UPDATE: All years are affected by the reduction gear wear, probably more in cars driven hard. Hyundai DOES NOT recognize this problem, have your oil replaced quickly, read the forum link below. A long forum discussion (Niro and EV Kona) www.hyundaikonaforum.com/threads/reduction-gear-oil-change-seems-to-be-a-must-in-a-kona-ev.5198/page-5 In the comments below, an owner reported reduction gear failure on July 2021 facelift model at 30,000 miles (50,000 km), it started making clicking/knocking noise during braking at low speeds. Be sure to drain the reduction gear oil no longer than 15,000 miles to inspect the oil color - if black, change it often (it's not mentioned in the maintenance manual). It seems it takes GL-4 gear oil but double check yourself. Same owner also reported electric motor bearings failure at 12,000 miles (16,000km) - whining noise. I'm not aware if Hyundai did upgrade these parts at some point. Ukrainian video (use CC captions) this Kona EV has 30000 KM watch at minute 12:40 th-cam.com/video/NaXCbnr3cV0/w-d-xo.html Dirty oil th-cam.com/video/YquYZPTkcmI/w-d-xo.html Reduction box oil change on Kona EV (plug appears to be 23mm) th-cam.com/video/60Cv-JcjaSQ/w-d-xo.html Kona forum discussion www.hyundaikonaforum.com/threads/reduction-gear-oil-change-seems-to-be-a-must-in-a-kona-ev.5198/page-15 Other talks about the issue www.reddit.com/r/KonaEV/comments/wg7hjs/best_mileage_for_the_reduction_gear_box_oil_change/
@@bogdan2736 That is very early indeed. Is it an early production 2021? Can you see the production month on the sticker on the driver door frame? I wonder if Hyundai improved the parts later during the face lift production.
As of Oct 2023 a Kona owner with a replacement GRU reports that it still has the dirty oil problem, which means bearings will be damaged leading to the chance of a tapping noise down the road. So, Hyundai/Kia/Mobis seem still unaware of their mistakes. My advice based on that is to change the oil at 500 and 1,500 km (300 and 900 miles) on any any new Kona or replacement GRU. Once past around 5,000 km (3,000 miles) the damage is done.
As a note, anyone who opens up the gearbox would be wise to remove the internal magnet and rely on a magnetic drain plug instead. That factory magnet, IMO, is the root cause of this problem.
Another potentially important issue. A few Canadian owners reported intermittent "Check Regenerative Brakes” warning message. One owner reported completely brake system failure at some point. There are no codes so H may say "can't help". It turns out, this is an issue with the ABS module (very expensive out of warranty). Have a read on this forum, start at post number 12 www.hyundaikonaforum.com/threads/%E2%80%9Ccheck-regenerative-brakes%E2%80%9D-warning-message.4813/#replies
I was going through Seres 3 EV owner's manual and found reduction oil change every 20,000 km or 1.5 years whichever comes first. So if Hyundai/Kia didn't specify change intervals, do it probably at same rate early maybe since Seres 3 takes 2.2 liters of gear oil which is more than yours.
E-niro 2021, 90000kms and no problem Just checked services done in official kia and no oil was ever changed Driving sometimes harsh, but usually normal driving, lots of freeways (+120kmh), but also lots of mountain driving So it doesn't look that it happens to everybody
The oil contains fine particles, this much is shure. But is it graphite, MoS2 from oil additives, aluminium from the bearing seats, steel from gears or bearings? What happens when you hold a stong magnet to the container with the used oil, does it attract chips?
The problem is the design. The reduction box has 6 bearring, 5 with 8balls, 1 with 6. It doesn’t take to be a rocket scientist to understand that the 1 bearing with 6 balls has the same initial force applied on it(centrifugal) but then because of less balls, the force loaded onto them is then less evenly distributed =more force onto the inner wall of the outer ring of the bearing. In turn, the balls start carving through the bearing, eventually breaking it. Do your research properly, the reduction gearbox failure is not because of the oil. The oil has “particles”, they are called shunts, metal broken bits from the bering.
