iPace gearbox fault/motor failure

[Sprinter]

Our lovely First Edition iPace recently had a "gearbox fault" warning on the dash but eventually worked okay a few times. I managed to get it to our local main dealer, who told me that the fault occurred again as soon as they tried to move it to the workshop.
They now tell me after spending many hours investigating and dismantling that one of the drive motors is faulty. I have been quoted a total bill for repair of £12,773.94! Yes, that's about two-thirds of the entire value of the car! Apparently the motor itself costs £6,785 with the remaining £6000 or so being labour costs. I will have a conversation with the service manager to get some more details, but it looks like we will just have to bite the bullet and pay up. Apparently scrap value is less than £2000, and we have already incurred a few thousand in labour costs.
I wish there were independent electric vehicle repair specialists around, but I'm not aware of any in the Dorset/Hampshire area. Any ideas?

[Marineng]

Hi Dave
I am sorry and a little supprised at what has happened to your I-Pace. In my experience traction motor faults are highly unusual, it is usually the batteries and control circuits that cause faults. I think that, seeing as the dealership has completed this much work without involving you, they should provide you with a detailled description of why they think that the motor is at fault and what have they already checked any ruled out. I have had mixed experiences with dealerships, they should be able to provide a good level of detail and not just quote fault codes.

I presume that you do not have the Jaguar Extended Warranty?
Have both the 12v batteries been changed recently?
There was a recall on some of the early I-Pace to check/recplace the wiring harness as it was a bit short, has this contributed to the problem?

The most knowledgeable organisation for EV repairs is CleevelyEV (in Chemlsford) - maybe worth contacting them to see if they have had any experience of this fault.

I hope it works out for you.

Kind regards
Paul

[Marineng]

Sorry everyone CleeverlyEV are in Gloucester Road Cheltenham.
If anyone else has comments or issues with their I-Pace the please let me know, here or by e-mailing pace@jecmodels.org.uk
Kind regards
Paul

[PaulGover]

FWIW I read somewhere on the web that second-hand I-Pace motor units are pretty cheap.

[Sprinter]

Today's update:
I have just come back from the dealership, and I was asking detailed questions about the fault. The initial error messages said it was a fault with the locking pawl for the parking function, which tied in with what I had experienced and what other forums had experienced.
Once the technician had removed the front subframe for access to the drive motor and gearbox (over £3,000 worth of labour!) a further problem came to light, which meant that I now need a complete motor unit. Once the main power connector to the motor had been removed (tough job, corroded aluminium on the connector body) it was evident that there was oil now seeping out where there should be only a dry internal space. This means that one or more internal motor seals have failed, and there is no way for them to strip the motor and just replace them. I have asked them to get a new motor and fit it. Good job we have some savings.

Power cable to motor

Connector socket on motor

[Marineng]

Thanks for the update Dave.
I presume that 'an oil seal failure' was not going to be put down to a manufacturing fault. Corrosion of that parking pawl does seem to be a growing feature in problems with the I-Pace.

Kind regards
Paul

[Sprinter]

Well, the car has now been fixed, and the final bill was just below £12,000, so a slight reprieve there.
I did a bit of on line searching for electric vehicle repairers in this area (Poole/Bournemouth) and there are a few around, though maybe only one I thought might have been able to tackle the job. I'm sure their hourly rate would be a lot less than a Jag main dealer, so my advice to anyone else who has the "gearbox fault" warning or similar, and who hasn't got an extended warranty, would be to get the car to an independent repairer if at all possible.
It's interesting to note that there are many secondhand drive motor units on Ebay at very low prices (a few hundred pounds) but the independent repairer I contacted said that they wouldn't fit a used unit. My guess would be that a certain proportion of them might be suffering from internal oil leaks like ours was. I'm not sure that I would want to take the risk, bearing in mind how many man-hours are needed to remove the existing motor and replace it with a new one. Even at independent garage rates it would amount to a few thousand pounds.

[Marineng]

Thanks for the update Dave - I hope you will now be able to enjoy the full fuctionallity of the car. Do you have any idea about the state of health of the main battery.
Kind regards
Paul