[pcons]

Ok, so this is driving me a little crazy trying to understand. Hopefully I'm missing something:

So I can't remote start my gen2 at the end of the day anymore either through the fob or OnStar. OnStar just says it failed, and when I try the fob the tail lights blink once then nothing. It basically behaves like the car thinks it already did 2x remote starts, which is the limit without power cycling.

Thing is, when I test it at home parked in garage it remote starts. It used to do it fine at work before it got colder, but it's still around 5C outside so not crazy cold.

A co worker of mine also has a gen 2, and I tested his which was parked right beside me all day at it remote started fine...so wtf?

My gen 1 never had an issue like this, and another co worker has a gen 1 and he has no issues either...what am I missing here?

I haven't changed any settings, but after looking through the menus there isn't anything that looks to do this anyway....it's almost like my car thinks it ran 2x remote starts at some point during the day. It's plugged into the same L2 chargers the other Volta at work use and they both remote start fine.....any ideas?

 

[Steverino]

Do you have any kind of power brick plugged into the cig outlets? Dash cam? Radar detector? That sort of thing? If so, try unplugging it. Could be EMF interference from cheap power supplies. It's happened before.

 

[voganni]

My gen 1 started doing that at work, on level 1. Works fine at home on level 1 and 2. Today I plugged it into the top socket of the receptacle (I normally use the bottom one) and it worked. Used to work on the bottom one. My theory is the receptacle is getting worn and voltage is dropping and cutting off the remote start. I'm going to install a 20 amp receptacle and see if things improve.

 

[somms]

If any of the conditions listed below occur, a remote start event may be aborted or cancelled:
• Vehicle doors are ajar
• Rear compartment lid is ajar
• The bonnet is open
• The doors are not locked
• The hazard switch is ON
• Vehicle power mode is incorrect
• Vehicle speed is greater than 0
• Transmission is not in P
• Excessive engine coolant temperature
• Low oil pressure
• The malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) is commanded ON
• Engine crank time is greater than 30 seconds
• Excessive engine speed
• Accelerator pedal position too high
• Remote start timer equals 0
• Immobiliser system indicates a theft attempt
• Vehicle propulsion system fault conditions
• High voltage battery fault conditions

 

[pcons]

Hmm, thanks for the suggestions. To answer some questions:

I do have a dash cam installed with a USB/cig lighter adaptor plug. But when I try remote start at home it's also plugged in at it works there.

I don't think I have any of the conditions Somms lists affecting me.

Today I'll try two things I guess:

1. I'll try to remote start as soon as I get to work and plug in to the same l2 plug.

2. Try and remote start after being plugged in for a few hours, but not yet fully charged (it's at the end of the day I'm noticing the problem, after the charge cycle has completed and the car was sitting for a few hours in the charged state).

3. Maybe tomorrow I'll try plugging in to a different l2 plug and see if that matters.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[kns]

Unlikely but could also be the 12v battery exposed to cold and not being charged after the traction battery is finished charging. If your other tests are fruitless, you could try having the 12v battery tested under load.

KNS

 

[Steverino]

I'd still try unplugging the dash cam power brick. It's simple, easy and would definitively eliminate that as a potential cause.

 

[Arcanox]

If any of the conditions listed below occur, a remote start event may be aborted or cancelled:

• Engine crank time is greater than 30 seconds

Just curious...does that even apply to the Volt? I would expect the engine cranking to time out around 3-5 seconds since it cranks at over 1000 RPM, but does that even matter for the remote start? I would think remote start would only check that the high voltage system starts correctly.

 

[voganni]

Gen 2's probably trickle charge the 12v battery when plugged in after charging, since this started in 2013. See if you can remote start at work with car unplugged from EVSE.

 

[pcons]

So I wasn't able to get to the car 'mid charge' today, but I did try unplugging the dash cam and anything else in the USB ports. I also plugged into a different charge port today. I just tried remote starting from onstar and got a failed message, so doesn't look like any of that changed the behavior.

When I leave the office in an our or so I'll try unplugging and remote starting with it unplugged and report back later tonight.

