2019 SHIMANO STEPS - E7000 MOTOR DRIVE UNIT - For Spares & Repairs: £300 posted

[frazerrobbo]

Bike / Product Year: 2019
Manufacturer: SHIMANO STEPS - E7000 MOTOR DRIVE UNIT - SPARES AND REPAIRS
Model: For Spares & Repairs
Asking Price: £300 posted

Description: Hey folks,

For sale is a 4 month old Shimano E7000 Steps Motor drive unit for spares or repairs.

This unit has done approx 300km total and came off my 2019 Vitus E Sommet. On my second ride in March 2019 I dinged the front of the motor unit off a rock on a gnarly rock garden and cracked the plastic section of the motor where the connectors go inside the unit. The unit continued to work fine until 7th June this year when it started to work intermittently and would frequently give a E010 error code. As of 1st July the unit was constantly showing the E010 code and since then has sat in storage while I awaited my new motor unit.

The crack at the bottom black plastic housing has created a small hole and disrupted the seal around it where I suspect water and dirt have likely ingressed to the connections. Possibly a short or dirty connections but I decided not to open the unit for fear of voiding the warranty at that time. You can see pic of the hole where I have shown a torch down on it and you can see wiring inside.

In the end, the retailer would not exchange or repair on warranty due to accidental damage. Took bike to local Shimano service centre and they ran diagnostics. All green lights on diagnostics and motor powering on properly but still displaying constant E010 error code. Decided it wasn't worth paying labor costs for them to troubleshoot and repair and with my lack of technical knowledge on fixing electrical issues, I ended up purchasing a brand new drive unit form Shimano/Madison direct for £720.

Selling this unit for £300 posted

Will be a bargain some anyone who has time, patience and technical know how to repair electrical issue, or would be a good second motor for spares and repairs (connectors, bearings internals etc.)

Unit is interchangable with the E8000 drive unit (Same mounting) so any electrical savvy E8000 owners may be interested to get this repaired as a replacement for future.

Unit is sold as seen in pics and comes with full instruction manual and official padded shipping box form Shimano/Madison.

PM me if interested

Cheers,
Fraz

 

[frazerrobbo]

BUMP .... Reduced price to £300 to any interested buyers.

 

[Gary]

donate it to @Bearing Man for free so he can open it up and use his findings to source replacement bearings for us and offer Shimano repair work.

 

[Bearing Man]

We are definitely looking for a Shimano motor and a Yamaha PW-X if anyone has one We can pay for them but £300 is a little steep for something we will possibly destroy.

 

[frazerrobbo]

donate it to @Bearing Man for free so he can open it up and use his findings to source replacement bearings for us and offer Shimano repair work.

Hi @Gary,

Cheers for putting me in touch the @Bearing Man.
I’ve been in touch with him re. the motor.

Fraz

 

[Gary]

You're the one doing me a favour Fraz.
I go through Shimano motors faster than a fat kid goes through happy meals. I'd be over the moon if bearing man got hold of the shimano motors to open so I can find out what bearings I'm killing and how involved it actually is to replace them (rather than wait patiently for multiple warranty replacements. (not to mention the wasteful aspect)

 

[frazerrobbo]

You're the one doing me a favour Fraz.
I go through Shimano motors faster than a fat kid goes through happy meals. I'd be over the moon if bearing man got hold of the shimano motors to open so I can find out what bearings I'm killing and how involved it actually is to replace them (rather than wait patiently for multiple warranty replacements. (not to mention the wasteful aspect)

@Gary You wont need to wait long mate.

Deal stuck and motor will be on its way to its new home tomorrow.

I'll keep an eye on progress incase I end up wearing out my new E7000 in the future.

Fraz

 

[Bearing Man]

You're the one doing me a favour Fraz.
I go through Shimano motors faster than a fat kid goes through happy meals. I'd be over the moon if bearing man got hold of the shimano motors to open so I can find out what bearings I'm killing and how involved it actually is to replace them (rather than wait patiently for multiple warranty replacements. (not to mention the wasteful aspect)

Bad news Gary, I have just pulled the Shimano E7000 apart and it's not something that you would want to repair in your shed! In order to get the guts out, the circuit board must be un-soldered! (Fortunately, the circuit board on our motor was all green and furry so I just cut it free.) Un-soldering is not as easy as it sounds and presents a considerable risk to repairing this motor.
I can see why they fail so often though. They have a needle roller drive shaft bearing sat just behind a thin single lip seal. Just behind that is a metal shielded bearing that on the motor I have has failed along with the needle bearing. You can see the grease in the needle bearing has emulsified and the dirty grease on the crankshaft looks like grinding paste.
I hope the E8000 is more repairable than the 7000, because we are going to be busy when they are out of warranty!

 

[Gary]

Wow!

Thank you @Bearing Man

 

[frazerrobbo]

@Bearing Man I'm amazed that failed so early in its life. and also astounded (and disappointed) that Shimano's design means repairing such motors is a technical nightmare re. the unsoldering.

As i mentioned in the sale that motor only done approx 300km in its lifetime and was 4 months old. It wasn't pushed ultra hard but had been out in some seriously muddy conditions.

What are you thinking is cause of failure? dirt ingress?

