2013 Volt - Intermittent charge issues

8434 Views 49 Replies 13 Participants Last post by lexcyn, Oct 31, 2017

lexcyn

Discussion Starter · Jul 22, 2017

So here's a weird issue that I can't figure out. Periodically I will take a short drive in the morning (maybe 10km or so), then come home and plug in. Yellow light will stay on and I will get the message "Unable to charge" and my range is now down to 0. Turn the car on and get the "Service High Voltage System" and "Propulsion power reduced" messages. OK. Remove 12v negative, put it back, messages are gone, car will charge fine and range is back to where it should be, no issues.

I just replaced the 12v battery with a new one thinking that was the problem, but it still persists. This has happened to me twice in the past month, always in the morning. I'm wondering if it could be my L2 charger (using an EVSEUpgrade.com Nissan unit) or maybe the dreaded coolant sensor issue?

Dealer had "fixed" this in the winter by "reprogramming" the battery computer but I'm assuming they just reflashed it and it reset the errors.

The only codes I could get were from a check engine light that I normally receive when there are power quality issues with charging (P1E00 & P0D22). After I reset the 12v there are no codes and everything works fine.

Specs:2013 Volt, 106,000km, L2 charging (EVSEUpgrade.com Nissan unit @ 20amp) plugged into 30a dryer plug

Help!

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jbakerjonathan

· #9 · Jul 22, 2017

lexcyn said:
Thanks, I will try that next time. The error did occur with the stock 120v charger back in the winter time and that's when I drove to the dealer in "limp" mode. I think it could be the onboard charger as it seems to be worse using L2 chargers (more current = more chance for failure?). I just wish there was a code or something they could check electrical wise to determine if that's the point of failure - but I know they will charge me $ to diagnose the issue if there are no codes since I am just on the extended Voltec warranty now.

A thought: what current setting do you use when charging? Does the problem occur with the 8 amp setting?

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jbakerjonathan

· #31 · Aug 25, 2017

I don't think that the dealer's Voltec Technician got an A in the course... just guessin'

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jbakerjonathan

· #37 · Sep 9, 2017

I've got my fingers crossed for you. The Volt is really a fine car that is usually trouble-free. When it goes bad, it is hard to diagnose by someone not trained in doing Voltec repair... it's a new animal. That's why Volts must be worked on only by trained technicians. The Volt Technician has to have native intelligence and be able to think things through, IMHO.

Good luck to you and let us know how things turn out with your problem.

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jbakerjonathan

· #39 · Sep 11, 2017

lexcyn said:
Thanks - and yeah, I agree. The tech working on my car is a new Volt certified tech so he is going through all of their processes step by step and not really doing any critical thinking.

What I am wondering though - and maybe someone with a little more electrical knowledge can chime in - so he tested the resistance values from the cable that connects the onboard charger to the battery, it was supposed to read infinite (or no) resistance, but one of the legs was 52k ohms - now, this could very well be the onboard charger, but it could also be the HV cable going TO the charger. They are not replacing that cable as far as I am aware. I was actually thinking of just paying the $150 CAD for the cable and have them replace it at the same time just to make sure there are no more issues.

Thoughts?

I wouldn't do that. Things might end up with the finding that something else entirely different has caused the problem and then you would have spent many Loonies for nothing. Let things take their course.

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