2012 volt "initializing..wait to shift"

458 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Mteller80, 5 d ago

Mteller80

Discussion Starter · 8 d ago

Sorry if this isn't the correct place to post new to the forum.
I bought a 2012 volt around 2 years ago. Only had 40k mile. Has around 89k miles now. Has been a great car till last week. I got the "initializing...wait to shift" that would stay on longer than normal. Than could shift into any gear but no response. I replaced the 12v battery no change. I tried the service mode trick no change. Talked to the dealer and they say code P0d5e is coming up. They want to remove the HV battery to check more things. Is this normal? I see a few post with this same issue but some don't say what the dealership did to resolve this problem. Thanks in advance for any information.

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sbachman7117

· #2 · 8 d ago

I recently had that lovely experience again...
I got the car going by putting a charger (in AGM mode) on the 12V battery. I then monitored the voltage and found it sagging to near 12V. My recollection is that a healthy AGM battery should be well above 12V, so yesterday I bought a new one. So far, so good, but not sure I'm out of the woods yet.
Have you checked the voltage on your new battery? I'm wondering about whether it might be an issue with the charging system (in both mine and yours.)
Good luck!

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Mteller80

Discussion Starter · #3 · 8 d ago

sbachman7117 said:
I recently had that lovely experience again...
I got the car going by putting a charger (in AGM mode) on the 12V battery. I then monitored the voltage and found it sagging to near 12V. My recollection is that a healthy AGM battery should be well above 12V, so yesterday I bought a new one. So far, so good, but not sure I'm out of the woods yet.
Have you checked the voltage on your new battery? I'm wondering about whether it might be an issue with the charging system (in both mine and yours.)
Good luck!

I didn't check voltage of new battery before I had it towed to dealer.
I did stop by dealer Friday to get something out of the car and they had a jump box on the post under the hood. The tech didn't look to thrilled to be working on my volt. So I didn't asked any questions.

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ddm2k

· #4 · 8 d ago

Mteller80 said:
I didn't check voltage of new battery before I had it towed to dealer.
I did stop by dealer Friday to get something out of the car and they had a jump box on the post under the hood. The tech didn't look to thrilled to be working on my volt. So I didn't asked any questions.

AGM off the store shelf might only register 12.2 - 12.8 but it just requires a higher float voltage to stay charged. 14.7 versus like 13.5 for lead acid.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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hellsop

· #5 · 7 d ago

P0d5e is a code that sets (basically) when the underhood charge module and the main battery don't fully disconnect. There's a bunch of relays ("Contactors") that are controlled by the car to allow that wiring run to be charged up, switched on, switched off, and discharged again before and after a charge cycle. (When you plug in and get the orange light for a couple of seconds, that's what it's doing: charging up that wiring, and closing switches while the voltages are close to the same so there's less arcing.) The problem is that if the contactors were commanded to open (disconnect) at the end of the charge cycle, and the voltage on the wiring between the charger and the battery doesn't go down, something is still connected somewhere and that's bad. So the car disables itself. The problem could be in the charger, it could be the wiring, it could be the switches, and it could be the battery in some weird ways, and they do have to drop the battery to check some of the things. I know, that's bad news. Sorry...

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Mteller80

Discussion Starter · #6 · 6 d ago

Update....dealership just called says main relay is bad. 3k to replace it. GM won't help me since is 3 years past warranty. Car only has 89k mile. GM has just lost a life long customer. You buy a low mileage car thinking you won't have issues with it. Don't think id have issues with a gas car with 89k miles. Sorry for the rant just frustrated

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hellsop

· #7 · 6 d ago

So, "switches" then. Sorry for your loss.

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Steverino

· #8 · 6 d ago

Mteller80 said:
GM won't help me since is 3 years past warranty.

Are all automotive warranties good for up to 5 years after expiration?

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Mteller80

Discussion Starter · #9 · 6 d ago

Steverino said:
Are all automotive warranties good for up to 5 years after expiration?

I'd say probably not. But with only 89k miles you think they would help me a little. I don't expect them to pick up the whole bill but a little help. It is what it is. Thanks for the reply 👍🏻

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Steverino

· #10 · 5 d ago

Ah.

So your expectiation on an 8 year/100k mile warranty is 11 years, and no year limit if miles are under 100k.

I'm not aware of any car warranty that has no year limit as long as the miles are under a certain number.

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stevon

· #11 · 5 d ago

majically,

Sounds like a bummer for sure, sorry abut your predicament. Some folks get mad at me when I describe my Volt as an "experimental vehicle" but in some ways it is. An Ice car has had over a hundred years to work out all the "bugs" and they weren't reliable either in the 20's when they started mass production. GM can't possibly predict every single part failure in the "wild" on an "experimental" car. They're still spending millions on warranty claims on their entire line of cars and trucks. When you buy an aircraft level of technology cheaper than the cost of an average house, there are going to be shortfalls somewhere. Not useful information I know but something to consider......

Stephen

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Mteller80

Discussion Starter · #12 · 5 d ago

Steverino said:
Ah.

So your expectiation on an 8 year/100k mile warranty is 11 years, and no year limit if miles are under 100k.

I'm not aware of any car warranty that has no year limit as long as the miles are under a certain number.

I agree!

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