Can you get a recording?

It's not the VESS is it? Our 4+ 'sings' to us (the rare occasion where we forget to turn it off!)

When accelerating hard, or going fast, the motor and drive train does make a sort of whirring sound. I would describe it as being quite sci-fi! The only other sound I notice from my 4+ is when I forget to pop my mirrors back out after a particularly narrow bridge near us. Oh, and the kids seats/belts rattling when they are empty. Otherwise, I was surprised at how quite it is. I thought that moving from German cars, I would find the Kia quite loud - but no.

I am sensitive to driving sounds - and I think the lack of engine noise does have the effect of amplifying my perception of other noises.

 

There was a problem with some first edition cars in that the motor needed replacing. Do a search on this site you may be able to contact someone who had it sorted. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the speedy replies

I’ll see if I can get a recording, that might help the garage as well.
I should have mentioned that I believe I can hear the motor which is a higher pitched sound and it’s frequency changes with the road speed (as expected). This whirring noise is a lower pitch.
I haven’t played with the VESS, I’ll have a go later. No idea how to control the wing mirrors, but they have been out as expected and rear seat belts are unbuckled.

There was a problem with some first edition cars in that the motor needed replacing. Do a search on this site you may be able to contact someone who had it sorted. Good luck.

I’ve found a (very!) long thread about clicking noises but that was on regen, was that one you were thinking of? I couldn’t find much else.

 

Thanks for the speedy replies

I’ll see if I can get a recording, that might help the garage as well.
I should have mentioned that I believe I can hear the motor which is a higher pitched sound and it’s frequency changes with the road speed (as expected). This whirring noise is a lower pitch.
I haven’t played with the VESS, I’ll have a go later. No idea how to control the wing mirrors, but they have been out as expected and rear seat belts are unbuckled.



I’ve found a (very!) long thread about clicking noises but that was on regen, was that one you were thinking of? I couldn’t find much else.

Yes that was the one. Braking/regen noise
Replacing motor/gearbox was the cure. I followed it long before I actually got mine.
Page 3 post #47 is a recording of the noise.

 

I am a first edition owner of two years, 12000 miles. My car is making an annoying noise heard mostly between 30-60+ sounds like a washing machine doing a spin cycle. It is most noticeable on smooth surfaced roads, easily heard above the sound of music playing. Have told my dealer and sent them a sound clip. Car is due it’s second service this Friday so agreed to leave the car with them. They think probably a motor issue, been another similar case recently.

 

might be worthwhile asking them to check the motor model no: your car has.
FE’s had 701. To my understanding many who had their motors replaced by 711 have written that the replacement solved the noise issues.
MY21 has 712.

Thus, if you have 701, I wouldn’t disagree if they suggested replacing it.

 

Is it like a moped/helicopter noise? Do you also hear a tapping noise at slower speeds (<10 mph)? My 2019 Niro EV developed the moped like noise first and then the tapping noise maybe two weeks later. It was fixed with a replacement motor E712.

 

I notoiced the moped noise first, but it does indeed have the helicopter type tapping noise at low speed.

might be worthwhile asking them to check the motor model no: your car has.
FE’s had 701. To my understanding many who had their motors replaced by 711 have written that the replacement solved the noise issues.
MY21 has 712.

Thus, if you have 701, I wouldn’t disagree if they suggested replacing it.

I read about that in the other thread. I shall ask them to check the motor number.

I took the car to Bristol Kia with a recording of the noise. Their master mechanic said they had seen this before and fixed the issue with a replacement gearbox. They couldn't get in until the end of August and advised not to drive the car (not great when we picked it up on Saturday!). Luckly Bath can get us in tomorrow, so fingers crossed they know what to do! I'm about to write them a explanation of what I know and what Bristol have told me, hopefully this will shortcut some messing about.

Wish me luck!

 

Where we live the mopeds sound distinctly different to helicopters 😊

 

I think my 4+ is now starting down this path.
Have just clocked up 6k miles, and have noted the motor sounding slightly louder around 30mph, almost like wind noise.
However today I noted a clicking / tapping noise when pulling away, only noticeable <10mph.
Keeping an eye on it, but expecting it to worsen requiring a trip to the dealer.
I’ll look tomorrow to see what motor I have.

 

Certainly reads like the dreaded clicking/tapping noise from the gearbox/motor. Just get it booked in, the sooner the better as it can take quite a while to fix - see the linked thread in above post.

 

I wish it was a stone, but it’s definitely the traction motor.

 

Booked in with Kia on the 19th Oct. I'll update as the case progresses!

 

I had a noise which turned out to be the air conditioning compressor. Kia replaced the compressor under warranty and not had the noise since. Turning off the aircon manually stopped the noise. Worth a try.

