Widespread Giant motor creaking problem - time for a recall?

[new_ebiker]

does it void warranty when you put the moly grease?

 

[Ukeedog]

does it void warranty when you put the moly grease?

No idea. I phoned several Giant dealers on Vancouver island and Vancouver and not one had heard of the ebike creaking problem. I live a 6 hour plus round trip to the nearest dealer so it’s not really an option to take it there unless the motor explodes. I guess they could say it does void the warranty, but I didn’t take the motor out only the mounting bolts one at a time. It’s still creak free and will be going on another 32km ride as soon as it clears up.
Is yours doing the same thing and have you taken it in?

 

[new_ebiker]

No idea. I phoned several Giant dealers on Vancouver island and Vancouver and not one had heard of the ebike creaking problem. I live a 6 hour plus round trip to the nearest dealer so it’s not really an option to take it there unless the motor explodes. I guess they could say it does void the warranty, but I didn’t take the motor out only the mounting bolts one at a time. It’s still creak free and will be going on another 32km ride as soon as it clears up.
Is yours doing the same thing and have you taken it in?

I took my 2019 explore e+3 to work today, and found the motor made the creaking noise when I went up a steep hill. The noise is not loud or anything, but it's definitely noticeable...

I brought the bike form giant toronto exactly a week ago. I wonder if I should give it another week or two, or is this considered normal when going up hill and pedal hard.

 

[Ukeedog]

I took my 2019 explore e+3 to work today, and found the motor made the creaking noise when I went up a steep hill. The noise is not loud or anything, but it's definitely noticeable...

I brought the bike form giant toronto exactly a week ago. I wonder if I should give it another week or two, or is this considered normal when going up hill and pedal hard.

My bike started creaking a bit at 400kms and by 600kms you could prob hear it from half a block away. And it was definitely coming from the left side. There is no creaking at all now; but for how long the “fix” will last, I have no idea. I can only hear the quiet whine/whir of the electric motor, even going up the steepest hills. I thought it was a bad bearing at first, but bearings should last a long time.
I found this form, watched some videos on the motor and saw the motor move a tiny bit when I flexed the cranks. The bolts can’t seem to get good purchase on the frame mounts. I feel they should have had one more Mount in the front to stop the motor from moving side to side.
It might be a good idea to see if it gets worse. Maybe keep a record of date and how many Kms it had when it started creaking. If you eventually take it in I’d like to know if they have heard of this problem and if they have a solution that is different.
Some people on the thread above had the motors removed. I wonder if theirs are fixed now?

 

[Ukeedog]

My bike started creaking a bit at 400kms and by 600kms you could prob hear it from half a block away. And it was definitely coming from the left side. There is no creaking at all now; but for how long the “fix” will last, I have no idea. I can only hear the quiet whine/whir of the electric motor, even going up the steepest hills. I thought it was a bad bearing at first, but bearings should last a long time.
I found this form, watched some videos on the motor and saw the motor move a tiny bit when I flexed the cranks. The bolts can’t seem to get good purchase on the frame mounts. I feel they should have had one more Mount in the front to stop the motor from moving side to side.
It might be a good idea to see if it gets worse. Maybe keep a record of date and how many Kms it had when it started creaking. If you eventually take it in I’d like to know if they have heard of this problem and if they have a solution that is different.
Some people on the thread above had the motors removed. I wonder if theirs are fixed now?

If it persists or get worse I wouldn’t put grease on the bolts though, I’d take it in to them and tell them it’s creaking and see what they do.

 

[kcflyer]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I have a Giant Road E that I bought in April 2017. It was so quiet when I bought it that nobody really knew it was an ebike. It started making noise early this year. I took it in last May and the motor was replaced. The new motor is even louder than the first one. There are other ebikes in my group and you can ride by others and barely hear anything. Mine you can hear the grinding from about 3 bike lengths back. I took it back down and they said that the bike is otherwise performing normally, so no replacement motor. I tried explaining that there are two issues - first - it's rather embarrassing to sound like a meat grinder while riding, and two, I am in a seniors bike group. A LOT of them are considering ebikes. But they are not at all impressed with the noise my Giant makes, so it's hurting their potential sales. I'll be sending a letter to Giant requesting another motor replacement. While the Giant is the most "affordable" road e bike at just over $4,000, a lot of people will pay more for a bike that doesn't make the noise that this one does. I love the bike, but hate the noise. And it may well send me on to another manufacturer.

