Reliability

[Kernow]

Ok Iam wondering how reliable the shimano is .my mate and I recently both had new motors under warranty , both with same problem , sensor errors , error codes and cutting out .
Perhaps our motors were a faulty batch We bought the bikes together .
Both motors had done approx 1500 miles .
Like to hear from everyone who’s riding shimano especially those with a years use .
Trying to build a picture of what could become common faults in the future .

 

[R120]

Touch wood I have had no issues with mine in 8 months, been ridden an average of 3 times a week in that period. On thing with mine is that it, as of the last time I checked which was pre Christmas, has never got any crud in the casing, and I haven't taken any special measures et to prevent this happening.

 

[Gary]

main/BB Bearings went on my first motor. Second motor has started to creak too so I suspect it will go the same way. At this rate I'll never reach 1500miles on a single motor

 

[Kernow]

As above I've never had crap get in my motor casing either. Fitting the peartune made a slight gap in the top (but silicone sealant dealt with that)
main/BB Bearings went on my first motor. Second motor has started to creak too so I suspect it will go the same way. At this rate I'll never reach 1500miles on a single motor

As you said Gary I think your bearing failure must be because you are into jumping it doesnt seem to be a common problem . Most of what I’ve read on here seems to be electronic ie fault codes rather than mechanical failure or wear .
Just hoping ours were a faulty batch of early motors , time will tell

 

[mark.ai]

At 1526 km (948 miles) now and no problems so far - but think I'm a gentle rider

 

[Janluke]

I'm just over 6000 km on mine and no real issues with the motor. Every now and again(3 times in 6k) I get a dry sounding creak on the down stroke one side that may come from the crank but could also be pedal. I spray some TF2 around the crank and pedals and it goes away.

My charger packed up and was replaced

I use two batteries and both seem as healthy as when new. I'm a larger fella with an uneven pedal stroke with limited techy skills so the bike gets lots of use but not a real thrashing

 

[suso]

First 500 km, no problems.
Then started intermittent problems: the electronic rebooted while riding.
After some more time , the bike was standing against a wall, I heard a beep beep. E010. Power off and on and ... try to guess ? w013.
I made other undreds km with these problems (not on every ride), always choosing track that were I could come back esaly without motor assistance.
Last time were 25 km on the flat, fortunately.
Now I'm waitng for a new motor.

P.S.
The bike rental in front of my holidays house, changed 3 shimano motors on 5 shimano powered bikes he has.
Another rental in a close village, has 7 shimano powered emtb and had no motor issue in a couple of years.

 

[khorn]

That could indicate a quality control issue during production of the motor units.

Karsten

 

[drjarvis2003]

I have had a new motor after 7 months use and it was the usual W13 error code, which was the torque sensor. Have been told its the mesh that separates from it over time. Am now getting problems with the display going off and the motor cutting out but after moving the wire going into the display it seems to fix itself. Have spent time cleaning it more than once but its still doing it. Shop has told me that other customers have had replacement displays under warranty.

 

[Kernow]

First 500 km, no problems.
Then started intermittent problems: the electronic rebooted while riding.
After some more time , the bike was standing against a wall, I heard a beep beep. E010. Power off and on and ... try to guess ? w013.
I made other undreds km with these problems (not on every ride), always choosing track that were I could come back esaly without motor assistance.
Last time were 25 km on the flat, fortunately.
Now I'm waitng for a new motor.

P.S.
The bike rental in front of my holidays house, changed 3 shimano motors on 5 shimano powered bikes he has.
Another rental in a close village, has 7 shimano powered emtb and had no motor issue in a couple of years.

Same problem I had and others , hoping as said here it’s a quality control issue with a certain batch of motors .
Good to see there’s not tons of replies to this post really and shimano are getting new motors out if a bit slow at times ?

 

[steve_sordy]

I had the W013 error code. I was warned not to touch the pedals when switching the motor on. And I didn't!

The bike was locked up and the weight of the cable lock was hanging on one of the pedals. So when I pressed the power switch, the crank detected a torque being applied. It took me a while to spot that.