Fraz

 

[Gary]

@frazerrobbo
I just broke an E7000 in 7 weeks.
ridden approx 20-30 miles a day 4 days a week

 

[Bearing Man]

@Bearing Man I'm amazed that failed so early in its life. and also astounded (and disappointed) that Shimano's design means repairing such motors is a technical nightmare re. the unsoldering.

As i mentioned in the sale that motor only done approx 300km in its lifetime and was 4 months old. It wasn't pushed ultra hard but had been out in some seriously muddy conditions.

What are you thinking is cause of failure? dirt ingress?

Fraz

A lot of dirt has come past the seals. The outer seal had let water into the "non sealed" bearing and damaged it, but as you can see from the contamination in the grease shown below, it's a lot for just 300Km! Imagine how the inside of your motor would look after 1,000Km's

 

[Telemarker]

Is there’s any preventative maintenance that can be done to stop this happening without a strip down ?

BearingMan what do you mean by your motor being “green and furry” ?

 

[Fivetones]

That’s great you managed to get a look inside @Bearing Man

Whilst repair won’t be cheap, which customers will have to suck up, can you see a way of installing a much better seal at the same time as a refurb?

 

[Bearing Man]

Is there’s any preventative maintenance that can be done to stop this happening without a strip down ?

BearingMan what do you mean by your motor being “green and furry” ?

There does not look like much can be done in the way of preventative work. I would just say be gentle with your hose.
The motor I used had water in it and the circuit board had become corroded (green and furry)

 

[Bearing Man]

That’s great you managed to get a look inside @Bearing Man

Whilst repair won’t be cheap, which customers will have to suck up, can you see a way of installing a much better seal at the same time as a refurb?

I would say that without expert knowledge of de-soldering very large terminal post from triple layer circuit boards (especially when 3 post have to be de-soldered at the same time without melting the very small components around it) repair will be near impossible.
The seals are manufactured for the casing they are installed into. This motor really is a use up and throw away item.

 

[Fivetones]

Thanks @Bearing Man that is a little disappointing to hear but can’t be helped.

I’m hoping against hope that the E8000 is different but that seems unlikely.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Reading through here, it looks like the E8000 is easier to take apart ?!

E8000 "bottom bracket" bearing play after 1400km - EMTB Forums

and thanks @R120 for this one :

https://www.emtb-news.de/news/shimano-steps-e8000-zerlegt/

Click top right on the USA flag to change to English....

@Bearing Man : in case you've not seen these bits, they might be of interest, on the first one read down 4 or 5 posts also for more info/photo's.

 

[Fivetones]

I also wonder if this tallies with @Rallysaloon ‘s experience when pulling the E8000 apart?

 

[Rallysaloon]

From my experience of taking an E8000 apart it’s not a job for the average bloke in his shed. The one I took to bits is a brand new one so I don’t know if the seals are any better than the E7000. The E8000 on my bike has done 3500 miles and has no issues at all at the moment. My plan is to swap it for the new one I have when it dies and then I’ll strip it to see how much shit etc is in it. I can get all the bearings and seals needed to replace worn ones and will refurb the old one as and when required. I can change the main bearings and seals without having to de solder the circuit boards so hopefully these will be the only ones that need changing. I’ll post the results when I’ve done it.

 

[Fivetones]

Thanks dude. Looks like you and Bearing Man will have a lot of trade coming your way.

Nice long lifetime on yours so far too.

 

[Gary]

The E8000 is a lot easier to strip down. I have had my mates to bit's with the e010 fault and it is back up and running with no faults.

What did you repair inside the motor?
and how far did you strip it down?

 

[Gary]

Thanks. that's very helpful.
That main bearing on the crank axle in your pic looks fairly easily replaced. Any idea if the other side is as easily accessed/replaced?
ie. without messing with the circuit boards etc.

 

[Gary]

Thanks again!
This is brilliant news

 

[Fivetones]

@Rob Hancill any chance this thread can be converted to a normal thread. Some very useful in it.
@ottoshape I don’t do FB either.

 

[Swissrob]

There does not look like much can be done in the way of preventative work. I would just say be gentle with your hose.
The motor I used had water in it and the circuit board had become corroded (green and furry)

It's a bit hard to tell from the photos but would it be possible to remove the external seals without disassembly and replace with a better quality seal? Or insert a wide thin sleejve in seal housing so 2 smaller outside diameter seals can be fitted ie a retrofit seal upgrade kit people can fit before they have a problem.

 

[Bearing Man]

It's a bit hard to tell from the photos but would it be possible to remove the external seals without disassembly and replace with a better quality seal? Or insert a wide thin sleejve in seal housing so 2 smaller outside diameter seals can be fitted ie a retrofit seal upgrade kit people can fit before they have a problem.

No, the seals look to be manufactured specifically for the motor so you're pretty much stuck with what you have unfortunately.

 

[Shazza]

Hi - Just following this post, Ive been trying to get my hands on that same switch for ages. Shimano dont stock it as a replaceable part and I dont want to buy a whole drive unit just for that!
Any ideas where I could get my hands on one?
Mine has started to arc causing it to short.

 

[Planemo]

No, the seals look to be manufactured specifically for the motor so you're pretty much stuck with what you have unfortunately.

Just a thought (which you have probably already thought of) but is it possible to machine the casing to take a 'proper' seal? I only say that cos we used to do that on some old car engines which used shitty rear crank seals as stock.