 

[Ukeedog]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I have a Giant Road E that I bought in April 2017. It was so quiet when I bought it that nobody really knew it was an ebike. It started making noise early this year. I took it in last May and the motor was replaced. The new motor is even louder than the first one. There are other ebikes in my group and you can ride by others and barely hear anything. Mine you can hear the grinding from about 3 bike lengths back. I took it back down and they said that the bike is otherwise performing normally, so no replacement motor. I tried explaining that there are two issues - first - it's rather embarrassing to sound like a meat grinder while riding, and two, I am in a seniors bike group. A LOT of them are considering ebikes. But they are not at all impressed with the noise my Giant makes, so it's hurting their potential sales. I'll be sending a letter to Giant requesting another motor replacement. While the Giant is the most "affordable" road e bike at just over $4,000, a lot of people will pay more for a bike that doesn't make the noise that this one does. I love the bike, but hate the noise. And it may well send me on to another manufacturer.

I would try greasing the motor mounting bolts. Mine has been very quiet since I did that. Read the above few posts from me about how to do it. If you have any questions, please ask.

 

[kcflyer]

I would try greasing the motor mounting bolts. Mine has been very quiet since I did that. Read the above few posts from me about how to do it. If you have any questions, please ask.

I guess mine isn't the same problem. My noise isn't a creaking noise - it sounds like a meat grinder. You can't hear it for blocks, but you can easily hear it from about 3 bike lengths away. I guess on the upside, people know someone is approaching from behind, but I'd rather call out "on your left" than have them move over to avoid being ground to pieces.

 

[Ukeedog]

I guess mine isn't the same problem. My noise isn't a creaking noise - it sounds like a meat grinder. You can't hear it for blocks, but you can easily hear it from about 3 bike lengths away. I guess on the upside, people know someone is approaching from behind, but I'd rather call out "on your left" than have them move over to avoid being ground to pieces.

Gotcha. Mine is like a series of loud ticks that gets louder the harder I pedal and it only happens on the push stroke for maybe 1/4 of a pedal rotation. It would be about 10 or so ticks which together sounds like a low frequency, but loud creak.

 

[Acadiandad]

I had a significant noise that went away when the Giant bike shop removed and re-installed the mounting bolts (along the lines of what Ukeedog has been saying). Then I thought it was coming back (but sounded a little different) on the past few rides until I noticed that my suspension seat post (Kinect) had a little too much free-play in it. I increased the pre-load on the springs in the seat and most of the new noise is gone. This occurred to me when I noticed that if I shifted my weight back on the seat, the noise would go away … that led me to the seat post. Anyway, just to point out that noises can come from all sorts of different parts of these bikes.

But "grinding" noises - that can't be good … could be foreign material (or broken internals) in the gear train in the motor ?

 

[Ukeedog]

I have a Yamaha PW-45 powered Haibike. I've had ticking sounds and some creaking as well lately. This is after about 23,000 kilometres. So I decided to try your workaround. I removed the bolts, applied the grease, and then fitted them back on. After riding for a couple of kms the ticking and creaking sound was back, but much worse. My first thought was that I shouldn't have touched anything, but then the better side of my brain kicked in: we have cause and effect! If you can make the creaking worse, then surely you can make it better... So I checked the bolts again and tightened them a bit more. Today I've been out for a ride with absolutely zero creaking or ticking which was a big relief. The drive now feels much more "planted" under my feet.

There's something here for sure...

23000kms! Good for you!
If you read my posts further along, I changed to lithium and molybdenum grease which has worked much better. I haven’t found the torque settings for the bolts so I just tighten them with my 12 volt Milwaukee impact gun. Working well so far.

