[nhrabill]

My Volt is being mean to me.

I was in a rush so said no to the fuel maintenance mode 2 times Sunday afternoon and Monday morning cause I was running late like usual. Monday afternoon I had no choice My Volt took matters into its own hands. She ran the motor at will my entire 30 mile ride home last night and kept at it this morning another 30 miles of on and off drinking gas at will. My commute is lower speeds 45-60mph with lots of hills nothing big. I didn't receive any completed notification that I am aware of. I dread another drive using gas again I like bragging that I get over 2,500MPG

I have 14,125 miles on the car and it is still dealer gas Last few months I have been driving like I stole it. I don't mind burning gas when I need it but last night I rolled into my driveway with 61 miles of EV range and this morning I had 59 Miles of range when I parked at the top of the parking garage.

Will my Volt drink all of the dealer Gas before it is done? I can't stop it from running I was trying to make the full 15,000 miles on that tank of gas

I know I am being petty but absolutely hate the sound of the engine cycling on and off.

Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[Barry]

I think you have to pump fuel into the tank to end the FMM. I'm not sure how much, but I believe it is a ratio based on the amount of gas in the tank. You have to bring the average age below some limit, like 6 months or something. Or you can let it run out of gas and then pump just a small amount (1.5G?). I have not hit FMM myself and never will, so not too up on the precise details. I am sure others will fill them in for you better than I can.

 

[16513]

Your grief is self-inflicted. Add some fresh gas and just enjoy driving. Use Hold mode now and then.

 

[mr_raider]

If it's dealer initial gas tank, good news is you didn't pay for it. So burn it off at will. Run the heat on max and roast marshmallows. Even better, every time you run the battery down, use Mountain mode and reclaim 2 bars of juice. Your essentially converting the dealer's money back in to electricity.

 

[jeff_h]

Will my Volt drink all of the dealer Gas before it is done? I can't stop it from running I was trying to make the full 15,000 miles on that tank of gas

Yes, it will burn it all off as I went through it last month and it kept burning it until it was gone and the "reduced propulsion" came on -- I was at 36k miles and it took my MPG from 18,000 down to 4,000... but oh well, like someone else noted above, it was the dealer's gas from the drive off the lot.

 

[electrcglide]

Your grief is self-inflicted. Add some fresh gas and just enjoy driving. Use Hold mode now and then.

FMM occurs when you gasoline is stale, you must burn off at least a half a tank, refill with fresh fuel and you will be OK...

 

[Steverino]

Yes, add enough fresh fuel to bring the average age of the gasoline to 6 or 12 months (I forget which it is since I always use a little gas FMM is foreign to me). Some diehards simply draw the tank down to near empty and splash a gallon in so next time the burn is minimal.

 

[alfon]

Never an issue with us. At least twice a month or so we take a nice drive to Portland Oregon via Highway 26, 180 miles round trip. We are still averaging 131 mpg since new on our 2016 Volt LTZ. With mpg's just on gas over 45 mpg, last trip 46.6 mpg, using the gas engine is not a big deal, as most cars, not even some of the eco box models, get those mpg's. Besides, I believe running the engine a couple of times a month is good for the internal components.

 

[telveer]

FMM is designed to prevent fuel from going stale. If your tank was near full when FMM happened, then, you have no option but to burn at least half a tank. You can then fill the tank and bring the average age of the fuel below 1 year. If you don't have plans for using gas anytime soon, I suggest keeping only a gallon or two in the tank (just enough to beat the LOW warning). When the next FMM happens, you can either add a few gallons to prevent it from happening, or drain the tank and add another gallon or two of fresh fuel.

 

[wordptom]

FMM occurs when the computer calculates the average age of the gas in the tank to be approximately one year old. You have the option of postponing it for 24 hours.

Once it starts, the Volt runs in Extended Range mode (i.e., uses the ICE) until the average age of gas in the tank is no longer 12 months old (i.e., you must add new gas). You won’t be able to run on grid power from the battery, even if the battery is fully charged.

You can choose to drive until the gas tank runs dry (at which point you regain the use of the battery, but since the gas engine is no longer available, you’ll operate in Reduced Propulsion mode until you get more gas). This provides the longest interval until the next FMM (~ 12 months). There’s a minimum amount you must add to an empty tank to End the FMM (~1.5 gallons). After you refuel and start the car, the ICE will run briefly to check itself out, and then turn itself off and return you to normal Electric mode.

Adding ANY amount of fresh gas lowers the "average age" of the total. I suspect it takes adding a minimum of ~1.5 gallons of new gas to End the FMM. If you add, say, 2 gallons of new gas to a tank containing 6 gallons of 12-month-old gas, you end up with a tank containing 8 gallons whose average age is ~9 months old, and the next FMM message will pop up 3 months later, and then you’ll have 8 gallons of old gas to deal with instead of the 6 you had only 3 months earlier...

