Levo Gen 2 2022 S works Turbo Levo problem with power turning off while riding

[Paulo Miguel]

Hello, i have a Kenevo 2022, and in some of my last rides, the assist mode jumps to Off, them i press the + and it go to the Eco and Trail and it works again normaly. Them without any reason go to Off mode, it appens in downhill, uphill and also stop. It apens one or two times per ride, now its more. On last rides i also feel a lost of power and support from the motor. The bike as on the dealer and they replace the motor, I get the bike today, the power and support from motor is normal now, but at the end of a Downhill trail i see the support as in Off mode, pressing the + to Eco and it´s normal support, I have done a TCU Reset pressing + & - for 20sec, and then i ride several times the same trail and as normal.
On the way home i stop at a ligth signal and when start pedal the bike as in Off mode again .........
So the motor is new.
Watt it coud be, the power motor cable to battery or the cable and Speed sensor ????
Or the two ????

 

[lumpy]

I'm on my 3rd power cable and I've dissected the ones that failed and checked continuity on them and this is what I found.....

There are two main power cables and 4 very tiny wires. It's the tiny wires that end up failing. Sometimes it's an intermittent power loss that can tantalize you for weeks, sometimes it's a dead in it's tracks deal with the walk of shame.
They fail where they enter the plug on the motor, not at the end that we connect to the battery. I theorize that every time we go to charge, pulling the cable off of the battery gives a twist to the little wires at the far end and they eventually fail.

Specialized originally had the whole wires sealed tightly in a stiff rubber housing. The new version has them loose inside a rubber tube, which i suppose allows more movement

 

[Crawford919]

I have 3 22 Levo’s. One of them is shutting down after about 5 minutes riding and will sometimes power back up and let you ride for a couple minutes then shut off completely, maybe for a day or so. Here’s what I’ve found: it never shows an error and it’s sometimes very hard to reproduce. Last time it happened I pedaled back home with no power and it wouldn’t turn on at all. I switched the battery out of another bike and it worked perfectly for a hour ride. Went back home and put it’s original battery in and it wouldn’t turn on. The next day I was loading it up to take it to the dealership and it turned on and has no problem and the dealership says they can’t find anything wrong with it. I’ve checked cables and connections and they are perfectly clean and tight. Long story short these bikes and all Ebikes are basically junk. Have had 8 different bikes, 3 different brands since 2018 and most had major trouble after 6 months of ownership. Lot of fun but too much hassle for me.

 

[stumpydumpy]

I have 3 22 Levo’s. One of them is shutting down after about 5 minutes riding and will sometimes power back up and let you ride for a couple minutes then shut off completely, maybe for a day or so. Here’s what I’ve found: it never shows an error and it’s sometimes very hard to reproduce. Last time it happened I pedaled back home with no power and it wouldn’t turn on at all. I switched the battery out of another bike and it worked perfectly for a hour ride. Went back home and put it’s original battery in and it wouldn’t turn on. The next day I was loading it up to take it to the dealership and it turned on and has no problem and the dealership says they can’t find anything wrong with it. I’ve checked cables and connections and they are perfectly clean and tight. Long story short these bikes and all Ebikes are basically junk. Have had 8 different bikes, 3 different brands since 2018 and most had major trouble after 6 months of ownership. Lot of fun but too much hassle for me.

:-( Bummer ! New battery perhaps ?

 

[Crawford919]

:-( Bummer ! New battery perhaps ?

Yes I’m sure it’s the battery but the dealer can’t replicate the problem and Specialized won’t help either. A few months ago one of my other Levo’s wouldn’t turn on after charging almost every time. We were at a GNCC and the Specialized support truck checked it and said the battery was bad. Specialized wouldn’t replace it and said to update the TCU and it would fix it. Now you have to run a fan in front of the charger and bike while it’s charging or it will get super hot and then the bike won’t turn on. If you charge it with a fan on it’s ok. LOL I love these things!

 

[Crawford919]

Another question, how much have you guys in the US paid for a 700 battery? Looks like I’m going to have to buy a couple so I can sell these turds and not feel bad about screwing someone like Specialized did me.

 

[stumpydumpy]

Dear fellow victims,

I feel sorry for you and for all of us.

Like many of you, I also had a fondness for Specialized. In the last 15 years I bought 5 Specialized's and 2 S-Works. 3 Of them were Levo Turbos (Gen1 and Gen 3). I was a true believer.
I can see that many of you had also faith in the brand.
But I wonder if Specialized takes its customers seriously anymore. Especially with their E-bikes there is a lot of misery. And apparently specialized does not take pride in good service.