Changing the oil very early is about the only way to delay/prevent the issue. The oil is not the problem, but when it gets contaminated by metal particles, replacing the oil is mandatory. We had owners on forums with lots of metal particles at only 5,000 miles - basically car is less than 1 year old. My theory is, this issue is mostly in cars being driven hard (acceleration) and being driven on Regen 2 and 3 a lot inside city traffic and possible in area with steep inclines.
Why do these cars even have gearboxes? One of the main benefits of EVs for me is a lack of maintenance with transmissions. Do all the kona EVs have gearboxes?
It's not a gearbox, it's a differential/transfer case that is passing the torque from the motor to the front wheels - still has some gearing inside that needs lubricated
If it's a "box" with "gears" in it, engineers typically call it a gearbox as a generic term. Not to be confused with the common British term for manual transmission. As a specific type of gearbox it's a "reducer" noting that the Porsche Taycan's rear unit is 2-speed. Every EV I'm aware of has some sort of gear reducer.
In my native language traditional cars have a "speed changer" . Most languages are not always technically correct. Englush included. This component is a rpm reducing transmission.
All hybrids, plugin hybrids, and ev’s have an electric rotor. For its rotations, you can’t just directly transfer a one rotation of the rotor to a one rotation of tyre! That’s where transfer units come in place (REDUCTION GEAR(it has mechanical gears with teeth) BOX( assemply contained). Kia/hyundai have 7 rotations of rotor to 1 tyre rotation( 7 rotor:5 rotations 1gear in the reduction bos : 3 rotations for the 2nd gear : 1 rotation connected directly to the tyres- the last gear has the 1-1 ratio).
UPDATE: All years are affected by the reduction gear wear, probably more in cars driven hard. Hyundai DOES NOT recognize this problem, have your oil replaced quickly, read the forum link below.
A long forum discussion (Niro and EV Kona)
www.hyundaikonaforum.com/threads/reduction-gear-oil-change-seems-to-be-a-must-in-a-kona-ev.5198/page-5
In the comments below, an owner reported reduction gear failure on July 2021 facelift model at 30,000 miles (50,000 km), it started making clicking/knocking noise during braking at low speeds. Be sure to drain the reduction gear oil no longer than 15,000 miles to inspect the oil color - if black, change it often (it's not mentioned in the maintenance manual). It seems it takes GL-4 gear oil but double check yourself. Same owner also reported electric motor bearings failure at 12,000 miles (16,000km) - whining noise. I'm not aware if Hyundai did upgrade these parts at some point.
Ukrainian video (use CC captions) this Kona EV has 30000 KM watch at minute 12:40 th-cam.com/video/NaXCbnr3cV0/w-d-xo.html
Dirty oil th-cam.com/video/YquYZPTkcmI/w-d-xo.html
Reduction box oil change on Kona EV (plug appears to be 23mm) th-cam.com/video/60Cv-JcjaSQ/w-d-xo.html
Kona forum discussion www.hyundaikonaforum.com/threads/reduction-gear-oil-change-seems-to-be-a-must-in-a-kona-ev.5198/page-15
Other talks about the issue www.reddit.com/r/KonaEV/comments/wg7hjs/best_mileage_for_the_reduction_gear_box_oil_change/
I had a 2021 facelift Kona with this problem so it doesn't apply.
@@bogdan2736 You had reduction gear failure in 2021? At which kms?
@@Peppermint1 3 months, aprox, 8000km
@@bogdan2736 That is very early indeed. Is it an early production 2021? Can you see the production month on the sticker on the driver door frame? I wonder if Hyundai improved the parts later during the face lift production.
@@Peppermint1 no, its 07/2021 facelift model
As of Oct 2023 a Kona owner with a replacement GRU reports that it still has the dirty oil problem, which means bearings will be damaged leading to the chance of a tapping noise down the road. So, Hyundai/Kia/Mobis seem still unaware of their mistakes. My advice based on that is to change the oil at 500 and 1,500 km (300 and 900 miles) on any any new Kona or replacement GRU. Once past around 5,000 km (3,000 miles) the damage is done.