 

[voganni]

It really is a good idea for the engine to run at least a little. Moisture will collect as temperatures vary, and rust can form on things like cam lobes, cylinder walls, and other ferrous metal parts. Engines aren't like electric motors, sitting without running is one of the worst scenarios for them. The Volt tries to mitigate this, but I don't feel it's enough. That little engine is what gives you unrestricted mobility! Treat it to a nice warm-up every couple weeks.

 

[chrisfl]

Trade the Volt in for a Bolt problem solved.

 

[srmarti]

My Volt is being mean to me.

Will my Volt drink all of the dealer Gas before it is done? I can't stop it from running I was trying to make the full 15,000 miles on that tank of gas

I know I am being petty but absolutely hate the sound of the engine cycling on and off.

Any suggestions appreciated.

My suggestion is don't waste all the emotional energy on the car behaving as designed. Adding fresh fuel will stop FMM. You might want to consider maintaining less than a full tank to minimize fuel to consume by future FMM cycles.

 

[Kraven]

Trade the Volt in for a Bolt problem solved.

This was my first thought, so +1 here

It really is a good idea for the engine to run at least a little. Moisture will collect as temperatures vary, and rust can form on things like cam lobes, cylinder walls, and other ferrous metal parts. Engines aren't like electric motors, sitting without running is one of the worst scenarios for them. The Volt tries to mitigate this, but I don't feel it's enough. That little engine is what gives you unrestricted mobility! Treat it to a nice warm-up every couple weeks.

My suggestion is don't waste all the emotional energy on the car behaving as designed.

And this was my 2nd thought, +1 here too. Engines were built to be used and stay healthiest this way, just like your body and exercise. "A body at rest, tends to stay at rest. A body in motion, tends to stay in motion." Use the Volt as stated above, you never know when you might actually want/need the generator to provide the extended range, again as designed.

 

[Glenerd]

U.S. Army saying, "The truck most likely to start this morning is the truck that started yesterday morning". I make sure the gas engine runs for seven to ten miles weekly, enough to thoroughly warm it up. I have done that for years with vehicles that are sporadically used and it seems to keep them running and dependable.

 

[wordptom]

U.S. Army saying, "The truck most likely to start this morning is the truck that started yesterday morning". I make sure the gas engine runs for seven to ten miles weekly, enough to thoroughly warm it up. I have done that for years with vehicles that are sporadically used and it seems to keep them running and dependable.

And since a Volt driven 7-10 gas miles/week would thus travel 364-520 gas miles/year, requiring 9.1-13 gallons of gas to satisfy its ~40 MPGcs thirst (your mileage may vary), you would also use up a tank of gas in the same period of time, eliminating the need for an FMM to burn off the old gas...

 

[eDreamin']

It really is a good idea for the engine to run at least a little. Moisture will collect as temperatures vary, and rust can form on things like cam lobes, cylinder walls, and other ferrous metal parts. ... The Volt tries to mitigate this, but I don't feel it's enough. ... Treat it to a nice warm-up every couple weeks.

... I make sure the gas engine runs for seven to ten miles weekly, enough to thoroughly warm it up. I have done that for years with vehicles that are sporadically used and it seems to keep them running and dependable.

Nice to know that we've got folks on the forum who know more about the Volt's engine than the engineers who designed and built the thing. Otherwise, if I just followed the recommendations in the owners manual, I might destroy my lovely machine!

Sorry for the sarcasm, but really, people, we're in the year 2016 now. Practices from the 1970s (and earlier?) do not apply any more, particularly with automobile engines. They're built better, lubricated better, and run better-- certainly better than an Army truck! Try looking up Engine Maintenance Mode in your manual. That's all you need. Just let the car do what it was built to do!

 

[mr_raider]

As I said in another thread, if it bothers you, siphon the gas and sell it.

 

[Michaelh310]

I can understand the fun and challenge of getting a Volt to use essentially no gasoline, but a pure EV is a much better way to do that. Plus you get 80 mile class range, even today, rather than 40 mile class Volt electric range.

I know it's fun to be able to say you still have the gas that was delivered with the car, but it's even more fun to say there is no place to add gas, and there is no tailpipe.

 

[sparty]

I was wondering about this myself.. I wasn't sure if I transfer gas from the Volt to it's gas loving cousin (Suburban), if the Volt would recognize the gas was siphoned out or if it actually went off usage based on the fuel injection durations. Sounds like it does recognize gas siphoned out and my E85 Suburban is going to share the ethanol love..

http://www.voltstats.net/Stats/Details/8138