 

Thanks for the thought, though sadly it’s not the AC compressor, it’s definitely the traction motor, and getting worse / louder.
The noise is identical to that on TSB234

 

I've got the "ticking timebomb" noise in my eNiro. I've been pushing for two months to try and get it repaired after being initially fobbed off by Stoneacre Kia Lincoln (worst customer service ever) who tried to return the car as repaired after replacing the engine mount bracket. I've done 4000 miles since the noise first started and I've made repeated calls to dealers and Kia Customer Service to try and get it sorted. It finally got booked in for... another engine mounting bracket at Drayton Kia Grantham but they couldn't get the parts until later this month. Anyway, long story short, I'm sat waiting for the RAC to recover me because the car is no longer driveable...

 

Ah that’s awful. Let’s hope this latest incident forces their hand for a motor swap!

 

Registered Feb2022, recovered Oct2022. Developed a ticking sound 22August2022 and had a new engine mounting bracket 09September2022. Problem persisted and got worse, Stoneacre Kia never returned to me to rebook for further work so it went to Drayton Kia Grantham who have been waiting for the parts to repair it. Due to no records of the initial repair (Stoneacre blame a "high staff turnover") Kia UK have told Drayton they will have to do the engine mounting bracket again. Yesterday the ticking became so bad it started coming through the steering column and it lost power at Worcester. By the time it got to Lincoln it was undrivable and had to be recovered. The whole time Kia Customer Services have told me I can't have a loan or hire car as it is driveable and the engine sounds are not a know problem. Yesterday in desperation I called and I was told directly by Kia Customer Services that "Kia are not responsible for loss of earnings or mobility due to ongoing faults, warranty or otherwise, with their vehicles. If you are concerned about the reliability of your vehicle please call Kia Assist." Before this I planned my next car to be the EV6. Now I can firmly say it won't be.

 

...the engine sounds are not a know problem...

They're lying through their teeth. This is a very well-known and documented problem that even has a repair bulletin. They should be taken to court for this behaviour

 

It’s frightening just how bad Kia are at supporting their customers when things go wrong.
Imagine if these clicking motors continue to sporadically appear throughout and even beyond the 7 year warranty period? What support will there be then? To have to pay for motor/gearbox etc replacements would cost many thousands.

Even if out of warranty , we should not be charged for this kind of faults as clearly there is a design or manufacturing fault present. It is not normal wear and tear. I was intending to keep my car a long time, but this is very worrying.
There are other threads with many more examples of this same fault happening. Also there is the heater PTC element failure stock fault occurring. Same applies to that common fault. Worrying! Peter

 

I fully agree. And even tjhough I have done almost 40k km with the car without issues, nobody really knows what's going on. In Spain, a group of people are looking at hiring an independent expert in order to establish the root cause of the issue and (depending onh the outcome) getting a lawyer to force Kia to admit this is a structural problem and therefore give a lifelong warranty for this issue to be fixed free of charge.

I must say I am very satisfied with the car, but am seriously considering moving to an MG4. I could sell my e-Niro at a price that allows me to get a new MG4 and keep some money in my pocket. Thing is, the MG4 may have unknown issues as well, so it's a gamble either way.

 

For me:
6,000 miles from new.
22/09/22 Whirring noise noticeable @ 30mph
30/09/22 Ticking noise < 10mph
03/10/22 Booking made with main dealer
19/10/22 Booked in date for diagnosis

Dealer is Allen Kia Brentwood. I have mentioned TSB234 in respect to the issue and have made recordings of the noise ready for technician.

My eNiro is a lease, so hopefully have backup there if there is no satisfactory resolution.

 

For me:
6,000 miles from new.
22/09/22 Whirring noise noticeable @ 30mph
30/09/22 Ticking noise < 10mph
03/10/22 Booking made with main dealer
19/10/22 Booked in date for diagnosis

Dealer is Allen Kia Brentwood. I have mentioned TSB234 in respect to the issue and have made recordings of the noise ready for technician.

My eNiro is a lease, so hopefully have backup there if there is no satisfactory resolution.

I hope you have better luck than I did getting it sorted. Mines on a lease as well, in an ideal world I'd attempt to start a rejection, but the problem is I actually like the car and getting an alternative at the moment would be a very long wait!

 

Well after nearly two months I'm glad to say that Kia UK have agreed with Drayton Motors Kia that my Niro has a faulty motor and it is now being replaced under warranty. They did a second engine mounting bracket as instructed by Kia and... no difference 😅

Thankfully I've been given a hire car for the duration of the repair as they don't know what the lead time on a new motor is at the moment, but the dealer has been keeping me updated. I think it would have been a hell of a lot easier to get to this point had I not been messed around by the initial dealer, who told me that they were following up the defect with Kia UK when the initial bracket repair didn't work back in September. It turns out they never sent the request through to Kia UK at all so they had no records of the initial repair attempt.

So what I've learnt from all this is don't waste time with Stoneacre Kia Lincoln if you ever need a repair doing, take it to a decent dealer that actually wants to repair the vehicle.

