[clint fisher]

Has anyone else noticed a direct correlation between the 12v battery voltage and BECM glitching?
I have been using my Dave Jones "121GW" bluetooth multimeter to graph voltages while driving.
Pretty much every glitch has been when the +12v rail drops below 12.6v, which seems to happen occasionally during daylight, when the 12v charger presumably lets the 12v battery "float".
I have found that running with the headlights on causes the 12v charger to not let the battery float and thus prevents glitching.

So my current "workaround regime", while I wait for the part is:

• Trickle charge the 12v battery with -12 lead disconnected when not driving (leaving about 60% SOC on traction battery). (leaving it connected while on the battery maintainer seems to work, but why not give the BECM a rest?)
• To drive, disconnect trickle charger, reconnect -12v lead.
• Right after starting the car, I turn on headlights to keep 12 rail at about 13.7v.
• During the drive, if it's long enough, I run in HOLD mode to keep the engine freshly lubed in case of RPMode.
• I can only spend a short time at the destination before the -12v rail gets down in the range of glitching the BECM while it's parked.
• I keep a GOOLOO boost-pack that does 15v with me if I need to bring the 12v rail back up above 12.6v to "bootstrap" the BECM.

I know I'm risking being stranded, but so far this works, at least this gives me the chance to keep the car exercised rather than rotting while waiting for the BECM replacement.

Hmm. I should probably start a new "BECM glitch mitigation" thread about this...

 

[AntiChevyVoltOwner]

Yes this is nuts. They need to issue a buyback if they cannot repair them in an adequate amount of time. I have been thru this with other automakers twice. They took care of their customers. I know GM won't though.

 

[Bob K]

Well, we have a "un-plug the EGR ,replace F3 fuse" work around, right?
If it is as simple as adding some voltage to the 12v rail to keep the BECM operating
that would be super! I mean you can add voltage to the 12v rail through any of the 12v accessory sockets in the cabin as well. Keep us posted ( please). Your 121 GW multimeter
seems pretty awesome.

 

[Steverino]

Has anyone else noticed a direct correlation between the 12v battery voltage and BECM glitching?

Yes, see 12v system and the pulse width modulated power supply

 

[AntiChevyVoltOwner]

Has anyone waiting this long tried contacting GM corporate offices about this issue rather than just going through the dealer? This is really unacceptable from a customer standpoint.

I thought I read that the part is the same for the Bolt. If that's true, and they're back to building Bolts (which I'm not sure they are), they should pull a bunch from the factory and use them for these repairs.

Has anyone waiting this long tried contacting GM corporate offices about this issue rather than just going through the dealer? This is really unacceptable from a customer standpoint.

I thought I read that the part is the same for the Bolt. If that's true, and they're back to building Bolts (which I'm not sure they are), they should pull a bunch from the factory and use them for these repairs.

When I contacted them the case manager didnt even know what the voltec warranty was. GM is in a really bad place. As soon as it comes back its bye bye...I really like the car but was very skeptical of GM. This experience has confirmed my fears. As other EVs come to market it will be clear that although GM was early to it, their lack of quality and customer service will turn many away. As far as quality, its another SAAB story .

 

[Steverino]

When I contacted them the case manager didnt even know what the voltec warranty was. GM is in a really bad place. As soon as it comes back its bye bye...I really like the car but was very skeptical of GM. This experience has confirmed my fears. As other EVs come to market it will be clear that although GM was early to it, their lack of quality and customer service will turn many away. As far as quality, its another SAAB story .

My 2011 has needed maintenance totaling under $1,000 for 11 years. The GM dealer rarely sees the car other than for infrequent fluid changes. My experience with the dealer has been good which also makes a difference. Of course, I expect an aging battery issue at some point and that may sink my stats. Still, $90/year for maintenance, what an awful, awful car, lol. At this point I was spending $1,500/year on the Volvo I replaced with the Volt.

