Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

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RaDy
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Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

My Vx-1 works perfectly and is really fun. Im very happy with it after 1958 Kms, in 2 months. I have, really, used it every day since then and have done my daily commute with absloutely no reliability or range problems.
The only thing is that it makes too much whine noise and plus that noise is horribly uneven. It simply doesnt sound normal. I thought that it would reduce itself and that the gearbox would have settled and stop the uneveness, but no, both have become worse.
The noise is louder and the uneveness is slightly worse, looking as if its going to become worse.(For the moment Mik was right!)
So, i took it to have a check-up and get comfirmation if the noise comes from the engine or the gearbox.(I know thanks to V that its 90% surely the gearbox)Ive asked them to get it changed.
Now, using my Honda 90cc scooter makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable.Im not going to go into detail of how bad it is to go back to an ICE scooter (vibrations, smoke, noise etc.. etc..) simply i miss my Vectrix and hope that the Vectrix Service dont reply saying that the company has dissapeared from the surface of the earth and that i can go pick up my beautiful electric collectors item and never bring it back!
I really wish Vectrix survives, if this is the first thing they can do i really want to see the rest, but not in a desperate recession climate(Lead Acid,E-max etc..)

Rajesh

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

I thought that it would reduce itself and that the gearbox would have settled and stop the uneveness, but no, both have become worse.
The noise is louder and the uneveness is slightly worse, looking as if its going to become worse.(For the moment Mik was right!)
Rajesh

I don't think I ever said that it would get worse. I simply do not know if it will, or not.

But the subjective experience gets worse because the "new toy" effect wears off and your ears and eyes start to work again! The noise might have stayed the same but you get more annoyed by it. I was able to prove this because I was warned by the dodgy performance of my first Vectrix and so I had the camera rolling from day one with the second Vectrix (now the "Vectux"). Looking at the footage later on, the vibration and noise was clearly there from the start, but I did not take as much notice of it.

The uneven whining is really a total turnoff. It will also sound really "Off" to all the ICE vehicle drivers around you and put them off from buying anything electric!

This information may be used entirely at your own risk.

There is always a way if there is no other way!

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

I said you were right reffering to the fact that the noise wouldnt inprove in silentness.
Yes, the uneven whining is really awfull.I was discussing with the technician and told him that he had to do whatever needed but relief me from the torture. At speeds between 20 and 40km/h the Vectrix simply sounds horribly wrong and not very latest tech but more old sowing machine.
For the moment no news from the garage.

undead
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

"...Now, using my Honda 90cc scooter makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable.Im not going to go into detail of how bad it is to go back to an ICE scooter (vibrations, smoke, noise etc.. etc.."

Wow your ICE scooter is in need some serious mechanical attention, because I have never had problems with excessive vibration, smoke or noises before on my motorcycles!

RaDy
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Yes, i suppose its too old and when i decided to get a new one, i went for the Vectrix.
The Honda Yupy is a 2 stroke 90cc of year 1992, i suppose after 17 years it is abit old and probably needs some type of mechanical adjustments. But im saying that compared to this scooter the Vectrix is like going in a magic carpet!

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Well, the Vectrix is magical compared with many gas scooter. I've owned a 250 cc scooter (Peugeot Geopolis). I buy this scooter new, and it is a good scooter : very stable, consume no many gas, and the perfomances are good. But after ride the Vectix when I ride the gas scooter, i feel a great difference : the Vectrix is more stable, confortable, and with less vibrations.(I've already sell the gas scooter).
Regards.

RaDy
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Well, the Vectrix is magical compared with many gas scooter. I've owned a 250 cc scooter (Peugeot Geopolis). I buy this scooter new, and it is a good scooter : very stable, consume no many gas, and the perfomances are good. But after ride the Vectix when I ride the gas scooter, i feel a great difference : the Vectrix is more stable, confortable, and with less vibrations.(I've already sell the gas scooter).
Regards.

Yes, thats what i was trying to explain. Its not that ICE scooters are bad, they are what they are, good in many aspects and bad in many others. The thing is that after having a Vectrix you tend to accept the good things of it (Everyone gets used to the good things very quickly but not so to the bad things)and when you drive an ICE scooter back again, you suddenly realise all those bad things (Vibraions, smoke, noise etc..) but also its true that i dont have to remember to plug it in!

