STUnlocker warning

[Husky430]

Have used both the free version and a purchased version for years now and have fantastic results, it's so much better than the Shimano Steps app. But, and it's a big but, I used my paid version to check on a mates battery health on his e8000 powered Norco Range.
Since then his motor developed a CLICKING noise coming from inside the motor whilst under power. No noise with the motor off. He took it to his LBS who removed the motor and sent it off to Shimano under warranty claim. Shimano Australia have said they won't warranty it as the STUnlocker app has CORRUPTED the motor and that the 'extra power' that the app gave the motor has caused the problem.
They even went so far as saying that they could no longer 'get into the motor' electronically as it has been corrupted by the rogue app. All smelling like a lot of BS to me as no enhancement of the motor has been done. He now has to fork out $1400 for a new motor and is not a happy customer.
Anyway just a warning for anyone out there with the app using it on a mates bike to do something similar.

 

[Husky430]

No not the local bike shop that found out that STUnlocker was used to check the battery it was Shimano Australia that voided the warranty. Local bike shop tried their best relating to the fact that no enhancement of the motor was done through the app it was just a battery check, but the overlords at Shimano would have none of it.
As someone else put very aptly somewhere else on here, if Shimano see so much as a finger print on the external casings, there goes your warranty out the window.

 

[Clean]

No different to the approach that car manufacturers take to chipping of engine management systems for performance gains, and the consequential voiding of the warranty……

 

[luna87824]

In the USA we have the Magnuson Moss Act and it says, you have a right to repair your own device or have a third party repair it without voiding the warranty. Many companies' warranties illegally say you don't. Notice the phrase 'right to repair' in there. It's not the only right to repair issue right now, but it is a big one.

 

[flash]

Shimano Australia seem to do this a lot. As soon as they can they blame mods and then deny warranty. Even if the motors work a 32kmh everywhere else. It’s bullshit, of course but expensive to contest. Never, ever mention any thing related to tuning. If Shimano say steps unlocker you say, ”what’s steps unlocker?”.

From the stories I have heard I’m really staying away from Shimano bikes as far as I can. My specialized may cost an arm and a leg but you can see the extra value. Same with Fazua.

I’ve been a Shimano fan for years but personally, I’ll likely not use any Shimano on future bikes. Support is important to me. I’ll miss my XTR brakes. Time to try out Magura, TRP and Hope…….

Gordon

 

[Husky430]

I'm with Flash, I'll be replacing my Shimano powered bike with a Bosch motorized bike very soon as I've been down the road of having to buy a replacement motor from Shit-mano, albeit it from being more than 2 years old and me being the 2nd owner. At lease Bosch offer parts and some sort of assistance with fixing a dud motor and people like the Bearing Man fix them.
The way I see it, not having anyway to buy spare parts from them or to pay them to fix a perfectly good motor mechanically wise is a major downfall on their part.

 

[Husky430]

How many KMs did you get out of your bosch motor, I see its a 2014 model so I'm guessing plenty.
My E8000 had 3500km on it, no play in the cranks, was not making any noises of any kind or playing up at all and it just stopped. No more playing the game, no further assistance given, just the dreaded E010 code, so can't be much, just a transistor or a capacitor, something minor electrical I'm guessing. Just sucks you can't get any assistance or buy parts to fix it yourself.
Cost me$2000 AUD for a new one as non in Australia at the time and had to get one from Germany, didn't factor on the near $700 import tax and now I have a very expensive paper weight.
Worrying part is the Better Halves bike has same motor and so do I in my replacement motor. Will sell it whilst it's still going strong, I love the bike and don't want to sell it but have a worry every time I go out on it.

 

[PeterM]

How many KMs did you get out of your bosch motor, I see its a 2014 model so I'm guessing plenty.
My E8000 had 3500km on it, no play in the cranks, was not making any noises of any kind or playing up at all and it just stopped. No more playing the game, no further assistance given, just the dreaded E010 code, so can't be much, just a transistor or a capacitor, something minor electrical I'm guessing. Just sucks you can't get any assistance or buy parts to fix it yourself.
Cost me$2000 AUD for a new one as non in Australia at the time and had to get one from Germany, didn't factor on the near $700 import tax and now I have a very expensive paper weight.
Worrying part is the Better Halves bike has same motor and so do I in my replacement motor. Will sell it whilst it's still going strong, I love the bike and don't want to sell it but have a worry every time I go out on it.

Would you consider selling the old dead paper weight? I have a damaged casing.

 

[Husky430]

Hi Peter, I sort of keeping it in the hope that, one day, in the not too distant future, someone will start repairing them. As they get older and not in warranty any more, and there must be 10s of thousands of them out there, it will hopefully be a full time job for someone with a great electronic knowledge. I'm also keeping it as a fix for the Mrs's bike if something goes wrong mechanically or a busted case like yours with hers, so sorry, I'd like to hang on to it for now. Were you running a bash guard?

 

[PeterM]

Hi Peter, I sort of keeping it in the hope that, one day, in the not too distant future, someone will start repairing them. As they get older and not in warranty any more, and there must be 10s of thousands of them out there, it will hopefully be a full time job for someone with a great electronic knowledge. I'm also keeping it as a fix for the Mrs's bike if something goes wrong mechanically or a busted case like yours with hers, so sorry, I'd like to hang on to it for now. Were you running a bash guard?

