Phillipe44,
I had the same problem and similar experience as you with the UM2. Amazing machine when it worked but underextrusion was a major issue, I felt like I tried everything. The upgrade to the UM2+ was the best thing ever done to my machine. Honestly, I wouldn't be considering a 3 if Ultimaker hadn't got the 2 printing consistently at this level. Since then, I think I've had over 2000 hours of printing and the only issue I've run into was this one with the stepper gear.
I contacted support (fbrc8) and they promptly sent me new stepper with the longer gear attached. While it was shipping I decided to super glue it as a temporary fix. That was 500+ hours ago, I expect it to fail again and when it does I'll spend the time to take it apart and reassemble with the new stepper.