RaDy
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

I got a call from the repair garage and they told me that they probably have to change the gearbox but they were going to take quite a while to recieve it, so i could go pick my Vec and ride it till the replacement gearbox arrives.
So have it back and even though it whines unevenly, its better than anything (inculding my old Yupy which i wont even bother in giving it a checkup, which it probably needs!)
Now im going to find out if this noise gets worse or maybe improves with a few more kilometrers.Altough im sure i already know the answer to that!
These days we are all wishing that Vectrix can survive,hope it does.

RaDy
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

My gearbox noise has become a really bad horrible uneven scream, i took it to the tech last week and he just gave it back to me (in the same state), finally having come to he conclusion that it needs to be changed. So no there is a new gearbox for me on the way, if Vectrix still exists, ive just checked their official website and the news section doesnt even work! Bad sign. By the way i have also ordered the small sport windshield.
Lets see what happens, in the meanwhile i simply use my Vectrix in a perfect normal way with a horrible scream coming out of the gearbox. I dont think passersby think its a very techy noise by the look in their faces!
One question for anyone who has gone through this, is there any problem in driving it till the gearbox wears out or gets totally destroyed?
Thanks

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

One question for anyone who has gone through this, is there any problem in driving it till the gearbox wears out or gets totally destroyed?
Thanks

Mine was very quiet at first, except around 20 mph where there was an intrusive noise from the gearbox. It has got a bit worse, some days it seems louder than others and it is louder when accellerating two up. We all have different personal tolerances for things like this, it would be nice to meet up with other Vectrix owners to compare notes, swap bikes, etc. It's just that we are all so spread out and the V is so rare. I mean I've had mine since October and I've only seen two on the road and one parked up.

Simon

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

I keep in touch with another Vectrix owner in Barcelona and he has just changed his gearbox, he told me that for the moment its very silent. But says he is really taking care not to stress it cause he knows it might be his last oportunity!

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

I keep in touch with another Vectrix owner in Barcelona

Is he on this site?

Simon

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Hi Rady
It's R, from Barcelona!
How's your vectrix? Encara tenim pendents les curvetes del garrraf, el Xesco ens espera a Sitges en candaletes...
My vectrix is the unit 249 from poland 2007, it has 15.600km on its wheels. It has had the entire rear arm replaced, including gearbox and engine: The previous engine's axle was slightly deviated, causing overpressure in one planetary, making noise in excess. It was an early factory issue. After the replacement, my range has been dramatically increased: a pair of weeks ago I managed to travel 95.7 km without recharge (carcassone to tolouse). Now I can easely ride 80 km without recharge across the city of Barcelona, which means that the new gearbox is more efficient.

As rady says, I try to avoid stressing my bike. Riding a well calibrated Vectrix is a gift I don't want to loose. Although the bike can hadle fast accelerations, the battery will suffer quick degradation if I keep on accelerating hard all day long, like an ICE scooter. I also avoid parking in the sunlight, because the battery gets too hot. The battery container is not perfectly isolated and the heat from the black cover gets in, causing degradation of the external cells.

The hard part of being a vectrix owner is understanding the limitations of this electric vehicle. Vectrix performs and handdles superb, it won't show it's limitations until it's too late: The owner must decide the limits for "her", I'm sure that a vectrix without stress can easely last 8-10 years without any problem.

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Benvinguts R,

You are indeed lucky to get that kind of range, the best I ever got was 49.9 miles pre new software, now 40 may be all I can get if I use every trick to conserve power.

It's very interesting that your range increased with a new drive. Your old one must have been binding badly.

Yes it does seem that for some of us without knowing the limitations early enough may have shortened the life of the battery pack. It was all very vague when we were advised to do up to 5 "deep" discharges, I wish I'd done none at all now. Hindsight huh?

Simon

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

On hot summer days, ok they don't really exist here in the UK I park the bike with the rain cover on. I do this not for heat reasons but it just seems to be safer and cleaner as we have plenty of trees and birds around that love leaving a mess on the bike.

Norman

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

My vectrix is the unit 249 from poland 2007, it has 15.600km on its wheels. It has had the entire rear arm replaced, including gearbox and engine: The previous engine's axle was slightly deviated, causing overpressure in one planetary, making noise in excess. It was an early factory issue. After the replacement, my range has been dramatically increased: a pair of weeks ago I managed to travel 95.7 km without recharge (carcassone to tolouse). Now I can easely ride 80 km without recharge across the city of Barcelona, which means that the new gearbox is more efficient.

