Traction Motor Assembly - DIY Repair

Edit : original title of this thread was : Replacing the Motor in French Cars.

This is an issue I have only seen on the French forum or the Norwegian forum where they specifically state the car has been imported from France.

1/ French MY2017 Soul EV (3000km) - [panne clé orange] moteur à remplacer

First breakdown this morning!
Suddenly rolling the ignition key is not detected ... This results in the appearance of the light and stops the engine and all the audience (brakes and steering wheel), it's pretty scary :shock:
I tried to make a start / stop, the car went back but the phenomenon was repeated a few kilometres away. In short, the soul has finished on the tow truck, diagnostic and ongoing repairs at the dealership ...
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Some news from the workshop. It seems that the failure had nothing to do with the key! In fact the problem is related to a failure of a speed sensor and the key of light illuminated by edge effect ...
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After...
The sensor in question is located in the electric motor and can be detailed. Repair requires the engine of change for sensor calibration related reasons can be done only in factory

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2/ Norwegian Soul EV imported from France (1700km) - Error message and full stop - someone who has experienced the same ?!

First post here on the forum and unfortunately negative nature:
Three weeks old 2016 Soul, taking scarce 1600km. Today happened something strange, it clicked suddenly disconnected motor brake and accelerated, came with a short message "Check electric vehicle system" and then came three warning lights on: TPMS, battery and EV warning triangle (see photo, text forecast cut from the web when it quickly disappeared). Beating off and ran quietly home, but managed to elicit this again right outside the house. Someone who has experienced similar and have any idea, or simply book an appointment with a dealer?
I've checked the "standard" battery, it shows 12.6 V.
Update: same problem today, put it down from a dealer, I'll take it from there tomorrow morning. Bummer.
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The workshop believes it is wrong on the engine, they have known had they on 3-4 cars earlier. Getting it finally confirmed a few days, the motor must be replaced, we are without a car a 2-6 weeks depending. So it was a bit harsh ....
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Won the car back in the day, preliminary works all like being on care. Ended up switching engine, it is known a shaft which may have tolerances inside the engine, then replace the entire engine. Was said that this had had on some cars in France, and our Soul is actually taken from France ... Bad luck where that is.

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Also have a look at this page - Check EV System light came on briefly

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Resurrecting this thread to thank you for posting this issue, because I had EXACTLY this happen with my vehicle and it is perhaps the only instance of the same thing happening that I could find despite weeks of research, so finally finding this post was a huge help and relief.

My circumstances are slightly different, though. Obviously these reports are from 2016, when these were still new vehicles, whereas my 2016 Soul EV had this happen just after midnight on January 1, 2025 with about 155K miles. That's right, it happened very much outside of warranty.

Anyway, same thing happened, I was driving about 75mph on the freeway, when all of sudden there was a grinding sound along with the TPMS, Check EV System, and 12V battery warning lights. Pulled over and the car could move, but it was much noisier, making a loud grinding sound as it moved. It seemed to improve a bit and was able to drive for about 40 more miles over the next couple days until once again the same thing happened, only this time the car could not be coaxed to start again. It would turn on normally, but as soon as you put your foot on the brake pedal to shift out of park, the Check EV System light fired and the HV system clicked off. The trouble codes were P0AA6 and P0A43 at the initial failure. Later, when it would shut off upon pressing the brake pedal, it threw the code P0A78, which was a little confusing because that code is associated with "Drive Motor Inverter Performance."

Once I found this thread, given that the reported issues were 100% identical to what happened to me, I knew this must be the problem and ordered a new traction motor from a junkyard for $1175 shipped. Installed the motor myself which was a very involved project but doable for someone handy -- basically at the absolute limit of my abilities but much more approachable than something like an ICE.

AFAIK this vehicle is fully US market, so perhaps it is an issue to look out for as your Soul EV gets up there in mileage.

Thanks for posting this and am glad you have fixed this.
Traction motor failures are very rare. After these reports from France in 2016 we haven't heard any more.
Edit : More of these problems are now being found / reported.
Contrasts with a lot of transmission failures.
Paying $1175 for a used motor is a good deal.
On Kia Parts a new motor costs $5334.50

I have changed the title of this thread to reflect that this issue could effect all Soul EVs not just French ones. Also the emphasis is now on DIY because for most warranty is no longer available.

Thanks Perez.
Some points from that video and the comments below it.
The car had done 198,000km
The replacement motor was a refurbished one. He doesn't mention the cost.

The problem with bearings in Korean cars is quite well known, it occurs because the rotor is not grounded and induced currents in the rotor pass through the bearings and damage them.
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The Kona and Niro have some relatively common motor and reduction gear faults, mine got a new motor under warranty just before 40k miles. The design is similar but the problems seem less common with the Soul.
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My Ioniq 28kWh (185k km) had the same issue: some metal from bearing did come loose. Engine was fixed (by @vanderwougroep9115): new bearings, new comms sensor ring and soldering 1 copper wire that was damaged by the loose metal element.

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There are also comments about motor sensor faults here :- Soul 2015 - Check EV system (error) / battery cooling failure?