Levo Gen 2 Problem with Motor Bolts in Carbon Frame?

[Bigtuna00]

Several weeks ago I had a creaking problem with my Levo:


This is after making sure all motor bolts were at 18NM, cranks at 50NM, etc. LBS was unable to diagnose any specific cause and replaced the motor. Tonight (3rd ride on the new motor) the noise started again. I checked the bolts on my ride and one of them was a bit loose feeling. I tightened and the noise went away. At home in the garage I backed off the 4 motor bolts in anticipation of re-torquing. I accidentally reproduced what I think is the same noise, while the bolts were somewhat loose (skip to ~0:42):


I then noticed, after re-torquing, the left side rear bolt looks like it's sunk way too far into the frame:



I wonder is the carbon compressing, causing the bolts to be loose, causing the creak sound? I also found the inner spacer was missing on my chain guide I can't say for sure if the LBS forgot it or I did, but it means the aluminum part of the chain guide was smashed against the frame... EDIT: my bad, there's no spacer on the carbon frame, only aluminum (see here). So it appears this bolt might be sinking in as well, it made some pretty terrible noises when torquing.

Can anyone compare their left rear bolt to mine? Maybe it's missing a spacer or something? Thanks.

 

[thewildblue]

Have you checked the 2 other bolts ? I had creaking on my expert, was driving me up the wall. All 4 of the main bolts were correct, however 1 of the other 2 werent. If you look below the swingarm bolt, where the rear brake line passes by you will see another bolt. This is replicated on the otherside.

 

[Bigtuna00]

That's a good point, I remember those. Right now nothing is making noise, but I will check those too.

 

[Bigtuna00]

Something else I noticed while trying to get the chain guide lined up. The bolt seems to be going in at an angle?

 

[aarfeldt]

This is after making sure all motor bolts were at 18NM, cranks at 50NM

Cranks is only 40Nm
According to workshop service book page 185.

 

[Bigtuna00]

Cranks is only 40Nm
According to workshop service book page 185.

https://media.specialized.com/support/collateral/0000108906.pdf

Page 30.

 

[Harmialized]

Motor bolts and hardware are also made for one time usage, when motor is replaced the hardware need to be replaced as well.
Make sure this is done as well.

 

[aarfeldt]

View attachment 51006

https://media.specialized.com/support/collateral/0000108906.pdf

Page 30.

 

[aarfeldt]

....on the crank arm bolt its printed "50Nm"¨...so a bit inconsistant
Lets say between 40 and 50Nm...

 

[KennyB]

Motor bolts and hardware are also made for one time usage, when motor is replaced the hardware need to be replaced as well.
Make sure this is done as well.

Not according to the manual. What do you do when a bolt shifts on a bolt check, or when the chain guard skips and the bolt has to be loosened to realign it?

 

[Mikerb]

Something else I noticed while trying to get the chain guide lined up. The bolt seems to be going in at an angle?

View attachment 50997 View attachment 50998

the housing face the chain guide sits on is angled to match the chainline average biggest to smallest cassette sprocket.

 

[Bigtuna00]

Follow-up:

Took the bike to LBS, who contacted Specialized. They said they had a tolerance issue with some of the new motor mounts, and that we should check there. Turns out the left rear mount was no good, causing the bolt to sink in. That's been resolved with new mounts.

I compared the chain guide bolt to a new bike in the shop, and the new bike appears to have a similar angle. I think mine might still be angled more than normal, but hard to say for sure. Either way it's definitely not square with the chainring when new.


?things are back to normal. I still need to figure out what I want to do about the chain guide; I may just put a 34t on so I can run it in its normal position (I have a 36t currently), or I may just leave it off altogether...

 

[Mikerb]

Here is what it looks like on my Comp (ally) for comparison.