 

[pcons]

So, some progress to report and a potential root cause to the problem, as unlikely as it may seem. First an update on what I have tried that didnt work:

1. Different L2 plug
2. Remote start while charging or just after charge cycle completes
3. Unplug dash cam and all adaptors and usb ports
4. Start car, shut off, exit, try remote start.
5. Start car, put in gear, drive forwards 10 feet, go back and park, shut off and try remote start.

All of the above made no change, this morning I thought the only 'difference' left was that I typically back into my parking spot instead of going in forward....and guess what? That seems to be the difference!

When i 'back' into the space the car is at a slight (very slight) down angle...maybe a couple of degrees, but it is enough that the car would roll forward in neutral....so I'm guessing this is throwing off the fluid level sensor for the battery cooling system, or something like that?

Anyway, I haven't popped the hood yet to check what the level is, will do that later, but this morning I parked 'nose in' and was able to remote start twice with no issues (once during the charge cycle, once after it completed). Then after coming back from lunch, I backed into the spot, and just now tried a remote start from onstar and it 'failed'....so that's proof enough for me I think.

Crazy its that sensitive.....

 

[Arcanox]

How much gas is in your tank? I don't think Remote Start will work if the fuel is below a certain level, even if the ICE shouldn't kick in. Having it parked on a slope will change the observed fuel level.

 

[pcons]

How much gas is in your tank? I don't think Remote Start will work if the fuel is below a certain level, even if the ICE shouldn't kick in. Having it parked on a slope will change the observed fuel level.

that's a good question....I do have 120km of reported range so I'm not in 'low' gas range. On my gen1 I know that you could only do 1x remote start when the fuel gauge read low, so its a good though.

 

[Steverino]

Sthis morning I parked 'nose in' and was able to remote start twice with no issues (once during the charge cycle, once after it completed). Then after coming back from lunch, I backed into the spot, and just now tried a remote start from onstar and it 'failed'....so that's proof enough for me I think.

The process of eliminating all the obvious sometimes highlights the non-obvious. Cool but crazy find! Thanks for letting us know, pcons. Talk about odd. Imagine taking the car in to the dealer, they likely NEVER would have been able to reproduce the issue given it seems to be terrain slope specific. Wow.

 

[quirkySquirt]

Hear-hear! Awaiting anxiously for your confirmation about the fuel level (maybe top off and try backing into parking again to see if it works with full tank?) triggering protection from remote starts on low fuel.

 

[kns]

... this morning I thought the only 'difference' left was that I typically back into my parking spot instead of going in forward....and guess what? That seems to be the difference! ...

Could be that the antenna is in a slightly different position.

KNS

 

[pcons]

So I finally popped my hood, and did notice that the coolant levels were low on the engine coolant surge tank (one closest to the driver in the engine bay). I already have an appointment scheduled tomorrow to look at something else, and I'll have the dealer look at the levels and top up as required. Seems a little strange why the levels would be low or borderline low on 2/3 of the tanks, so I'd like to have them check things out.

Images below...

The other two levels look ok I think, but want to see what you guys think? The HV battery coolant tank (left one at front of vehicle) is a little on the low side (see pic)?

Incidentally, you can see the angle the car is at when parked forwards in this pic by the angle of the fluid.

The one on the right looks ok (power electronics reservoir, tough to get it at a good angle).

 

[quirkySquirt]

Is the 2nd pic the same tank as the top tank in 1st pic? If so, that tank definitely looks low. Especially if the coolant has warmed up already if you've driven to work on battery and gas and then took your pics. Seems like something dealer can/should correct.

Any chance to test if a full tank fixes the orientation-specific remote start?

 

[pcons]

Is the 2nd pic the same tank as the top tank in 1st pic? If so, that tank definitely looks low. Especially if the coolant has warmed up already if you've driven to work on battery and gas and then took your pics. Seems like something dealer can/should correct.

Any chance to test if a full tank fixes the orientation-specific remote start?

Yes, the second pic is the top tank in the first pic. But the drive to work was ev only so the gas engine didn't turn on.

I'll probably have to top up on gas after getting the car back from the dealer because I can see thru the OnStar ask app that they've burned almost 3L while it's there.... That's more than I've used in 3 months :/

 

[Prohidium]

And this is exactly why I love this site. So many interesting things people share about their volt experiences and what we all gain from it!

Chalk this one up to excellent trouble shooting skills by the OP!!