Vado 4.0 Motor Issues and Motor Replacement/Repair Cost?

[DCeB]

I had been experiencing inconsistent power output on my 2020 Vado 4.0 including the motor shutting off after a shift, which sounded and felt quite hard, in turbo mode. I took it to a shop who evidently only ran a computer diagnostic and said that nothing came up. I am guessing they didn't do a test ride given the ODO was still at 7007mi when I picked it up but I suppose the possibility exists that it was under a mile. I rode it to work one and a half more times before things went haywire on the ride home. The motor began making whining noises with low/no power output and I could hear a scraping noise when pedaling but only when power was turned on. I had to keep the power in eco or off to stop the noise and I noticed that it is more difficult to roll the bike backwards.

I am assuming the motor is now toast and given I am out of warranty by a year, I imagine it won't be a cheap fix. Has anyone else experienced these issues or has had the motor replaced? Could it be as simple as a bad bearing or something of the like that can be replaced rather than replacing the entire motor unit?

 

[Edrummer]

Is your bike throwing any error codes? Check out this website. They are repairing my motor right now. I’ve used them before. They’re very responsive.
ebikemotorrepair.com

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I had been experiencing inconsistent power output on my 2020 Vado 4.0 including the motor shutting off after a shift, which sounded and felt quite hard, in turbo mode. I took it to a shop who evidently only ran a computer diagnostic and said that nothing came up. I am guessing they didn't do a test ride given the ODO was still at 7007mi when I picked it up but I suppose the possibility exists that it was under a mile. I rode it to work one and a half more times before things went haywire on the ride home. The motor began making whining noises with low/no power output and I could hear a scraping noise when pedaling but only when power was turned on. I had to keep the power in eco or off to stop the noise and I noticed that it is more difficult to roll the bike backwards.

I am assuming the motor is now toast and given I am out of warranty by a year, I imagine it won't be a cheap fix. Has anyone else experienced these issues or has had the motor replaced? Could it be as simple as a bad bearing or something of the like that can be replaced rather than replacing the entire motor unit?

My own experience:
After 2.5 years since the purchase, my Vado 5.0 developed clicking from the motor area that was irregular, and independent of the cadence. At almost 3 years, I heard terrible noise from the motor, and the system switched off. It was not possible to revive the e-bike: the motor was clearly damaged.

I brought the Vado to Specialized LBS. The mechanic turned the e-bike on, turned the crank and said the motor was damaged for sure. As the e-bike was a year post-warranty, I was told the motor had to be replaced at my cost, to which I agreed.

After the Spec guys opened the motor cover and removed the motor, they found out the part of the frame supporting the motor cracked, making my Vado a junk. However, I had the Proof of Purchase, valid Warranty Card, and had registered the Vado at Specialized.com in due time. For that reason, the Specialized distributor accepted the "lifetime warranty" on the frame but no warranty on the motor.

Spec did an excellent job to find a replacement frameset, and they replaced several important components to keep me fully satisfied, too. I did not pay a dime for the e-bike rebuild. However, I had to pay for a new motor, and the final price was around US$1,000.

Some European companies can rebuild Specialized/Brose motors at far lower cost. They know where to find a replacement carbon fibre motor drive belt and they also own specialized (Brose) tools, such as 0.1 Nm torque wrench necessary to set the right tension of the belt. I might consider sending my broken motor to such a service to keep a spare motor for the future but I live in Europe. Unsure about the U.S.