 

[Ukeedog]

For Haibike, the torque is indicated as 22NM. Not sure if it applies to Giant. I’m now with about 24NM on the top Bolt. The others are at the stated 22NM. Not sure if my wrench is really 100% accurate though. It was a cheap thingy.

I think I’m good for now. Will report back if not.

Sounds good. Happy cycling!

 

[niteman]

I guess mine isn't the same problem. My noise isn't a creaking noise - it sounds like a meat grinder. You can't hear it for blocks, but you can easily hear it from about 3 bike lengths away. I guess on the upside, people know someone is approaching from behind, but I'd rather call out "on your left" than have them move over to avoid being ground to pieces.

I also have a 2017. they replaced the bike first, then a motor etc. I really have to agree that greasing the bolts that are not machined correctly and cranking them down is the answer. Just suggesting that you also do that and get onto enjoying your bike. Still loving the ride......

 

[Gerxp]

@Ukeedog
Dude, You saved me alot of headaches. It is definitely the bolts you pointed to on the picture.
I completely greased them with copperpaste. And the creaking is gone!!
Fabulous!!! All my kudos to you.
Tyvm!!

 

[Ukeedog]

@Ukeedog
Dude, You saved me alot of headaches. It is definitely the bolts you pointed to on the picture.
I completely greased them with copperpaste. And the creaking is gone!!
Fabulous!!! All my kudos to you.
Tyvm!!

Lol, thanks! I never thought of copper paste probably because I don’t have any lol. I just used moly paste because I use it on my motorcycle driveshaft splines. I think that any metallic paste should work because it seems to stick well to the metal. It sure is a nice feeling when you fix your expensive bike lol.

 

[DAVEMC]

Lol, thanks! I never thought of copper paste probably because I don’t have any lol. I just used moly paste because I use it on my motorcycle driveshaft splines. I think that any metallic paste should work because it seems to stick well to the metal. It sure is a nice feeling when you fix your expensive bike lol.

Also had a very noisy creaking Giant Fastroad E , Tried the grease on the bolts and the correct ( 30nm ) ??torque setting to know avail , problem ended up being the motor flexing in the aluminium mounting lugs , there is a very small gap (1or 2 thou) between the motor mount face and the lug it bolts up to , could probably fit a shim which would help take up the movement .
Noise was cured by loosening everthing off and spraying a good motorcycle chain grease on the motor mounts, reassembling with the correct torque , noise completely gone and has been for at least 1000km , back to being great fun and a pleasure to ride .

 

[Ukeedog]

Yes,I agree. There seems to be a bit of play between the bolts and flanges. The grease on bolt method seems to work well. No relapses yet.

 

[Mutley952]

Ukeedog, thanks very much for the fix you suggested on here. I have a second hand E+1 Road Bike and it had developed a horrendous creak that suggested something major was about to break. Three bolts removed, greased with copper grease, reseated and torqued, out I went and had a lovely and quiet ride. I managed to get all the bolts out from the left hand side and only needed to remove one long covering plate above the crank to access the third bolt. Even if it turns out I need to do this every so often it only took about 20 minutes so no great stress. Thanks again. Karl

 

[Ron from BC]

I just took my 2018 Dirt E+2 into the LBS, on Vancouver Island, to have the chain replaced. The tech reported that there was play in the motor likely due to wear on the bolts. The play can be felt when you jiggle the crank back and forth. They contacted Giant and expect to receive motor shims by next week The tech did say that it was a known issue which has since been addressed. The work will be covered under warranty even though the bike is 14.5 months old. I have about 4K kms on the bike.

 

[DaveMatthews]

I just took my 2018 Dirt E+2 into the LBS, on Vancouver Island, to have the chain replaced. The tech reported that there was play in the motor likely due to wear on the bolts. The play can be felt when you jiggle the crank back and forth. They contacted Giant and expect to receive motor shims by next week The tech did say that it was a known issue which has since been addressed. The work will be covered under warranty even though the bike is 14.5 months old. I have about 4K kms on the bike.

Hey Ron, how long before you could feel the jiggle/crank thing?
Glad you're getting it taken care of!