[Solved] Power up/battery door issue

[Cannikin]

I've had power switch issues for the last couple of months. 75% of the time the bike won't turn on with the power switch, I have to open/close the battery door/latch at least once before I'm able to power on (by holding the TCU power button for a couple of seconds like normal). I've cleaned and compressed air the contacts in there but it didn't help.

This afternoon I took the battery out completely to do a clean and shine on the frame and after putting everything back together it's even worse—now the power switch doesn't seem to ever turn the bike on, I have to flip the battery door/latch half a dozen times before one is the magic one and the TCU will turn itself on! I turn it off and then it won't come back on again. I have to keep flipping the battery latch until it turns itself on again.

What the hell is this? I've compressed air and wiped down the contacts several times to be sure but it seems to make no difference. If the TCU turns on once and I don't move or dislodge anything at all, how it will it not turn on again?

 

[Cannikin]

After poking around it sounds a lot like this thread: Internal Power Cable Failure, Levo 2019 - EMTB Forums

My local shop says they consider themselves an "essential service" and are still open during COVID-19. ?

 

[RaDja]

I had the same problem just as you describe it. The plug that came off the battery had an electrical cable damaged. Before this was found, I got a new engine and a new TCU which turned out to be unnecessary afterwards. Don’t look furthe. That’s your problem.

 

[Cannikin]

I had the same problem just as you describe it. The plug that came off the battery had an electrical cable damaged. Before this was found, I got a new engine and a new TCU which turned out to be unnecessary afterwards. Don’t look furthe. That’s your problem.

View attachment 27739

Thanks for the info. I'll take my motor housing off again and see if I can see the damage like your photo.

Now I just need to convince my wife to let me leave the house to drop it off at the dealer. ?

 

[Cannikin]

My local Specialized dealer is gonna order one for me, $10! He said installing it myself won't void my warranty. Hopefully will be here this week.

 

[Cannikin]

Got a new motor battery cable this afternoon and replaced it when I got home—everything seems back to normal! Turned the bike on and off a couple of times, flipped the battery door open/closed a couple of times, turned on every time.

I didn't see any visible damage on my old cable, but I could tell that the area under the heatshrink was much stiffer than the same area under the new cable. Maybe Specialized switched to a more flexible wire to prevent these issues.

 

[Mikerb]

Even before the motor end plug cracks as per the picture the bond between the cable casing and the plug comes unstuck and that leads to 2 potential problems. Firstly water ingress into the plug most especially from washing the bike, and secondly all the stress applied by the stiffness of the original cable acts directly on the point where the cable enters the plug. That can result in one or more of the wires breaking or shorting out against each other. Glad you sorted it.

 

[HGmtb]

My local Specialized dealer is gonna order one for me, $10! He said installing it myself won't void my warranty. Hopefully will be here this week.

My local Specialized dealer wants to charge $209 for the cable, and warned me that if I fit it myself that could void my warranty - one of the few downsides of living in Australia !