The Volt was my first GM car, but the experience has been very good. So much so I bought a Bolt EV as well. GM just gave my 5 year old Bolt EV a new battery with 21 more miles range (259 miles now) and a new warranty. I'm very happy.

The supply chain issues are hitting GM (and others) hard. You can blame the manufacturer, but then you'd be blaming everyone from the washing machine makers to refrigerator makers to door makers to wood stain makers because they are all having a difficult time getting parts and raw materials depending on the model and part. This results in delays for consumers who are understandably unhappy. We are used to the BC (Before Covid) world where anything and everything was readily available. The AC supply chain issues have thrown a monkey wrench into that.

 

[AntiChevyVoltOwner]

My 2011 has needed maintenance totaling under $1,000 for 11 years. The GM dealer rarely sees the car other than for infrequent fluid changes. My experience with the dealer has been good which also makes a difference. Of course, I expect an aging battery issue at some point and that may sink my stats. Still, $90/year for maintenance, what an awful, awful car, lol. At this point I was spending $1,500/year on the Volvo I replaced with the Volt.

The Volt was my first GM car, but the experience has been very good. So much so I bought a Bolt EV as well. GM just gave my 5 year old Bolt EV a new battery with 21 more miles range (259 miles now) and a new warranty. I'm very happy.

The supply chain issues are hitting GM (and others) hard. You can blame the manufacturer, but then you'd be blaming everyone from the washing machine makers to refrigerator makers to door makers to wood stain makers because they are all having a difficult time getting parts and raw materials depending on the model and part. This results in delays for consumers who are understandably unhappy. We are used to the BC (Before Covid) world where anything and everything was readily available. The AC supply chain issues have thrown a monkey wrench into that.

yes I agree. But here is the real story... I have a friend that works as a service advisor for Mazda..they have loaners ready and waiting. They didnt sell off of them so that they can take care of their customers. Yes I know thats dealer specific but they are also paying extra at their expense to get parts quicker and not have customers sitting for months waiting on parts. Its easy to cast blame and make excuses now, however if you pay for shipping from china on on the slowest boat possible then tell your customers...sorry supply chain shortage...that means you really dont care about your customers.. I know materials can be short as well, but some automakers have figured out a way. Its all about how much money they want to spend to keep their customers happy. In the case of the volt..the program has ended. It appears to me, GM has decied to put these owners at the bottom of the priority list. Its a shame...I REALLY like the car, kudos to the hard working engineers that made it happen, but my next vehicle will NOT be anything from GM, and with several other automakers making EVs now, they just lost me as a customer. Also case in point, my wife's coworker was going to hold out for a Silverado EV, but after hearing our story as she said "probably not a good idea to buy one from GM after this debacle." His repsonse was "yes your right I should probably not do that." Thats two down. I, like everyone else here, is bummed about this. I was going to get a BOLT EUV after a year of owning this car... I just test drove a Nissan Leaf....Top model 230 mile range. I am skeptical of the lack of battery thermal management, but I havent heard of piles of them sitting at dealers like with GM EVs.

 

[Steverino]

Loaners vs BECM Parts
You are talking about what a specific dealer did for keeping some loaner cars. They hoarded a few to keep as loaners. My Chevy dealer did the same. They gave me one overnight while my Bolt was having it's battery replaced.

But the scenario here is not a loaner/rental car shortage (though there is that) but a shortage of GM Volt BECM replacement parts.

Obviously a dealer would not hoard BECM's like a loaner car. They would (and did) install what they had on hand. In normal times, the replacement BECM's would likely be coming faster. These are not normal times.

Why a BECM Shortage?
First, I don't know that the BECM's are made in China. Do you? Maybe they are, but they seem to be made by various manufacturers around the world, so maybe there aren't. If they are made in China, have you seen the news? Whole huge manufacturing cities have been placed in lock-down. Blame GM, right?

