Creaking on my Giant Trance e+2

[Crawford919]

So dropping the Engine is matter or unscrew four bolts? I’ve tried but not successfully, two bolts on the left and two on the right but engine didn’t move at all!

Yes the 4 bolts are all that holds it, you may need to slightly pry down or tap with a rubber hammer or similar. It sits tight in the frame. Be carful when it does come down not to stress the wires. It is heavy enough to break the wires or connectors if it dropped without support. I put a floor jack under it when I don’t have help.

 

[federic0]

Thanks crawford919 you can’t imagine the struggle when replacing the rear brake tube...

 

[Herder000]

We need a Haynes manual for these bikes! Now there's an opportunity...

 

[04fuxake]

My Fathom has been creaking really badly lately. I've dropped the motor, greased all the surfaces and done the bolts up tight. Yet it still creaks.

I wondered if I had actually over-tightened the bolts so I bought a set of long Torx keys thereby limiting my hand leverage. I loosened the bolts completely and then re-tightened them until they felt "about right".

Result? Today's ride was almost completely creak-free. Still a few noises but I wonder if they are my dropper post now.

 

[Rusty]

My Scott was progressively getting worse. Dropped forks and gave the very dry headset a good lube which took out most of the creaks, but the rest was a tad difficult to track down. Ended up being the saddle bracket the front bolt was about 1/4 - 1/2 turn loose and once firmed up has been creak free.

 

[Crawford919]

My Fathom has been creaking really badly lately. I've dropped the motor, greased all the surfaces and done the bolts up tight. Yet it still creaks.

I wondered if I had actually over-tightened the bolts so I bought a set of long Torx keys thereby limiting my hand leverage. I loosened the bolts completely and then re-tightened them until they felt "about right".

Result? Today's ride was almost completely creak-free. Still a few noises but I wonder if they are my dropper post now.

Did you remove the collars that are pressed into the motor? If not that’s where it will be. Otherwise the seat post will be the issue most likely.

 

[04fuxake]

Did you remove the collars that are pressed into the motor? If not that’s where it will be. Otherwise the seat post will be the issue most likely.

I'm pretty sure SyncDrive on my Fathom doesn't have those.

 

[04fuxake]

Can confirm my Syncdrive Sport doesn't have the mounting inserts. It's just motor against frame.

I thought I had resolved the creaking but it's back now. With the bolts removed, the motor can move side to side a bit so I thought I could try super-thin plastic shims. I haven't found any plastic thin enough yet. In the meantime, I did have a thought that tightening the bolts while the bike is upside down means when it's right side up, putting weight on the pedals will push the motor down in the mounts. So I made sure to only tighten the bolts once gravity had settled the motor. Might work, might not.

 

[DrStupid]

On mine it’s always these two.

View attachment 18527

My 2019 recently developed one here as well.

 

[Evolution Stu]

My 2019 recently developed one here as well.

i’m trying to find out the part numbers for the entire bearing set on the bike and I’m going to assemble the lot wet.

I think dry assembly on this type of application is prone to some bearing shell movement so a wet grease installation may well help.

 

[DrStupid]

i’m trying to find out the part numbers for the entire bearing set on the bike and I’m going to assemble the lot wet.

I think dry assembly on this type of application is prone to some bearing shell movement so a wet grease installation may well help.

I coated everything. Its good now. I check these bolts before every ride

 

[DrStupid]

I'll order a set of spares through my dealer, and when they show up, I'll post the number. This is the best method I've found of determining Giant spare part numbers.

 

[Evolution Stu]

I'll order a set of spares through my dealer, and when they show up, I'll post the number. This is the best method I've found of determining Giant spare part numbers.

Thanks, be good to see them, my dealer (or GIANT) is useless.
Had a battery seal on order with them sinceSeptember. Still nothing When I checked two days ago.

Blaming Brexit for everything...

 

[SeaPanther]

Check the two motor mounts on the left side of the motor. They're floating mounts and when they become dry and becomes sticky they creak like hell. Take the motor out, gently pull the mounts out of the motor. You may have to use Q20/WD40 penetrating oil to get it out if it is stuck. I lubricated with Q20 prior to putting it back but I guess a light grease will also work. That'll take care of the terrible creak.

Yes I tightened these to about 18Nm and creaks went away.

 

[SeaPanther]

Is it the two bolts circled here? View attachment 29388

I tightened these on my Roam E+ and creaks subsided. Went to about 18Nm, carefully that seems too much for these bolts though.

 

[SeaPanther]

If you haven’t already, check the seat post first and foremost (as previously suggested)... before you attempt anything more complex in nature. I’ve had creaking noises that I was sure was coming from the front handlebar/stem/headset area only to discover it’s the seatpost/seat clamp/seat tube interface (not the dropper post portion).

What I do is loosen the seat clamp, raise the seat post by about 2-3mm and then tighten again. Don’t pull the seat post all the way out as it’s connected to a cable internally for the dropper mechanism.

If the culprit is there, then the creak should be gone immediately. Don’t over tighten as it could ruin the dropper post movement. Tighten the opposing seat clamp bolts gradually and alternate often until the tension between the two bolts evens out.

All the best

another thing you can do is swap the crank arms, since the rotational force will be reversed, it should reduce the creaking if those are at fault. they weren't on mine.

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

another thing you can do is swap the crank arms, since the rotational force will be reversed, it should reduce the creaking if those are at fault. they weren't on mine.

The older square taper crank arms can sometimes creak, but the newer spline types don’t - from my limited experience. I could be wrong but I think most EEBs have spline type crank arms these days.

May not be a good idea to swap crank arms anyway because the pedals would end up on the wrong side. Right pedal has right hand threads, left pedal has left hand threads.

 

[SeaPanther]

The older square taper crank arms can sometimes creak, but the newer spline types don’t - from my limited experience. I could be wrong but I think most EEBs have spline type crank arms these days.

May not be a good idea to swap crank arms anyway because the pedals would end up on the wrong side. Right pedal has right hand threads, left pedal has left hand threads.

Ok good point. On my Roam E+ the spindles are square. Swapping them didn't alleviate the creaking, tightening the motor mounts did.

 

[04fuxake]

Well, I’ve tried all the tricks and I’m still getting regular creaking. One thing I’ve noticed is it appears to creaks after I stop pedaling, but stops when the overrun does. This leads me to think maybe it’s a problem inside the motor.

 

[DrStupid]

Well, I’ve tried all the tricks and I’m still getting regular creaking. One thing I’ve noticed is it appears to creaks after I stop pedaling, but stops when the overrun does. This leads me to think maybe it’s a problem inside the motor.

Is regular frequency or random?

 

[04fuxake]

Is regular frequency or random?

It’s regular. Seems to be when the right crank is under load.

 

[Crawford919]

The spanner nut on the right side of my Reign worked it’s way loose recently and made noise under load when pedaling. It took me a bit to figure it out. Finally I realized the sprocket had some side to side play and I removed the crank arm and tightened the nut that holds the spider for the sprocket. It’s left hand thread. It came loose again later and I added loctite to it and have had no issues since.