Welcome!

When the rear swing arm was replaced, was anything else changed as well?

Or did you get 15000.- with one battery?

I seems reasonable to expect some range reduction from a noisy gearbox, but so far we have not been able to figure out how much range reduction.

You are correct that stressing the battery is not good for it, but as far as I know, discharging it deeply (= going long distances between charges) is one way of stressing it!

This information may be used entirely at your own risk.

There is always a way if there is no other way!

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Hi Mik,
It is a great pleasure to start posting in this forum. I've been following your posts with great interest: I'm very happy with exchanging vectrix experiences! On the other hand, I must apologise for my poor english: I think in catalan and I sometimes make "direct" translations ;-)

I also try to avoid deep "stressing" discharges, but whith the new sytem mounted, the European Rally Solar Phebus offered a good chance to check the new real range of my vectrix!

My vectrix's battery was replaced at 6000 km due to a general recall. I'm not sure, but I think there was a problem with the connection wire which linked the 2 battery packs.
I did some minor improvements to increase my range, like switching off the head lamp (0,5 km increase), taking away the rear disk brake (3 km increase), cuting the rear fender and mounting the "sport" windshield (no increase perceived).

With the old engine I hardly ever got 75 km of range at 40 km/h. With the new one, my personal record is set to 95'7 km! And with the same battery! Now I can feel how the bike moves downhill without getting stoped by internal friction.. this is quite impresive.. With a good BMS and a gearless engine, I'm sure it would be perfectly possible to achieve the promised 110 km of range.

Some pictures of my bike(Some were posted by you, I hope it is ok!;-)) can be seen here: http://www.meteopallars.com/solar/YaBB.pl?num=1219356394/all

If you want to read the coments you can use the google translator from catalan to english. It will help you to "catch" the meaning...

The gear box was replaced two times without solving the noise problem. Finally vectrix's Uk staff had a look at my vectrix and realized that the problem was with the engine's aligment, not with the gearbox.
Some pictures of the first replacement (made by myself and my brother)can be seen here:
http://www.meteopallars.com/solar/YaBB.pl?num=1224718028/all

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Again, welcome Roger, its good that you joined V and share all your valuable experience as an owner since 2007.Although you must be one of the few owners with a 4 year warranty and after all you´ve done to your Vectrix, you still maintain it.
Por cierto porque no quedamos el Jueves de la semana que viene para lo de garraf, me gustaria hacer el trayecto con el Gearbox actual y asi despues puedo repetir con el nuevo.
Rag

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Deleted by Mr. Mik

I just wanted to see what Google Translator would make of some heavy Australian slang...

This information may be used entirely at your own risk.

There is always a way if there is no other way!

R
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Although you must be one of the few owners with a 4 year warranty and after all you´ve done to your Vectrix, you still maintain it.

Wow. Not quite strange: I've been left without dealer service in Barcelona for 1,5 years. The nearest dealer place was in madrid, 500 km away. This dealer asked me to repair the bike myself while there was no service in barcelona, and I agreed. Of course, before doing any modification, I asked permission to proceeed: This is why I still have the warranty, and this is why I still don't have a cycle analist onboard (sight)...

Jueves estaré a Berlin.. I'll call you today to arrange the meeting.

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Hi Mik,
It is a great pleasure to start posting in this forum.
....
....
Some pictures of my bike(Some were posted by you, I hope it is ok!;-)) can be seen here: http://www.meteopallars.com/solar/YaBB.pl?num=1219356394/all

No problem at all! Good to see that the photos are being used, and good to see that not every dealer cancels the warranty when customers do their job for them!
Here is a link to a translation of the page: http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.meteopallars.com%2Fsolar%2FYaBB.pl%3Fnum%3D...
I like your modifications, but taking the rear brake off altogether is a bit radical!

The gear box was replaced two times without solving the noise problem. Finally vectrix's Uk staff had a look at my vectrix and realized that the problem was with the engine's aligment, not with the gearbox.
Some pictures of the first replacement (made by myself and my brother)can be seen here:
http://www.meteopallars.com/solar/YaBB.pl?num=1224718028/all

Great post, and a nice forum you are running!