I also don't know what supply constraints those manufacturers have that are affecting their BECM production line. Neither do you. I would not be surprised if the chip shortage strikes again. Chip shortages are a real thing and causing real problems around the world for both new car sales and replacement parts. Blame GM, right?

You made up a story that GM is getting these from China (we don't know), that there are "slower" boats and "faster" container ships (typically it's snarled shipping ports, not ship speed), and that "some" automakers are finding a way for some non-specific parts to be delivered. Lot's of assumptions plus some apples and oranges thrown in there. But let's blame GM.

I understand being unhappy, frustrated, upset and wanting to blame someone, but sometimes things are out of everyone's control.

For example, the war in Ukraine has shutdown one of the major sources for vehicle wiring harnesses. A major source of harnesses to VW is now unavailable. So let's blame VW when they can't quickly get you a replacement for the one in your Golf that mice chewed through, Let's talk about how the Mazda dealer kept some loaners, proving that VW doesn't care about replacing your wiring harness. Let's point out that other car makers were able to get some parts replacements (not a VW Golf harness), so why can't VW get your replacement wiring harness to you faster? They must be shipping it on slow boats and I'm going to tell all my friends and never I'll buy a VW again...

OK

 

[FI Spyder]

Reminds me of back in the day, people would write in and say Samsung TV broke down, never buy again, or my Sony broke down as well as my sister's (actual case), never buy again. Back then LG and Samsung has 7% issues during warranty and Sony 14% which seems high but Mitsubishi had 40% warranty problems (with their rear projection TVs which is what they made). Just because you had a problem doesn't mean others will or that the company makes inferior product (but it might).

As for the "slow boat from China," on the news today was a picture of Shanghai port jam packed with containers and cranes sitting idle all neatly pointed in the same direction because the port has been close due to the raging COVID in China after missing the previous waves the world was subjected to (no resistance and somewhat less effective vaccines). If your part is in one of the containers at the bottom of the pile, you aren't getting it for a while.

 

[voltreg]

VWs have been known to suffer from sublimated plastic that gets sticky to the touch over time. A friend of mine sent his diesel Gulf to the old Volks home when he got a 17 Volt by my suggestion. The Volt suffered the shift to park problem and his local Chevy dealer took care of the problem quickly under warranty.
The car also later on suffered the BECM failure and sat at the same dealer for 2 months waiting on a module. They gave him a free loaner for the whole duration (just recently fixed) and were really good to work with. I would speculate the experiences customers encounter vary widely and are not related to GM but rather local management.
I wish I had his extended battery miles over my 14 however mine has been really reliable except for front wheel bearings at 100k.

Spare parts are produced on a 3 year cycle as I was told by an EE who worked on the project electronics and many other previous projects. The Volt BECM is only for that car and not universal to other platforms by re-flash of firmware. They ran out with so many failures. No word yet as to the failure mode or where they are being made. GM/Dephi outsources in various places and they have also made modules for other auto brands. Their in-house quality control used to be really high...hard to say now with more outsourcing going on.

 

[Steverino]

I have a relative that will never, ever buy a GM because someone they knew in the 70's did, the paint peeled and the dealer refused to repair for free. Forget that peeling paint is exceedingly rare today. Forget that the dealer was a stealership. They won't buy a GM. Some people are like that.

Now, had they been told, "there's a paint shortage, the repair will be delayed some months" I know it would have been acceptable. They would not have reacted by saying "GM's bad beacuse they can't do it sooner, I'll never buy another and I'll bad mouth them to friends". In my mind, as a business owner that's an unreasonable customer. If it wasn't this it would be something else. Some people are like that too.

 

[voltreg]

I forgot to mention another problem with my white 14. The paint is peeling above the windshield center on the roof. It is about a 1" ragged patch area right now from the rubber back. I used to do body work so I may try to blend it myself before it gets too bad. I have not painted cars for over 40 years so I need to brush up on the new techniques. I could take it to a body shop however I don't have another car to drive and I need it on call for semi-retired tech work I still do for folks when they call.
The rest of the car is pristine...only the front air dam split in a couple of places from concrete rashes.

