[Update: Made It Out!] Drive Motor Failure During Off-roading Excursion Through Water Crossing

[Sgt Beavis]

Very happy you got out. PLEASE keep us posted. I’ll be taking my R1T on the trails, a lot, this year. That water crosing wasn’t very deep and the R1T’s fording depth is supposed to be just over 43 inches. (which is frankly amazing)

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[Riviot]

Wheelin in Tahuya State Forest in Washington state.

Dang, brother! Wish I saw this yesterday. I live 30 minutes from Tahuya, would've been happy to drag you out.

I will say, though, you only go there once in winter/spring. Save the fun for when it dries up and solidifies!

 

[Rasputin]

Subsc

Wheelin in Tahuya State Forest in Washington state.

Hey Steve,

For all of us that take these things off road (like they were designed?) can you help us understand how hard you attacked that standing water before your truck died? If you're uncomfortable sharing online maybe just shoot me a DM. Curious if you were just crawling through or if it occurred after multiple water crossings in a long day. Kind of a reliability concern, and would expect you to be seriously pissed if this just happened randomly. Can't wait to find out more about how Rivian says this happened. Something just doesn't make sense... It started back up then died again. Either way totally sucks and glad you got out okay and didn't need a rock crawler to get you out.

 

[Wrinks]

Subsc


Hey Steve,

For all of us that take these things off road (like they were designed?) can you help us understand how hard you attacked that standing water before your truck died? If you're uncomfortable sharing online maybe just shoot me a DM. Curious if you were just crawling through or if it occurred after multiple water crossings in a long day. Kind of a reliability concern, and would expect you to be seriously pissed if this just happened randomly. Can't wait to find out more about how Rivian says this happened. Something just doesn't make sense... It started back up then died again. Either way totally sucks and glad you got out okay and didn't need a rock crawler to get you out.

I went down there back in February () and we attacked those exact puddles with vim and vigor while they still had ice chunks floating in them. 0/3 of our trucks had issues. This is probably an unexpected failure of OP’s truck, rather than a design issue with the vehicle.

My guess is water incursion in to a motor thru a bad seal. Given time, it drained a bit and temporarily worked again. Stuff happens. It’ll get fixed and they’ll hit it again! I certainly don’t expect a brand new truck from a brand new company to be completely bulletproof.

 

[SeaGeo]

Dang, brother! Wish I saw this yesterday. I live 30 minutes from Tahuya, would've been happy to drag you out.

I will say, though, you only go there once in winter/spring. Save the fun for when it dries up and solidifies!

Are you coming to the ECRC event out there at the end of summer???

 

[SeaGeo]

I went down there back in February () and we attacked those exact puddles with vim and vigor while they still had ice chunks floating in them. 0/3 of our trucks had issues. This is probably an unexpected failure of OP’s truck, rather than a design issue with the vehicle.

My guess is water incursion in to a motor thru a bad seal. Given time, it drained a bit and temporarily worked again. Stuff happens. It’ll get fixed and they’ll hit it again! I certainly don’t expect a brand new truck from a brand new company to be completely bulletproof.

I totally agree with @Wrinks, this sounds like unintended water intrusion from a bad seal or something.

 

[SeattleSteve]

It

I went down there back in February () and we attacked those exact puddles with vim and vigor while they still had ice chunks floating in them. 0/3 of our trucks had issues. This is probably an unexpected failure of OP’s truck, rather than a design issue with the vehicle.

My guess is water incursion in to a motor thru a bad seal. Given time, it drained a bit and temporarily worked again. Stuff happens. It’ll get fixed and they’ll hit it again! I certainly don’t expect a brand new truck from a brand new company to be completely bulletproof.

This was the second water feature that I drove through. They were consecutive--in the first, out, and right into the second. I don't think I drove into the water with too much speed; water splashed onto the hood, but the water swell stayed below the hood.

My local Rivian service center reached out already and it'll be a front drive unit replacement.

 

[Riviot]

Are you coming to the ECRC event out there at the end of summer???

Do we have solid dates yet? As long as it doesn't conflict with previous plans, hell yeah!

 

[SeaGeo]

[YeahQUOTE="Riviot, post: 317491, member: 2398"]
Do we have solid dates yet? As long as it doesn't conflict with previous plans, hell yeah!
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, it's on the ECRC website calendar.

 

[dleepnw]

That did the trick! Any way to reset the battery connection? I thought I saw someone do this when they shipped the Rivian.

what did the trick?

 

[SeattleSteve]

what did the trick?

Steps 4-7

 

[Truffle]

Indeed this looked like a stressful day with an almost optimal outcome.. thanks for sharing OP

 

[SeaGeo]

@SeattleSteve any info from the SC as to what the cause is/was?

 

[White Shadow]

Very happy you got out. PLEASE keep us posted. I’ll be taking my R1T on the trails, a lot, this year. That water crosing wasn’t very deep and the R1T’s fording depth is supposed to be just over 43 inches. (which is frankly amazing)

It kind of amazes me that an electric vehicle can be safely driven in 43" of water. Somehow I just have it in my head that electricity and water don't mix, so they must have really done a good job at keeping everything as watertight as possible.

I know on some ICE vehicles that are meant for serious offroading, they put a lot of the electrical wiring up as high as possible (often routed along the underside of the roof) just to avoid electrical shorts and whatnot from water crossings. But the battery and the drivetrain of an EV is already very low in the vehicle, so it's amazing that they can be driven through water like that.

 

[electruck]

It kind of amazes me that an electric vehicle can be safely driven in 43" of water. Somehow I just have it in my head that electricity and water don't mix, so they must have really done a good job at keeping everything as watertight as possible.

I know on some ICE vehicles that are meant for serious offroading, they put a lot of the electrical wiring up as high as possible (often routed along the underside of the roof) just to avoid electrical shorts and whatnot from water crossings. But the battery and the drivetrain of an EV is already very low in the vehicle, so it's amazing that they can be driven through water like that.

It's not so much that it's hard to do, the harnesses and connectors just cost more.

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