is being forced one way when accelerating and then forced the opposite way with regen and it's sometimes working a little loose over time. This was making the noise for me. After the fix I have no more clicking.

 

[bluezetc]

I just had something very similar with my Nissan Leaf. There's even an official fix. The problem is due to "Stick slip" between the driveshaft and the hub mating surface. The fix is to clean the mating surfaces of the driveshaft and hub, apply some grease and then torque the driveshaft/hub lock nut to an increased value (100 - 120Nm).

Of course, this refers specifically to the Nissan Leaf but I suspect a similar problem with the Kias. I think the driveshaft is being forced one way when accelerating and then forced the opposite way with regen and it's sometimes working a little loose over time. This was making the noise for me. After the fix I have no more clicking.

I'm no engineer but that sounds like the most likely explanation I've heard so far. Let's hope someone can convince Kia to try it.

 

[Woodulike]

I would expect them to have tried out if that was an option.

 

[Devon Dumpling]

Interesting to see around a 30% failure rate so far - seems very high to me for new cars with low mileage.
Not at all convinced that the shaft re-alignment is going to be a permanent fix either judging by the comments from the ones who have had it done.

Down to just over a quarter of owners who have voted now (just 19 of all e-Niro owners here). Still a sizable minority of owners who are experiencing this problem though.

 

[davesul]

Down to just over a quarter of owners who have voted now (just 19 of all e-Niro owners here). Still a sizable minority of owners who are experiencing this problem though.

My recollection from previous weeks of discussion was that there were more people than five on this forum apparently having first hand experience of the issue, plus mention of others on FB or similar - maybe some of those are the same people. And mention of others 'worldwide'.
And then there was a mention of 30 new motors being imported - to where? Europe, UK?
Are these motors possibly the same design as for Konas?

 

[Devon Dumpling]

My recollection from previous weeks of discussion was that there were more people than five on this forum apparently having first hand experience of the issue, plus mention of others on FB or similar - maybe some of those are the same people. And mention of others 'worldwide'.
And then there was a mention of 30 new motors being imported - to where? Europe, UK?
Are these motors possibly the same design as for Konas?

Perhaps it is more of a problem than they are letting on and they are anticipating at least 30 cars will be. If it is a batch number problem and say it starts to become more noticeable after say, 3000 miles, some people will not have reached that yet - but they anticipate it will reach that number in the near future. Probably more economic to ship 30 out at once rather in dribs and drabs - plus it won't damage their reputation as much if they can have an instant fix for people rather than them hanging on for months for a repair and some of them being advised not to drive their cars in the meantime.

 

[Woodulike]

I expect there is quite a high number of the early cars that have an issue. I'm not sure everyone will even notice it to start with. When I looked back I reported mine on here less than a month after I took delivery when someone else mentioned it. I had driven about 2000 miles then. I didn't report it to the garage straight away as it was quite quiet and occasional, and I was waiting to see what response others had from their dealers.
It didn't take long to get more noticable, but even then the guy who took it out couldn't make out the noise to start with, I had to take it on a run to get it a little warm and then drive round with him for about 20 mins to be able to hear it with him. Now it is doing it all the time and once you've heard it it is very obvious, but to friends who are used to engines they don't even notice it.

 

[Swainic]

I'm in the US - sorry for messing up the UK stats by casting my vote, but my ENiro has this same clicking noise and it is getting worse as time goes on. It started around 1000 miles. I haven't spoken to a dealer or called Kia yet. I just started to research it and found this thread. It is annoying and concerning. If I find out more info I'll share it.

 

[Woodulike]

I'm in the US - sorry for messing up the UK stats by casting my vote, but my ENiro has this same clicking noise and it is getting worse as time goes on. It started around 1000 miles. I haven't spoken to a dealer or called Kia yet. I just started to research it and found this thread. It is annoying and concerning. If I find out more info I'll share it.

Your not the only one in the US with the problem who's posting on the forum. There's one or two members who have had the motor replaced in the US successfully so it's worth going back to the dealer and telling them you have a problem.

 

[Swainic]

Thanks for the info Woodulike

 

[JimGord]

I'm in the US - sorry for messing up the UK stats by casting my vote, but my ENiro has this same clicking noise and it is getting worse as time goes on. It started around 1000 miles. I haven't spoken to a dealer or called Kia yet. I just started to research it and found this thread. It is annoying and concerning. If I find out more info I'll share it.

In Canada (BC) Clicking noise just started at 6,500 km

 

[wizziwig]

In Canada (BC) Clicking noise just started at 6,500 km

If you haven't done so already, please add your vote and experience to the North American Niro EV forum. Thanks.