Unfortunately the translator technology is far from perfect, but much better than nothing.

I have added a link to your gearbox replacement page to the Vectrix Collaborative Handbook.

Here is a direct link to a translated version of the page: http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.meteopallars.com%2Fsolar%2FYaBB.pl%3Fnum%3D...

This information may be used entirely at your own risk.

There is always a way if there is no other way!

RaDy
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

My gearbox noise has become a really bad horrible uneven scream, i took it to the tech last week and he just gave it back to me (in the same state), finally having come to he conclusion that it needs to be changed. So now there is a new gearbox for me on the way, if Vectrix still exists, ive just checked their official website and the news section doesnt even work! Bad sign. By the way i have also ordered the small sport windshield.
Lets see what happens, in the meanwhile i simply use my Vectrix in a perfect normal way with a horrible scream coming out of the gearbox. I dont think passersby think its a very techy noise by the look in their faces!
One question for anyone who has gone through this, is there any problem in driving it till the gearbox wears out or gets totally destroyed?
Thanks

Ok, here i am with a new gearbox and a very very silent Vectrix, not exactly like the first day but similar. The thing is that i have the feeling that its going to end up like the first one, with a horrible uneven whine. This impression has come to me after trying it for 2 days at very low speeds and smooth accelerations, even after this treatment, i hear a slight unevenness, exactly the same as before but without the high noise. lets see.
Another thing that has happened to me is that i have had the yellow wrench/CanBus error 2 times in a 5 minuites time difference!!!
that had never happened before.
I havent started very well. But ill give it more time.
Rag

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Another thing that has happened to me is that i have had the yellow wrench/CanBus error 2 times in a 5 minuites time difference!!

That happened to me a few times and then disappeared. If it isn't always present, ignore it.

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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

about the uneven whine, I'd like to add a possible angle! (if no one already thought of this, I didn't check sorry)

When I bought mine, I found it was quite silent. But after a while, I also noticed an uneven sound in the gearbox, especially around 30-50 km/h (I suppose the sound is often reflected by buildings when you drive at those speeds, but it was there for sure).
Then, later one day when I took off at my home, I drove off the sidewalk a bit too quick, and it kind of 'slammed' quite hard on the asfalt with its back wheel.
It may be just a feeling, but I found the noise louder after that. Or maybe it's just that I was paying more attention to it?
I'm not sure, but I still have the feeling that the intensity of the whine varies, and is influenced by driving fast over small bumps and holes.
In fact, I'm almost 100% sure that the noise has been louder before.
Perhaps the specific gear is too light for the job, I've seen it on Mik's pictures and I could imagine it deforming when under sudden stress..

"doing nothin = doing nothing wrong" is invalid when the subject is environment

Mik
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Perhaps the specific gear is too light for the job, I've seen it on Mik's pictures and I could imagine it deforming when under sudden stress..

Have a look at the links here: http://visforvoltage.org/book/ev-collaborative-hand-books/6815#comment-38776

This information may be used entirely at your own risk.

There is always a way if there is no other way!

RaDy
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Its a week now and my Vectrix is still very silent, and doesnt do too much uneveness, i have gone through streets and places where the old gearbox use to sound horrible, but this one seems to be quieter and not so uneven. Plus this gearbox seems to clunk more when i move it manually (pushing)back and forth!
I have to take the Vectrix back to the repairshop after 1.000kms to get the gearbox supervised and the oil changed. 200kms done since.

R
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Rady, my vectrix gearbox is loosing oil. Very little, but it's going to need a refill. has anybody noticed typical solid dust when theres oil, in the gearbox join???

R
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Rady, my vectrix gearbox is loosing oil. Very little, but it's going to need a refill. has anybody noticed typical solid dust when theres oil, in the gearbox join???

RaDy
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

Yes i remember seeing the suroundings of my gearbox with quite a bit of black "sticky" dust

R
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

This is not good.. At the first vectrix meeting in barcelona we'll have to check all gearboxs. If this is a general problem, the system may need regular refilling. Still don't know exact date of the meeting, I'm working on it: It's time to make a visit to carles.

RaDy
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Re: Crazy uneven whine. Engine or gearbox??

That might be the reason why my old gearbox started screaming so badly

About the Barcelona Vectrix reunion, keep me informed.

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