Specialized turbo battery replacement

Sclarkturbo

New Member
Region
USA
I have 2015 turbo s. The motor isnt giving power and the speedometer always shows 0mph even when i ride. The first battery diagnostic light blinks at startup, indicating motor issue. Everything else works (light, display) and battery charges and seems fine. My LBS has tried to diagnose and fix it, swapping the wiring harness and also rear motor with no success. They gave up because it was taking a lot of time and effort. It seems like battery is the only thing left to try but i was told that battery cant be returned for shipping reasons. I convinced specialized to send a battery to try but i want to minimize time that the shop needs to spend on it. Question: Is battery swapping a process or can they just be swapped out, assuming i don't care about odometer to test it. Any other pointers, I've been very surprised how difficult this has been to diagnose.
 
I believe they may have to do some programming with the dealers software. Did they actually find a different motor or just discconect and reconnect?

Some info in this thread:

 
I recently had electrical issues on my Turbo Vado 4.0 2022, total power loss, bike would not turn on. Solution was to replace all electrical components. I suspect computer died, but LBS couldn't isolate issue, and I was sick of waiting. So in your case, they should do the same for you, if all else fails. You also might have a bad controller, which is a circuit that regulates the motor.

 
I recently had electrical issues on my Turbo Vado 4.0 2022, total power loss, bike would not turn on. Solution was to replace all electrical components. I suspect computer died, but LBS couldn't isolate issue, and I was sick of waiting. So in your case, they should do the same for you, if all else fails. You also might have a bad controller, which is a circuit that regulates the motor.

In this case a model year 2015 Turbo S is well out of warranty and the OEM motor manufacturer is out of business. The support his LBS gave him to this point appears to be stellar and above average for a 7 year old bike. The Turbo S bikes were just where the toe of the curve turns upward for popularity of ebikes in the US.
 
In this case a model year 2015 Turbo S is well out of warranty and the OEM motor manufacturer is out of business. The support his LBS gave him to this point appears to be stellar and above average for a 7 year old bike. The Turbo S bikes were just where the toe of the curve turns upward for popularity of ebikes in the US.
OK, well seems like they might need to buy a new bike.
 
They've ruled out the motor and other systems so it's down to whether to buy a new battery or find a used battery from a Turbo with a bad motor. I kept my 2014/2015 Turbo S and use as my errand bike because if the motor system fails it's probably the end for the bike. I originally bought a Vado SL as a replacement but have since switched to a Creo that better fits my wants.
 
Okay so interesting new twist. I turned it on for the first time in a while and it worked! No blinking light at startup,the regen worked, the spedometer read correctly and i could feel power. I rode for a minute to test and then it stopped working again. Specifically, the spedometer was stuck at 9mph and the power was gone. I tried to restart and got the diagnostic blinking light again. Has anyone experienced this before? And have any idea what the failure could be? Battery,motor?
 
My guess is battery but it's only a guess because you've tried the motor and wiring. I think there are probably more batteries around than motors.

 
Okay so interesting new twist. I turned it on for the first time in a while and it worked! No blinking light at startup,the regen worked, the spedometer read correctly and i could feel power. I rode for a minute to test and then it stopped working again. Specifically, the spedometer was stuck at 9mph and the power was gone. I tried to restart and got the diagnostic blinking light again. Has anyone experienced this before? And have any idea what the failure could be? Battery,motor?
My guess is battery. Time effects battery health, and the fact your bike is behaving different after letting it sit, seems to indicate a bad battery. A motor wouldn't start working again because you let it sit.
 
I swapped with a known working battery and get similar behavior. So im very confident its not battery. Does it make sense that a BAD motor would work for a short time then not work?
 
I swapped with a known working battery and get similar behavior. So im very confident its not battery. Does it make sense that a BAD motor would work for a short time then not work?
My Turbo S had an issue with starting ok but motor power would stop after hitting a bump. I replaced the Rosenburger connector in the battery compartment and the issue went away. In my case I removed the battery every ride when I got to work and charged the battery at my desk. The Rosenburger connector in the battery compartment is in a rubber flex mount assembly and it seemed to not connect correctly. It's a bit of a pain to replace because of the tight working area. I thought you had tried a different motor already and when the shop did the wiring harness. What part did they do? The wiring harness in the head tube is a lot of work to replace. You can also reading through this old shop blogpost for ideas.

 
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