As a note, anyone who opens up the gearbox would be wise to remove the internal magnet and rely on a magnetic drain plug instead. That factory magnet, IMO, is the root cause of this problem.
Another potentially important issue. A few Canadian owners reported intermittent "Check Regenerative Brakes” warning message. One owner reported completely brake system failure at some point. There are no codes so H may say "can't help". It turns out, this is an issue with the ABS module (very expensive out of warranty). Have a read on this forum, start at post number 12 www.hyundaikonaforum.com/threads/%E2%80%9Ccheck-regenerative-brakes%E2%80%9D-warning-message.4813/#replies
I was going through Seres 3 EV owner's manual and found reduction oil change every 20,000 km or 1.5 years whichever comes first.
So if Hyundai/Kia didn't specify change intervals, do it probably at same rate early maybe since Seres 3 takes 2.2 liters of gear oil which is more than yours.
E-niro 2021, 90000kms and no problem
Just checked services done in official kia and no oil was ever changed
Driving sometimes harsh, but usually normal driving, lots of freeways (+120kmh), but also lots of mountain driving
So it doesn't look that it happens to everybody
Thanks for the info. How much spirited driving you do, if any?
i have the same problem with my Hyundai Kona ev!!at 80000km
The oil contains fine particles, this much is shure. But is it graphite, MoS2 from oil additives, aluminium from the bearing seats, steel from gears or bearings? What happens when you hold a stong magnet to the container with the used oil, does it attract chips?
look up the pinned comment for forum link (expand the comment)
@@Peppermint1 Thank you very much, the forum thread is very interesting to read!
The problem is the design. The reduction box has 6 bearring, 5 with 8balls, 1 with 6. It doesn’t take to be a rocket scientist to understand that the 1 bearing with 6 balls has the same initial force applied on it(centrifugal) but then because of less balls, the force loaded onto them is then less evenly distributed =more force onto the inner wall of the outer ring of the bearing. In turn, the balls start carving through the bearing, eventually breaking it. Do your research properly, the reduction gearbox failure is not because of the oil. The oil has “particles”, they are called shunts, metal broken bits from the bering.
Changing the oil very early is about the only way to delay/prevent the issue. The oil is not the problem, but when it gets contaminated by metal particles, replacing the oil is mandatory. We had owners on forums with lots of metal particles at only 5,000 miles - basically car is less than 1 year old. My theory is, this issue is mostly in cars being driven hard (acceleration) and being driven on Regen 2 and 3 a lot inside city traffic and possible in area with steep inclines.
Why do these cars even have gearboxes? One of the main benefits of EVs for me is a lack of maintenance with transmissions. Do all the kona EVs have gearboxes?
It's not a gearbox, it's a differential/transfer case that is passing the torque from the motor to the front wheels - still has some gearing inside that needs lubricated
If it's a "box" with "gears" in it, engineers typically call it a gearbox as a generic term. Not to be confused with the common British term for manual transmission. As a specific type of gearbox it's a "reducer" noting that the Porsche Taycan's rear unit is 2-speed. Every EV I'm aware of has some sort of gear reducer.
In my native language traditional cars have a "speed changer" . Most languages are not always technically correct. Englush included. This component is a rpm reducing transmission.
All hybrids, plugin hybrids, and ev’s have an electric rotor. For its rotations, you can’t just directly transfer a one rotation of the rotor to a one rotation of tyre! That’s where transfer units come in place (REDUCTION GEAR(it has mechanical gears with teeth) BOX( assemply contained). Kia/hyundai have 7 rotations of rotor to 1 tyre rotation( 7 rotor:5 rotations 1gear in the reduction bos : 3 rotations for the 2nd gear : 1 rotation connected directly to the tyres- the last gear has the 1-1 ratio).