Motor Error

[citivas]

I've had my 2021 Turbo Como 4.0 a little less than three weeks and been able to ride it 7 times so far putting on 127 miles. Today was the seventh ride. All of the rides were either on the roads around my house or a nearby flat groomed gravel bike path. No issues with any of them. Today was the same roads around my house. It had been 4 days since my last ride. The bike turned on fine and Mission Control said everything was fine.

Biked about 2 miles before I could feel the motor stop assisting the ride. Display and light still working. I pulled over and power cycled the battery. No change. I turned it off again and made sure the battery was properly seated -- it was and I am always super careful to make sure it fully clicks and locks in (having read about that issue). Still no change. Checked the Mission Control diagnostic and it gives an error message about how it was improperly shut off 3 times and it auto-shuts down on the 4th. I've never improperly shut it off -- I always carefully turn off the battery before removing the battery. Also, it kept refreshing the message as if it was detecting new improper shut downs even as it was seated in the bike and powering the light and display.

I finally took the battery inside for a while and brought it back out later and tried again and for now the error has cleared. It was 56 degrees when I started the ride so this isn't a temperature issue, and I am 100% confident the battery was property seated every time and that it's never been removed while the bike was on.

Problem temporarily gone, but it's shaken my trust. No fun to lose all power assist with this heavy bike if I was further out on my route. Anyone experience this kind of problem and what does it suggest is really wrong -- some loose connection in the bike's cabling between the battery and the motor or some other motor failure? I can take it back to the dealer but it would be better if I could point him to the real issue, which definitely isn't repeatedly improperly turning the bike off or the battery not being seated.

Thanks.

 

[Nxkharra]

I've had my 2021 Turbo Como 4.0 a little less than three weeks and been able to ride it 7 times so far putting on 127 miles. Today was the seventh ride. All of the rides were either on the roads around my house or a nearby flat groomed gravel bike path. No issues with any of them. Today was the same roads around my house. It had been 4 days since my last ride. The bike turned on fine and Mission Control said everything was fine.

Biked about 2 miles before I could feel the motor stop assisting the ride. Display and light still working. I pulled over and power cycled the battery. No change. I turned it off again and made sure the battery was properly seated -- it was and I am always super careful to make sure it fully clicks and locks in (having read about that issue). Still no change. Checked the Mission Control diagnostic and it gives an error message about how it was improperly shut off 3 times and it auto-shuts down on the 4th. I've never improperly shut it off -- I always carefully turn off the battery before removing the battery. Also, it kept refreshing the message as if it was detecting new improper shut downs even as it was seated in the bike and powering the light and display.

I finally took the battery inside for a while and brought it back out later and tried again and for now the error has cleared. It was 56 degrees when I started the ride so this isn't a temperature issue, and I am 100% confident the battery was property seated every time and that it's never been removed while the bike was on.

Problem temporarily gone, but it's shaken my trust. No fun to lose all power assist with this heavy bike if I was further out on my route. Anyone experience this kind of problem and what does it suggest is really wrong -- some loose connection in the bike's cabling between the battery and the motor or some other motor failure? I can take it back to the dealer but it would be better if I could point him to the real issue, which definitely isn't repeatedly improperly turning the bike off or the battery not being seated.

Thanks.

@citivas relax. As frustrating as this is we all have experienced similar issue.
I own a 2020 Vado 5. It is the second motor and display. Specialized replaced both under warranty.
few weeks ago I experienced similar error. “Motor error” and “Battery not found”. I also had to turn off and on few times and finally it worked (some call this SOP). Haven’t had any issues since.
took the bike to LBS for annual checkup last week. He said keep my eyes on it and if it repeats again go back and see him. Unless this occurs regularly they don’t do anything about it. Mission Controls logs the error messages so they will sent to Specialized and if needed they act upon it.
It is concerning that a great bike, motor, and battery should have these issues but it is what it is. The joy of the ride exceeds the troubles for me.
I wonder if Tesla owners experience similar issues with their electric cars!?
Enjoy your rides.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Got the same errors yesterday

 

[Nxkharra]

Haha @Stefan Mikes calls this electronic gremlins

 

[Sierratim]

I've had my 2021 Turbo Como 4.0 a little less than three weeks and been able to ride it 7 times so far putting on 127 miles. Today was the seventh ride. All of the rides were either on the roads around my house or a nearby flat groomed gravel bike path. No issues with any of them. Today was the same roads around my house. It had been 4 days since my last ride. The bike turned on fine and Mission Control said everything was fine.