My problem concerns my S Works Levo Turbo gen 3.
On the flat, paved roads there is no problem.
But as soon as it gets a little bumpier, like a simple blue trail in the Alps it knocks out. The power turns itself off. Often I can turn it on again, mostly after pushing at the charge-door. It will last for a period of a few seconds to a few minutes.
Most of the times it quitly stops, but somtetimes there is a round blue-ish sign in the display telling that there is no battery installed. The bike-software doesn't register its failure.
I had a new door already, but that didn't solve the problem.
A permanent solution is not given.

After some investigation on the internet I know that I'm not alone in this.

Just for an excercise and to get some perspective: Let me put myself in their position and ask myself what I am doing anyway.
As the head of production, I might be proud to have a failure rate of less than 1 promille; if so.
And also maybe, maybe as the chief of sales you might want to be proud of that.
As the chief of after-sales you can't be satisfied and ignore the fact of 1 in every 1,000.
But as the chief of chiefs, CEO, I would realize that every complaint is not only a manufactory-problem, but even more it is an unsatisfied customer. I would be worried about that, otherwise the brand is to be ruined.
By the way, that brings me to the following:

If we want to prevent our cycling friends from getting into similar trouble in the future we should warn them:

NEVER BUY SPECIALIZED OR S WORKS !
anyway, not untill these isues are cleared in a proper way
Is this warning a subject for a new topic perhaps?

 

[ccornacc]

I SHOULD HAVE READ THIS EARLIER ! ! !
Perhaps this is an old thread already, But regretably the problem is still alive.

My S Works Turbo Levo, may 2023, is my third Levo, so you might say I was a believer.
I encountered the exact same problem as you guys here. Frequently the motor turns off by itself.

On paved roads the Levo went fine. Only thing is, .... I do not like paved roads.
In hinsight I remember that on slight hilly trails with some small roots the Levo went out a few times already. At that moment I took no notice of that.
In the Alps, thats a long day travel from where I live, on natural trails and bikeparks after a few minutes already the battery-suply went down. Rocky sections, roots, jumps? It wouldn't hold.
It simply switches off time after time, sometimes within seconds.
Mostly without any message in the display, sometimes displaying there is no battery installed; both not stored in memory. Strange is also that the problem doesn't apear in the diagnose-app.
At first my lbs contacted Specialized. They knew the problem and came up with the renewal of the battery-door. The new one should push the connector a bit more at its place. I believed them.

To get rid of my sour feelings I went back to the Alps once again. And perhaps you suspected so already? At the first little rocks, even before the jumps, the bike let me down again. Pushing at the batterydoor once or twice helped most of the times, but sometimes just not.
For testing I went downhill on a hefty rooty enduro-trail on which strange enough it stayed alive and I was happy already; To soon. Shortly after that it went out again and stayed out the whole ride.

In short:
I have the newest model (gen 3) S Works Levo.
Within 200 miles it began to fail frequently.
And yes, I keep the plug and housin clean.
And no, there is no change to max speed limit.
To me the bike doesn't seem suited for even friendly downhill rides.
As soon as it meets some stones en bumps it signs off.

Specialized at this moment says they don't recognize the problem and they don't know a solution; they are chewing on it.

Solutions?
Specialized thought at first it would be done with just replacing the battery-door. That did'nt work.
I see some of you mentioning replacement of the cable and one of you had the motor replaced. But did that work well?
Like to hear your suggestions.
Also like to hear (or rather not) about your troubles and solutions.
Reading this forum, it is obvious already that the word of Specialized saying that my problem didn't occur to any other Levo seems not valid anymore.

Thanks
and enjoy your Levo as long as it lasts

Hello!

I just picked up a second hand 2022 Gen3 Levo and had the same issue on my first ride out. The MCU and power cutting in and out, and it was frustrating to say the least. I had all the firmware updated, which I don't think was the issue. I also added some electrical tape inside the battery door as a hack to create more pressure against the power cord to make sure it keeping a solid seal and connection. See Pics. Next ride out had a very technical sustained descent and no issues what so ever. Plenty or chunky rocks, 1-2 foot drops and it any connection was going to rattle loose, I'm pretty sure it would have. We'll see if it holds up.

 

[stumpydumpy]

If it works, I hope you can keep it that way. There is a lot to enjoy with a proper working Levo.

Sad enough the same solution on my Levo didn't last; lets say it lasted from my lbs to my garage, but once out in the mountains the problem was back again right away.
I keep to my opinion : shame on Specialized. Even more, because they don't give sh**
BE WARNED