When it rains, your motor blows

[Riviot]

At least I could eventually still drive afterwards, a very different experience from the rod I shot in the old Honda...

2022 Quad large R1T, original motors

So I'm about to get onto the freeway with two turn lanes and want to gun it around Grandma to make sure I make the light, so I punch it. I've done this plenty of times before at the same intersection. This time, it felt like my rear wheels ran over a 2x4 and a pitbull growling back. Sure enough, turtle mode pops on and AWD limited message. I limp to the next exit driving 30 on the shoulder with it whining the whole time. I park, get roadside on the horn, do a hard reset that clears it, try again, and went about 10 feet with the most God awful crunching sound. They say try Conserve mode, I went down the exit, tested on a local road, no noise and no lights.

I was able to limp home and have an appointment at Fife Thursday. Yes, they offered to tow and get me in first thing tomorrow, but it drove and I'm way too busy tomorrow (Thanks, politicians).

I did not get a red motor failure light, just the yellow turtle and a yellow limited AWD performance icon. Both are gone right now, and of course I didn't get a photo with all the craziness happening. Has anyone heard/experienced this before? What say you?

My money is on disconnect module. What do y'all think? Whole rear drive unit?

I just crawled under and something clearly isn't right where the passenger rear halfshaft connects. Could it be a motor tearing a halfshaft?

Here's driver side rear to compare:

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[Aardvark]

It's really difficult to tell from the photos, but in your third picture it looks to me like something hit and damaged the half shaft at some point.
But my observations aren't worth squat. I would be very interested to hear what Rivian comes up with when you take it in.
I'm sorry you have to go through this. The only way it could have been worse is if Grandma flipped you off as you went into Turtle Mode trying to pass her.

 

[Riviot]

It's really difficult to tell from the photos, but in your third picture it looks to me like something hit and damaged the half shaft at some point.
But my observations aren't worth squat. I would be very interested to hear what Rivian comes up with when you take it in.
I'm sorry you have to go through this. The only way it could have been worse is if Grandma flipped you off as you went into Turtle Mode trying to pass her.

Third pic is the good side, haha.

Actually, my gear guard caught it all!

 

[mpshizzle]

Nnooo! Whatever it is, it definitely sounds nasty. I hope it's a quick diagnosis and fix

 

[Marchin_MTB]

Good luck Riviot. Let us know how it turns out and I hope they have you back up and running on all four motors soon!

 

[Riviot]

Good luck Riviot. Let us know how it turns out and I hope they have you back up and running on all four motors soon!

The irony is we had a camping trip planned for this weekend. We tentatively cancelled due to heavy smoke in that area, but the recent rain may abate it. It's been like 3 fall trips in a row something has popped up and I've needed to beg for a loaner R1T so I can use my RTT installed on crossbars.

Better yet, we looked at a camper 2 days ago and a backup trip was going to be to Portland to see and maybe buy one. Well, that ain't gonna happen ):

 

[COdogman]

So there wasn’t a pit bull under there?

Well… I’m out of ideas



Seriously I hope it’s not as bad as it sounds

 

[Mellowyellow]

Be sure to look up and send them diagrams from the repair manual beforehand, just like you do for members here (which is extremely appreciated btw) haha! Best of luck brother!

 

[godfodder0901]

At least I could eventually still drive afterwards, a very different experience from the rod I shot in the old Honda...

2022 Quad large R1T, original motors

So I'm about to get onto the freeway with two turn lanes and want to gun it around Grandma to make sure I make the light, so I punch it. I've done this plenty of times before at the same intersection. This time, it felt like my rear wheels ran over a 2x4 and a pitbull growling back. Sure enough, turtle mode pops on and AWD limited message. I limp to the next exit driving 30 on the shoulder with it whining the whole time. I park, get roadside on the horn, do a hard reset that clears it, try again, and went about 10 feet with the most God awful crunching sound. They say try Conserve mode, I went down the exit, tested on a local road, no noise and no lights.

I was able to limp home and have an appointment at Fife Thursday. Yes, they offered to tow and get me in first thing tomorrow, but it drove and I'm way too busy tomorrow (Thanks, politicians).

I did not get a red motor failure light, just the yellow turtle and a yellow limited AWD performance icon. Both are gone right now, and of course I didn't get a photo with all the craziness happening. Has anyone heard/experienced this before? What say you?

My money is on disconnect module. What do y'all think? Whole rear drive unit?

I just crawled under and something clearly isn't right where the passenger rear halfshaft connects. Could it be a motor tearing a halfshaft?

Here's driver side rear to compare:

Official diagnosis? Shit's dicked...

 

[majorfriend]

I had something very similar happen in my LE R1T.

Turned out to be the disconnect, but they replaced both rear motors as well.

 

[CrazyOne]

It must be the clutch or the motor itself. If it was anything else, conserve mode would not have let you drive normally.

They will almost certainly replace the motor and any parts around it, since it happened at speed and partial replacement will be a liability.

 

[AuntRivian]

They replaced my entire rear drive unit all because of a one time fault on the rear left motor temp sensor. They said the early build inverter boards may not have been 100% hermitically sealed and moisture could works its way in over time. They'll replace your whole drive unit, which includes the half shafts.

I don't think it's the disconnect, that seems to be working right. Looks like it's at least the interface of one of the half shafts that's booger'd. It was only an 8 hour job to replace the rear drive unit on my Quad, good luck OP.

Side note, what are these repair diagrams people are talking about? How does one get these? I've been dying to get my hands on the service manual for my R1T.

 

[Nixapatfan]

That's the disconnect a sealed unit relatively simple swap. Though from that picture you can't tell if that is leaking or the gearbox right behind it, you'd have to take the foam down to see for sure. Mine looked just like that and ended up being the missing gearbox plug behind it. If the gearbox is trashed then you'll be getting a whole new motor set.

 

[md2023]

GL. Hope they get you going again soon.

 

[Riviot]

I had something very similar happen in my LE R1T.

Turned out to be the disconnect, but they replaced both rear motors as well.

For you and others, did they say whether it was comprehensive warranty or drivetrain warranty? I'm over 60k miles now, and from my pretty basic Florida public school reading comprehension skills, I read it as a drivetrain issue.

Side note, what are these repair diagrams people are talking about? How does one get these? I've been dying to get my hands on the service manual for my R1T.

See attached, and DM me if you need any specific!

Edit to replace guides with gifs, Rivian caught me

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