I owned many Corvairs back in the days (including a Corvair powered VW Beetle I built that was fast). Those were that last american cars I owned. I stuck with VW, Audi, Datsun, Toyota and Honda that provided good service and were easy for me to maintain and repair. A friend who worked on the Volt project got me interested in Chevy again. I love the quietness of electric and often go...oh...when it switches to gas.

 

[AntiChevyVoltOwner]

I don't have the luxury of shopping multiple Chevy dealers for service. I have had a couple of other similar experiences (albeit not a BECM issue) with my other cars and my one with my RV during the supply chain crisis. Maybe it is apples to oranges, but it has not been like this. Also I have never been a real fan of GM. So in my mind I took a leap of faith purchasing this vehicle. With such low mileage (36k) it's my first sub 60k mileage car with any issues. So you can imagine how I am feeling. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I can get my car back in two months or so. Diesel too expensive to keep driving the Dually 😆. Not sure I'll keep it though.

 

[Steverino]

I forgot to mention another problem with my white 14. The paint is peeling above the windshield center on the roof. It is about a 1" ragged patch area right now from the rubber back. I used to do body work so I may try to blend it myself before it gets too bad. I have not painted cars for over 40 years so I need to brush up on the new techniques. I could take it to a body shop however I don't have another car to drive and I need it on call for semi-retired tech work I still do for folks when they call.

Yes, there have been a few reports here of small peels in the roof gutter. I too have done body work and would be tempted to DIY if it happened to me. Worst case, I botch it and a shop repairs it anyway. But it's a 2011, so at some point, I would just say it is what it is. Metallic paint can be tricky, but my Volt's roof is black, so easy. Maybe consider going Gen 1 retro with black on your roof?

I don't have the luxury of shopping multiple Chevy dealers for service. I have had a couple of other similar experiences (albeit not a BECM issue) with my other cars and my one with my RV during the supply chain crisis. Maybe it is apples to oranges, but it has not been like this. Also I have never been a real fan of GM. So in my mind I took a leap of faith purchasing this vehicle. With such low mileage (36k) it's my first sub 60k mileage car with any issues. So you can imagine how I am feeling. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I can get my car back in two months or so. Diesel too expensive to keep driving the Dually 😆. Not sure I'll keep it though.

The Volt was my first as well, never been a GM fan either. But my Volt experience has been very good. So much so I bought the Bolt EV as well. I was just talking to a friend who had an electronic control go out on their very expensive refrigerator. It's on backorder, oof. No "loaner" refrigerators available. It's a real problem. What do you do, eat out for every meal? They bought a couple "cheap" fridges in the meantime, will likely sell them later or maybe keep one as a spare just in case.

I've been refinishing a lot of woodwork and the stain I have been using is no longer available due to some pigment shortages. Yikes, it's hard enough finding the right stain to begin with. Mixing a new stain into the project can create some visual issues. I'm just keeping it in perspective. None of the companies want these issues or upset customers. Hopefully things will settle down, but I think we may be a year or more away from whatever we used to consider normal.

 

[White Lightning Volt]

My (lemon) early 2017 Premier had that failure and a bunch of others. Put in a lemon law claim and GM agreed. Am now driving one of the last 2019's and loving it. I had to give up my beloved Citron Green Metallic but I got ACC, power seats and faster L2 charging among others.

What else happy to your ‘17 Volt Premier and how did you convince GM that this car was a lemon? My ‘18 Volt LT with only 23.5K miles has been sitting at a dealership due to a failed BECM for nearly 2 weeks now. At the same visit, the dealership repaired the Shift to Park problem with a new switch. Very concerned that this may be a long wait!