Biked about 2 miles before I could feel the motor stop assisting the ride. Display and light still working. I pulled over and power cycled the battery. No change. I turned it off again and made sure the battery was properly seated -- it was and I am always super careful to make sure it fully clicks and locks in (having read about that issue). Still no change. Checked the Mission Control diagnostic and it gives an error message about how it was improperly shut off 3 times and it auto-shuts down on the 4th. I've never improperly shut it off -- I always carefully turn off the battery before removing the battery. Also, it kept refreshing the message as if it was detecting new improper shut downs even as it was seated in the bike and powering the light and display.

I finally took the battery inside for a while and brought it back out later and tried again and for now the error has cleared. It was 56 degrees when I started the ride so this isn't a temperature issue, and I am 100% confident the battery was property seated every time and that it's never been removed while the bike was on.

Problem temporarily gone, but it's shaken my trust. No fun to lose all power assist with this heavy bike if I was further out on my route. Anyone experience this kind of problem and what does it suggest is really wrong -- some loose connection in the bike's cabling between the battery and the motor or some other motor failure? I can take it back to the dealer but it would be better if I could point him to the real issue, which definitely isn't repeatedly improperly turning the bike off or the battery not being seated.

Thanks.

I know some are tired of me saying it, but a plastic friendly contact cleaner goes a long way to resolving these errors....

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I know some are tired of me saying it, but a plastic friendly contact cleaner goes a long way to resolving these errors....

Hey, in a brand new e-bike?

 

[Dallant]

@citivas relax. As frustrating as this is we all have experienced similar issue.
I own a 2020 Vado 5. It is the second motor and display. Specialized replaced both under warranty.
few weeks ago I experienced similar error. “Motor error” and “Battery not found”. I also had to turn off and on few times and finally it worked (some call this SOP). Haven’t had any issues since.
took the bike to LBS for annual checkup last week. He said keep my eyes on it and if it repeats again go back and see him. Unless this occurs regularly they don’t do anything about it. Mission Controls logs the error messages so they will sent to Specialized and if needed they act upon it.
It is concerning that a great bike, motor, and battery should have these issues but it is what it is. The joy of the ride exceeds the troubles for me.
I wonder if Tesla owners experience similar issues with their electric cars!?
Enjoy your rides.

Totally disagree that we have all experienced anything similar. I just turned over 800 miles on mine since May and would be extremely POed if that happened on my Trek Allant+7. If I had to screw around turning it off and on as SOP, I’d turn it back to Specialized and be hunting for a new bike. These bikes are too damn expensive to put up with those shenanigans.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Totally disagree that we have all experienced anything similar. I just turned over 800 miles on mine since May and would be extremely POed if that happened on my Trek Allant+7. If I had to screw around turning it off and on as SOP, I’d turn it back to Specialized and be hunting for a new bike.

Don't tempt the Fortune, Dallant

Turbo Vados and Comos are one of the most popular mid-drive motor e-bikes out in the market. You might want to visit out Specialized Turbo Vado/Como User Club to see the community. Yes, there are glitches as in every e-bike brand. We Turbo owners have learnt to live with these issues, help one another, and are very happy with our e-bike Ferraris/Corvettas. (Allant+ e-bikes are direct competitors of Vado/Como and don't tell me you haven't heard about hub issues in that extremely expensive Allant+ 9.9s).

If I wanted to say something why Turbo e-bikes were so nice, I could mention the silent/powerful motor and the TCD-W display that might be only surpassed by Bosch Nyon one that is still unavailable in North America. (Hey, is your e-bike Class 3? I guess not).

You turned 800 miles on your e-bike. I turned about 2600 miles on my Vado 5.0 since November 2019 and no issues I couldn't live with. Bear in mind my Vado was built in 2017 and it has been almost the same as the 2020 models (after the free overhaul to the new TCD-W display by Specialized). An e-bike I had zero issues with? A Giant, on which I managed to ride almost 1300 miles since May 2020.

Reconsider it, please.

