[Friends Electric]

Hi there. I am new to the Ampera having only picked mine up in June, it is a 2013 Electron with 44000 miles on the clock.
I have been really enjoying driving it until last night when I went to use the car for a trip into London and I noticed that the reversing camera did not come on and then as I went to drive away it made a strange whining noise and felt a little laboured in pulling away. I abandoned my journey and parked up ax not to cause any damage.
I have no warning lights coming on bug the noise is the same in drive and reverse and both ice and electric modes.
I have only had the car 3 months and purchased a warranty but I am guessing certain things will not be covered.
Is the bearing issue covered under the battery warranty or is this likely to be an expensive bill coming my way.
Grateful for any advice.
Thanks.

 

[black_amp]

There are quite a few bearing replacements on the forum, some paid for some warranty, all you can realistically do is to take it to the Ampera speacalist and see what they say, hopefully not too big a bill and you are covered.

 

[Friends Electric]

Thanks.
I have booked it in although I have to wait until next Thursday, so fingers crossed.
Anybody know if they are still okay to drive as it is 30 miles to the nearest centre or should I bite the bullet and get a flatbed?

 

[black_amp]

Depends on what it is, take advice from the dealer in writing by email, just in case you have a bigger problem than it looks.

 

[donald]

'Felt a little laboured' doesn't ring as a bearing failure. Also, I would be surprised if you really hear the bearing in reverse, you'd have to get a fair old pace up in reverse before you really heard it, or even over the ICE (it is not a very quiet engine). To get that loud usually requires a moderate distance travelled, it doesn't happen that you can't hear it one moment and then it's that loud the next.

I'm not saying it is or not, but doesn't strike me immediately as the issue.

The motor bearing sounds exactly like a circular saw when it goes, which I wouldn't personally describe as a 'whine'. If it doesn't sound like a circular saw, I'd suggest it isn't the motor bearing.

Can you post an audio recording of it?

It does sound like a drivetrain issue though, and as long as the warranty is in tact (FSH) you are covered for 8 years and 100k miles.

 

[Friends Electric]

I will try and post some audio tomorrow not sure if it makes the noise in reverse I will have to check. The one thing I had noticed was that I was not getting the same mileage from the electric engine on my commute as I was getting around 40 miles but the the last few days it had dropped to 32 or 35 at the most. The noise is instant from start up and at low speed. I have not taken the car above that speed as I did not want to cause any damage.
Not sure if it was linked but the reverse camera stopped working and so did the radio just before I heard the engine noise. Both are working again now.

 

[donald]

TBH sounds more like a brake issue. But let's not guess, a recording would be a good start if you can capture that.

If you have a small MP3 recorder, cable tie it to something under the bonnet and set it recording, then just drive around the block. If there are noises from the transmission you will hear them immediately on the recording, it is unmistakable from there.

 

[black_amp]

I had similar symptoms, mine was brake water shield just rubbing on the rear disc, check for a wam disc once you have done your test drive, When bellingers did my service all of that went away.

 

[Friends Electric]

Video clip and following comments above it could be a brake issue as I hear it in reverse and at low speed.
The attached video is only at speeds of up to 10mph. The scrape noise is just the car grounding at the bottom of the road.

 

[donald]

Yup. Motor bearing. No question whatsoever.

And you've got it bad. Definitely a flat bed job to dealer in that state, I am afraid.

Surprised it collapsed so rapidly, but sometimes that's what happens, so I have heard. You must have one of the original nylon cages else it'd not have gone that way so fast.

On the one hand, sorry for that news, on the other it is fully covered by the electric drive-train warranty (and don't let them try to convince you otherwise).

 

[AndyG]

@Friends Electric
Completely agree with @donald, I posted a long while back when mine went and actually got an email on here with the specifics of the warrantee....the bearing is 100% covered for 100k miles or 8 years.

 

[Friends Electric]

Thanks guys I will go in fully armed with some knowledge to try and ensure they cover it for me. The car has a full history maintained at Lookers in Birmingham with the last service in March this year so should be enough to satisfy warranty requirements.
I will be taking it to Now Vauxhall in Staples Corner so hopefully they will be good.

 

[RayG]

@Friends Electric thats where I take mine to be serviced - let us know how you get on, just in case I need the same thing later. Mine is OK at the moment. 50.5K Miles

 

[richtrash]

Does your car always scrape the road as you drive in and out

 

[Spiny]

Ampera's do, there is a low rubber air dam used for sweeping road humps and driveways. Keeps the entrance to mine clean.Does surprise the neighbours sometimes

 

[Friends Electric]

@Friends Electric thats where I take mine to be serviced - let us know how you get on, just in case I need the same thing later. Mine is OK at the moment. 50.5K Miles

Not looking good so far. Had the service manager just tell me it is going to cost £8000 to repair and I would be better taking it back to the garage I bought it from.
Now just sat in reception waiting. They haven't even looked at it yet! So far not impressed.

 

[richtrash]

Not looking good so far. Had the service manager just tell me it is going to cost £8000 to repair and I would be better taking it back to the garage I bought it from.
Now just sat in reception waiting. They haven't even looked at it yet! So far not impressed.

 

[Will in chelt]

Not looking good so far. Had the service manager just tell me it is going to cost £8000 to repair and I would be better taking it back to the garage I bought it from.
Now just sat in reception waiting. They haven't even looked at it yet! So far not impressed.

Been there but not quite as much.
Show them this:-

The last item lists the drive unit.

Lookers have this as I gave it to them.

 

[donald]

Not looking good so far. Had the service manager just tell me it is going to cost £8000 to repair and I would be better taking it back to the garage I bought it from.
Now just sat in reception waiting. They haven't even looked at it yet! So far not impressed.

What a lot of total shyte.

Unless the loss of bearing has done some sort of terminal damage to the transmission, which I have never heard of in reading about the 100,000 Volts in the US for some years, then it is simply a matter of replacing the bearing.

They are talking crap and clearly don't know the first thing about these cars.

Sounds worse than it is. It's just a £100 bearing and 3 hrs work.

 

[AndyG]

Not looking good so far. Had the service manager just tell me it is going to cost £8000 to repair and I would be better taking it back to the garage I bought it from.
Now just sat in reception waiting. They haven't even looked at it yet! So far not impressed.

Volt Warrenty…..

This is the email I received in ref to the warranty, please feel free to print off and use. Don't take any BS