 

[AntiChevyVoltOwner]

What else happy to your ‘17 Volt Premier and how did you convince GM that this car was a lemon? My ‘18 Volt LT with only 23.5K miles has been sitting at a dealership due to a failed BECM for nearly 2 weeks now. At the same visit, the dealership repaired the Shift to Park problem with a new switch. Very concerned that this may be a long wait!

I'm a month and counting. As people keep telling me it's due to supply chain shortages can't blame GM, it seems like the majority of them are failing. There could likely be a shortage anyway due to what most certainly appears to be a design flaw, so yes we can most certainly blame GM, supply chain or not. Most honest companies would issue a buyback now , or at least a recall at this point. Take a look at the issue surrounding the Bosch CP4 fuel pumps on the big three's HD diesel trucks. That story shows GMs (and Ford's) true colors. Kudos to Ram on that one.

 

[borntoluce]

What else happy to your ‘17 Volt Premier and how did you convince GM that this car was a lemon? My ‘18 Volt LT with only 23.5K miles has been sitting at a dealership due to a failed BECM for nearly 2 weeks now. At the same visit, the dealership repaired the Shift to Park problem with a new switch. Very concerned that this may be a long wait!

I've mentioned this in some other threads, but just got mine back after 77 days, if that gives any sense of the wait right now.

 

[borntoluce]

I'm a month and counting. As people keep telling me it's due to supply chain shortages can't blame GM, it seems like the majority of them are failing. There could likely be a shortage anyway due to what most certainly appears to be a design flaw, so yes we can most certainly blame GM, supply chain or not. Most honest companies would issue a buyback now , or at least a recall at this point. Take a look at the issue surrounding the Bosch CP4 fuel pumps on the big three's HD diesel trucks. That story shows GMs (and Ford's) true colors. Kudos to Ram on that one.

I know I differ with some folks on the forum, and I don't work in automotive manufacturing (though I do work in industrial manufacturing, and deal with supply chain problems and related customer-affecting business decisions), but it seems to me that GM must have been aware of the high BECM failure rate well before Covid and it's hard not to fault them (pun intended) for not stocking these when they knew they'd need them. Honestly, the failure rate seems high enough, and the failure critical enough, that my feeling is a recall was in order.

My guess is the real problem is much less GM specific and much more the modern trends of lean manufacturing and minimizing inventory conflicting with the supply chain crisis. GM might have known they'd need x thousands of BECM modules and that the demand would be some number per month for some number of years, so they'd only order and stock what they forecasted needing. This avoids the risk of ordering a zillion replacement BECMs only to find out there was a different design issue with the replacement BECM - best to have a minimum commitment to a design so you aren't locked into millions of dollars of dead stock inventory. However... that whole philosophy requires a responsive supply chain, which we no longer have. So is it GM's fault? Well, maybe yes, maybe no.

What definitely is GM's fault is having people without their cars for months with no support (rental car covered when loaners aren't available, compensation like extended warranties, etc.). I can forgive them for getting caught with their pants down by Covid, but I can't forgive them for letting the brunt of the consequences fall on their customers.

 

[voltreg]

Spare parts on 3 yr replenish...run out of spare parts...send some customer failed modules to engineering for autopsy...come up with fix...new Gerber files maybe and parts that may not be currently available...produce boards...pick and place...flow...clean...assemble...test (hope all is well)...ship to distribution...ship to dealer.
It all takes time and just-in-time is broken and who knows whether it will ever get back where it was.

We are not sure yet what the failure mode was on the modules. If it was just poor soldering as was suggested that is easy to fix. Parts are hard to come by currently and all it takes is one missing component for the module and it can't be built.

Tough business in this current situation. "You will own nothing and be happy". Fourth turnings and a reset are a bitch to deal with.

 

[borntoluce]

Seeing as how Chevy issued the TSB for the BECM back in 2018 (TSB 18-NA-261), well, seems they knew the failure mode.

On a positive note, damn is it nice to have my Volt back. I wouldn't be grumbling if I didn't love the car so much.