 

[Dallant]

Don't tempt the Fortune, Dallant

Turbo Vados and Comos are one of the most popular mid-drive motor e-bikes out in the market. You might want to visit out Specialized Turbo Vado/Como User Club to see the community. Yes, there are glitches as in every e-bike brand. We Turbo owners have learnt to live with these issues, help one another, and are very happy with our e-bike Ferraris/Corvettas. (Allant+ e-bikes are direct competitors of Vado/Como and don't tell me you haven't heard about hub issues in that extremely expensive Allant+ 9.9s).

If I wanted to say something why Turbo e-bikes were so nice, I could mention the silent/powerful motor and the TCD-W display that might be only surpassed by Bosch Nyon one that is still unavailable in North America. (Hey, is your e-bike Class 3? I guess not).

You turned 800 miles on your e-bike. I turned about 2600 miles on my Vado 5.0 since November 2019 and no issues I couldn't live with. Bear in mind my Vado was built in 2017 and it has been almost the same as the 2020 models (after the free overhaul to the new TCD-W display by Specialized). An e-bike I had zero issues with? A Giant, on which I managed to ride almost 1300 miles since May 2020.

Reconsider it, please.

All due respect to the Turbo Vado, which was a close 2nd on my list as it’s very similar to the Allant+7!
I'm certainly not trying to trash it as I would do the same if it was my Allant having an issue like that. But how can you, especially given the many miles you do, trust to electrical issues like that? I couldn’t.
I do visit a number of the other major brand areas as one never knows how things will go and being a knowledgeable consumer is a good thing.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I still might apply the electrical contact cleaner as per the advice from Sierratim The "motor error/no battery" messages are rare and typically cure themselves. No need to worry too much. (I had such errors just twice in my Vado history).
Besides, is it not an interesting coincidence that "Vado" and "Allant" mean exactly the same thing ("go!") only in different languages? (Latin vs French)

 

[Sierratim]

Hey, in a brand new e-bike?

Yep, mine was nearly new when this 1st happened to me.

 

[bellandbottle]

I had the same problem and followed the guidance from @Sierratim - have only used the spray can once.

 

[rochrunner]

In about my first week with my Vado 4 I had it quit while I was riding, but it came back after cycling power and it hasn't occurred since. Then, yesterday morning I got a "Motor error" message on the display when powering up, but again cycling power corrected it. The latter might have been related to it being the coldest morning that I've turned it on (40F), but that's a guess with no actual evidence. In any case, two minor glitches since March is not a problem. Heck, I've had those kinds of issues when starting up the infortainment system on my car!

 

[opimax]

as an ebike owner since 2011 usually a stable of 2-3 at a time, my Allant is the 1st bike with 0 electric gremlins. None of them went away on their own , all got worse. I have only had 3 different brands but maybe 12 bikes

 

[Dallant]

as an ebike owner since 2011 usually a stable of 2-3 at a time, my Allant is the 1st bike with 0 electric gremlins. None of them went away on their own , all got worse. I have only had 3 different brands but maybe 12 bikes

I have to say that I hadn’t researched many other brands before buying and just assumed electrical “issues” were a thing of the past nowadays. I never even came to this site before buying, though I did see Court’s review of the Allant+7 on YouTube before I bought.

 

[Nxkharra]

Totally disagree that we have all experienced anything similar.

I guess not surprised anymore!

 

[Christine]

Ik had vanaf de eerste 100km reeds motorproblemen met mijn Specialized Vado. Fiets is een paar keer terug geweest bij de verkoper en aan de computer gelegd . Daarna nieuwe motor gekregen maar ik heb weer dezelfde problemen. Ik wacht nu op de nieuwe software van de fabriek voor de fiets terug aan de computer te leggen. Zeer leuke fiets om mee te rijden, spijtig van de motorproblemen. Ik ben wel bijna al omvergereden van een auto bij het stilvallen op een rondpunt! Gevaarlijk.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Some people must be just snake-bitten...

 

[bellandbottle]

I don't know if it helps with a translation of Christine's post?

"From the first 100km I already had engine problems with my Specialized Vado. Bicycle has been back to the seller a few times and placed on the computer. Then got a new motor but I have the same problems again. I am now waiting for the new software from the factory to put the bike back on the computer. Very nice bike to ride, unfortunate about the motor problems. I almost fell over from a car when it came to a stop at a roundabout! Dangerous."

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I wonder why Christine continues buying Specialized e-bikes if every Spesh e-bike she's buying immediately breaks... Just curious, hence my earlier comment on bad luck.