ERAD advice please
 

Hi all. 45k miles 6 year old T8 XC90 here. Bought 3rd hand. Running great for 6 months since I got it.

Went into it fully aware RE: ERAD failure likelihood. Came with a £4k warranty (including labour and parts).

Yesterday. Moved off up a hill. Slight judder. Bit weird. Since then I have had NO MORE juddering but I DO have a very odd grinding noise only on regenerative braking, more noticeable and low levels of braking. Harder braking that still doesn't involve the disc brakes removes the noise, and acceleration remains smooth and no judders. Volvo app says electricity still being regenerated on journeys.

It has actually quietened down significantly over the last few hours and is a very very faint whine now.

£125 to get it looked at by Volvo.

2 q's: recon its the ERAD and, if so, how much to replace? The pinned thread suggests in the region of £2k to £4k as I know different parts can need replacing, just wondering if anyone has more recent experience.

There is no manufacturer warranty, it is provided second hadn't by Sytner BMW (select). I have an email from the dealership in which they explicitly state it will be covered as I knew this might be a problem ;)

Thanks in advance.

you might want to find a company who repairs EV motors , its probably only a bearing or gear who knows , it is early days for Electric car technology . its a lot more simple than an Internal combustion engine mechanically ...

I've spoken to two independents, and none are interested unless its a tesla to investigate the electric motor on a Volvo.

I have a noise from my ERAD during acceleration on pure or hybrid mode, main dealer had it for 4 days, can't reproduce the issue. I even gave them a video and told them to use a decent pair of speakers or headphones which can pick up low frequencies to hear it: https://youtu.be/9JinEMtJ68I

Luckily i have owned it from new and its on PCP, so i gave a get out clause, ill just hand it back, but i just drive the heck out of it now and dont really care what occurs as Volvo dealers seem to not be able to diagnose ERAD noises/vibrations on SPA models very well.

I also have times when it will not move under ERAD power alone from a parking space or the driveway, and it is like its trying to pull away with the handbrake on, eventually the ICE starts and the car moves.

If they are unsure they have the ability to get Volvo UK people down from the Technical department down for the day to investigate with them ! suggest this to them if are unaware of this .

It may be brake related rather than ERAD, you might have had a stone or something trapped between the disc and backing plate and the noise has lessened as it has worn down, or pads may be worn down, it is the easiest thing to check and worth checking first before going to more expense.

Couple of thoughts from me

1. Doesn't sound like classic ERAD to me.
2. Most ERAD repairs are the clutch/gears, this is a roughly 3k repair. I have heard of some complete motor and clutch/gears replacement and iirc this was circa 9k.
3. Most warranties only cover complete failure of a component, or even mechanical breakdown due to a complete failure. A bit of a whine is unlikely to cut it for the warranty.
4. Mine has always made a very faint whine on regen. Even to the point that in the early days I used to think it was a very distant approaching emergency services vehicle. Made me look a few times before I got used to it. I think such a whine is a characteristic and not a fault.
5. How much longer is the warranty? If there is plenty of time left then just relax and enjoy the car for the moment.

The whine on accelerating is there and ever-present, not too worried about that. Its definitely different, like a grinding. It does sound like something is trapped and has improved by being ground down as it improves....just hope its not the ERAD!

6 months left on the warranty. Could see how it goes I guess...

I'll drive it over the weekend and see if it lessens. Thing is the brakes aren't being used at all. im just talking about lifting off the accelerator pedal and the noise immediately starts once the engine revolter needle passes below horizontal. Braking further improves the noise!

Possibly wear (bearing etc) in the integrated starter generator, if the noise is predominantly associated with light regenerative braking?

Took them months to get someone booked in to come down from volvo in my case…