 

Well after nearly two months I'm glad to say that Kia UK have agreed with Drayton Motors Kia that my Niro has a faulty motor and it is now being replaced under warranty. ...

No doubt dealers are hamstrung by having to follow TSB procedures in order to get compensated by the importer for warranty work. See flowchart below.

It seems I hear about someone acquiring the "tapping noise" almost every two weeks in regards to the Kona EV, which has essentially the same drivetrain as this generation Niro with only a slightly different gear ratio and Kia part numbers. Based on the outcomes of some dozen or more cases, the only resolution that is effective long-term is replacement of both motor and gearbox. I'll note that the gearbox is far less expensive compared to the motor, about 1/4 the price.

There are at least two defects in this design IMO but either Hyundai/Kia don't recognise them or far more likely they prefer to simply cover the cost of repairs as they arise on these soon-to-be outgoing products rather than embark on an expensive recall. I suspect the new Niro (which I saw for the first time a few days ago) and upcoming new Kona will get past these issues. Certainly the E-GMP series is a far better design.

Because I had a uniquely short warranty on my Kona, 3 years, already one year gone, I have been paying close attention to the powertrain and the only thing I can do to minimise the risk is to keep the oil in good condition, "clear brown" as described by the SDS documentation. I just changed the oil for the third time yesterday at 24,000 km and it had turned 100% opaque with some glitter visible in only the 4,000 km since the last change. But, the car runs silently at cruise and only a minor musical whine on accel/decel which may be the motor or inverter. I have raised this oil subject on various Kona forums and even a few Niro and Ioniq but find only a very, very small number of owners take on the advice. It doesn't help that some dealers have resisted doing this job when requested, or charge absurd fees. It's an easy DIY for anyone suitably skilled.

I currently favor the radially-misaligned splined coupling theory as being the root cause of the tapping noise (despite that being a ridiculously-rookie mistake for an OEM) but I can also see clearly how particle-laden oil would exacerbate it. If you want your dealer to replace the gearbox at the same time as the motor you could simply ask them to "drain the oil and see if it's clear brown as stated in the SDS". I can almost guarantee that it will be pitch-black with visible particles as about 90% of Konas turn out on the first change. Precision ball bearings don't like running over particles in oil.

EDIT to above June 2024. As of mid-2023 I believe that the loose particle magnet is the main cause of the problems. Other than opening the GRU and removing it, all we can do is add a magnetic drain plug (Votex DP007) and change the oil at convenient intervals like one or 2 years.

 

From a Spanish forum I got a piece of info that may or may not be correct, but I pass it on regardless.

Apparently on the Canary Islands they have their own distributor, who have recognized the issue by mouth of one of their engineers. Allegedly, the cause of the issue is an improper alignment of the motor and the reduction gear. In order to prevent the issue from happening, some pieces need to be installed that allow the reduction gear mounts to be perfectly aligned with the motor. If the damage has already been done then motor and / or reduction gearbox need to be replaced and alignment needs to be done. With that the issue should be solved.

This somehow makes sense. It explains why not everybody has the issue (alignment is not faulty in all cars) and it also explains why a very small group of people get the problem back after motor / reduction gearbox have been replaced (dealer couldn't be arsed to carry out proper alignment).

Of course, this could all be perfect nonsense, but it sounds more or less plausible. If true, then I think all cars should be recalled to get this alignment piece installed and have proper alignment carried out.

EDIT
for those that speak Spanish, this is a very interesting video:

It's about an Ioniq, but the exact same issue has happened. Hyundai try to foot the owner a bill for the amount of 11k euros to replace motor and reductor out of warranty. In this car, they had already been replaced once...

 

Mine was booked in this week for investigation.
Over the last 500 miles, the noise has become less noticeable, to the point that I have to strain to hear it. So I canned the booking as I knew the outcome would be ‘no fault found’.

Still expect it to return or worsen over time, so will report back as and when.

 

Happy to, yes.
Where would I find the date of manufacture?
Also, do you have a wider view of that area, I’m not sure where that would be!

 

un

I do not know how it works in UK. You should have documents from Kia saying when the car was made o importes to UK.
In the worst case may be we can figure it out througt the VIN number.
Thanks

 

Okay, so no paperwork indicating date, other than MY21.
However, I have components on the car with stickers marked with “2021.04.24”.

I’ve found the corresponding area of the engine bay in your picture, and I have the same mount as circled.

 

 

 

And now the key question, is it the original part or it has been replaced?
If original, God bless us. We are f***d.

 

That is an original factory fitted part.

 

Thanks for the extra information, that was really useful. I've been wondering if I should drop the oil on my replacement car, I think this has made up my mind! Does the manual state what oil to use? Are the drain and refil plugs easily accessable?

I'm also currently thinking this is a misaligned spline/shaft issue, but flex within the casings could be a big factor (hence the replacement engine mount and newer motor with thicker flange). If so it may make this difficult to cure.