2017 Volt stuck on 'initializing, wait to shift' message

1245 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by kissnrelease, 4 mo ago

endolaura

Discussion Starter · 4 mo ago

Hi everyone.
I have a 2017 volt with no previous issues but the 12-volt battery was run down last night because of the emergency lights accidentally being left on for hours. I got a boost and drove home and this morning the car is giving me the 'initializing, wait to shift message' but never lets me shift. The electric motor battery isn't charged up but the car has gas in it. I'm in a remote city where the GM dealer appears to know little about electric cars and also doesn't have a service opening for at least 2 weeks. Does anyone have any insight on what exactly the problem is or a general phone number I can call to talk to a technician and get enough information such that an independent dealer might be able to fix it?
Thanks

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obermd

· #8 · 4 mo ago

leppard3 said:
In the first post you said the electric motor battery isn't charged. How low is it, the HV battery has to be charged enough to start the gas engine, the 12V does not do this. So, if it is super low, when you jump start it, the charge is too low to run on battery, but also the battery could be too low to start the engine. You would need to charge the HV battery AND replace the 12V to solve the entire problem.

Start with the 12v battery so the onboard charger will work. The pilot signals from the EVSE aren't sufficient to power the onboard charger.

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