No it was a bearing failure internally which subsequently damaged the case.
Thanks anyway, I will keep looking for one

 

[Husky430]

what does a 8 year old performace motor look like after 8 years with a dongle - EMTB Forums

new grease and good to go and about 5 years old. and a pic from last year the motor transfer gear is on its last legs but all it needs is new bearings new transfer gear and will be good as new. i sent it to peter for some store credit so it will live on and fully reconditioned it will be...

www.emtbforums.com

last time i looked at the mileage on my old motor it was over 7000 miles and i hammered the living shit out of it and it still lives today thanks to peter.

That's the sort of thing that you would expect from such an expensive motor. An ebike is around the $11,000 mark for something half decent, a mate has just bought a 300cc Yamaha scooter (X-Max) with 12 months rego for under $10,000. Puts a little perspective on it doesn't it.

 

[iXi]

It truly is luck of the draw with these motors. I had a VLT sight that I thought the motor was on the way out, I sent it back to Shimano and forgot to flash it back to EU setting. It was out of warranty. They reviewed the motor and said it was fine, it did say on the invoice they checked it in good faith. They noted it was flashed but they updated it to the latest firmware and reverted it back to EU. I just sold the bike just yesterday with 11370ks on the clock and it was still humming along nicely. Hopefully it doesn't shit itself just after he gets it home.

 

[Husky430]

It truly is luck of the draw with these motors. I had a VLT sight that I thought the motor was on the way out, I sent it back to Shimano and forgot to flash it back to EU setting. It was out of warranty. They reviewed the motor and said it was fine, it did say on the invoice they checked it in good faith. They noted it was flashed but they updated it to the latest firmware and reverted it back to EU. I just sold the bike just yesterday with 11370ks on the clock and it was still humming along nicely. Hopefully it doesn't shit itself just after he gets it home.

Wow that is great, and really, that what you would hope and expect to get from something that is quite expensive and seems to be really well engineered. I'm still hoping that sometime in the not too distant future someone starts fixing them, here or overseas, and I can get my paperweight back into action. Also hoping that I have more luck with the 'Better Halves' motor. But will be selling mine soon and going for a Bosch powered bike. I know that they have their problems too but at least they offer some sort of spare parts and there are people out there that will fix them.

 

[flash]

It truly is luck of the draw with these motors. I had a VLT sight that I thought the motor was on the way out, I sent it back to Shimano and forgot to flash it back to EU setting. It was out of warranty. They reviewed the motor and said it was fine, it did say on the invoice they checked it in good faith. They noted it was flashed but they updated it to the latest firmware and reverted it back to EU. I just sold the bike just yesterday with 11370ks on the clock and it was still humming along nicely. Hopefully it doesn't shit itself just after he gets it home.

Yep. I have three Shimano bikes. And no problems with any of them. But I value customer service and I know people who’ve had issues and shit service. I like the motor feel too. But the only way is to let them know by voting with your wallet.

Gordon

 

[urastus]

Yep. I have three Shimano bikes. And no problems with any of them. But I value customer service and I know people who’ve had issues and shit service. I like the motor feel too. But the only way is to let them know by voting with your wallet.

Gordon

apple have been doing this sort of thing for years and they're still in business . I agree with you; I hate the fact that you don't really own something.

 

[hdqboss]

In the USA we have the Magnuson Moss Act and it says, you have a right to repair your own device or have a third party repair it without voiding the warranty. Many companies' warranties illegally say you don't. Notice the phrase 'right to repair' in there. It's not the only right to repair issue right now, but it is a big one.

I do not believe that the Magnuson Moss Act is applicable when you use a third-party app to modify, NOT repair something.

 

[cookie70]

according to the maker of stunlock app the motor should not log changes. I'm curious how they knew it had been "modified". It's appalling support, but I've heard similar report for friends with specialized bikes having to pay for new motors that were found to be "modified".

If the thing is designed for different markets I cant see why you cant change assist speed max if you don't ride on "roads".

 

[luna87824]

I do not believe that the Magnuson Moss Act is applicable when you use a third-party app to modify, NOT repair something.

Right to Repair campaign/Act....
You buy stuff. It breaks or doesn't work right. You could throw it away and buy new stuff, but you'd rather repair it. But then you find out you can't do it yourself, you can't even bring it to a third party repair shop. You have to bring it back to the original company, which can charge an arm and a leg because there's no competition—and sometimes they just won’t fix it. And you decide to throw the thing away.

It means more cost to consumers, and also means more waste. Americans throw out 416,000 cell phones per day, and only 15 to 20 percent of electronic waste is recycled.

We imagine a different kind of system, where instead of throwing things out, we reuse, salvage and rebuild. But that means taking on the big companies who would push us into buying more and throwing more away. The goal of our Right to Repair campaign is to give every consumer and small business access to the parts, tools and service information they need to repair products so we can keep things in use and reduce waste.

 

[electricbogaloo]

according to the maker of stunlock app the motor should not log changes. I'm curious how they knew it had been "modified". It's appalling support, but I've heard similar report for friends with specialized bikes having to pay for new motors that were found to be "modified".

If the thing is designed for different markets I cant see why you cant change assist speed max if you don't ride on "roads".

It sounds like they admitted that they used the app to read out battery health. Just don't admit that you ever used an app like Stunlocker and tell them that you read out battery health with either the tablet version or the interface via the desktop app on firmware versions lower than 4.9.0 I believe.

 

[an12dyw]

i only did this to my last shimano motor e8000 as it was out to warranty