[voltco]

Hi all, let me first say hi to everyone on this forum! I've been lurking for a few months now and have picked up all sorts of useful info from you all.

I purchased a new 2017 Volt Premier in April. It came with about 400 miles and I've put another 1000 on it since then. I absolutely love this car and its tech, but ran into some issues the past couple days.

Starting 2 days ago, and then again yesterday morning and this morning, I had some really unexpected behavior when switching it into drive. In all cases, the night before I backed my car into its parking spot, shifted it into park and turned it off. The next mornings (in all cases with at least a few miles of EV range) I turned on the car, kept my foot on the brake and waiting for the dash to display Ready, and then shifted it into drive. If I set the parking break it was released.

Upon shifting the car into drive and then releasing the brake pedal, it started to roll backwards like it was in neutral (parked on a very slight incline). I applied the foot break and then things got interesting. The front end starting making some markedly loud whirring sounds as the car tried to jolt forward a few times, although I did not move because my foot remained on the break. Also the gas engine turned on partway through this even though I had at least some charge in the battery.

The first two days I shifted it back to park while the whirring and jolting of the car was still occurring and turned it off. I turned it back on and had no issues with expected EV driving behavior. I went about my days with no issues, totally on electric, and also did some charging. It was not smart to take this chance, I know.

When it happened today I shifted it back to park and let the car continue to run. After a few seconds the car stopped making the unexpected noises and jolting, and the engine turned off. Upon placing it back into drive it worked as expected. No warning lights ever came on the dash in any case.

I called Onstar and they ran a remote diagnostic. Nothing came up. They asked me if I wanted a tow and I decided this seemed serious so I accepted. The tow company came and towed my car to the dealership. It is Sunday so the service department is closed. I plan on calling the dealership in the morning to try to explain this situation.

Has anyone seen this issue before? I did a lot of searching on this forum and I couldn't find anything that matched up, but if I missed something please point me in that direction. I've seen a few threads where the car unexpectedly said to Shift to Park, but mine never displayed that message.

 

[voltco]

I've been doing some more reading and I wonder if this could be related to the PIC6244 Shift to Park or PIC6203 Customer Satisfaction Campaign #16055 issues.

 

[llninja]

It sounds like a transmission problem, except the volt doesn't have a traditional transmission. It definitely sounds like something to take into the dealership. Whether they can reproduce it and solve it will be interesting.

I've experienced something similar but different. Once when I parked my car in the garage, stepped out and realized my rear bumper was sticking out, I jumped back in, pressed the start button, quickly shifted into drive with my foot on the brake pedal, but the brakes did not engage for a split second and my car lurched forward causing a sinking feeling in my gut as I pressed really hard on the brakes. In my case, shifting too quickly before the brake pump got to pressure was the culprit... in other words operator error. Since then I always wait a second or two after starting before shifting.

 

[quirkySquirt]

voltco, I haven't experienced that ever but I chock this up to my waiting a few seconds before shifting after starting my Volt. The first thing I do after stepping into my volt is lock my doors then immediately start the Volt. Then I do my mirror checks, move my phone from my pocket to the storage slot next to the shifter, adjust HVAC, then seat belt. This usually takes a few seconds easily and by then, I can start disengaging the EPB and shifting to R/D as needed.

Similar to what llninja experienced, I had an operator error but in an ICE rental where I shifted too quick after starting the car. The shift took but the engine was not happy about it and reved high even when just exiting a parking lot at 5-15mph. I thought the car was going to stall or something so I just shut it down for 5 minutes, then redid everything but gave it plenty of time for the tachometer to settle at an RPM for longer than 10 seconds. From then on during my trip, I just made sure to let the engine run a few seconds before using it. I did this with my old ice, but the ICE rental (Nissan Sentra) took more than 10 seconds to be ready for driving while my old 88 Nissan Maxima only took 5 seconds.

 

[PrivatePilot]

If it comes back as "could not reproduce issue", it might be advisable to get a dashcam of some sort and mount it to the rear window of the car facing forward, this way it will catch both your actions as well as the cars actions - you could go back to the dealer and show them after the fact. It's hard for them to say there's nothing wrong again when there's video evidence proving it.

 

[Arcanox]

It sounds like a transmission problem, except the volt doesn't have a traditional transmission. It definitely sounds like something to take into the dealership. Whether they can reproduce it and solve it will be interesting.

I've experienced something similar but different. Once when I parked my car in the garage, stepped out and realized my rear bumper was sticking out, I jumped back in, pressed the start button, quickly shifted into drive with my foot on the brake pedal, but the brakes did not engage for a split second and my car lurched forward causing a sinking feeling in my gut as I pressed really hard on the brakes. In my case, shifting too quickly before the brake pump got to pressure was the culprit... in other words operator error. Since then I always wait a second or two after starting before shifting.

Perhaps that's what the "Initializing...Wait To Shift" message on the Gen 2 cars was added for

 

[voltco]

Update: I spoke with the dealership this morning. They were able to reproduce the issue and need to dig in further. I will reply again once I hear more.

 

[BAZINGA]

Update: I spoke with the dealership this morning. They were able to reproduce the issue and need to dig in further. I will reply again once I hear more.

That's positive, please be sure to share the repair details when you can i.e. a copy of your receipt (redacted of course). We are a nosy bunch.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

Update: I spoke with the dealership this morning. They were able to reproduce the issue and need to dig in further. I will reply again once I hear more.

The gods were with you today! Please let us know the resolution. Good luck.

 

[llninja]

The gods were with you today! Please let us know the resolution. Good luck.

so say we all!!!

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Hi all, let me first say hi to everyone on this forum! I've been lurking for a few months now and have picked up all sorts of useful info from you all.

I purchased a new 2017 Volt Premier in April. It came with about 400 miles and I've put another 1000 on it since then. I absolutely love this car and its tech, but ran into some issues the past couple days.

Starting 2 days ago, and then again yesterday morning and this morning, I had some really unexpected behavior when switching it into drive. In all cases, the night before I backed my car into its parking spot, shifted it into park and turned it off. The next mornings (in all cases with at least a few miles of EV range) I turned on the car, kept my foot on the brake and waiting for the dash to display Ready, and then shifted it into drive. If I set the parking break it was released.

Upon shifting the car into drive and then releasing the brake pedal, it started to roll backwards like it was in neutral (parked on a very slight incline). I applied the foot break and then things got interesting. The front end starting making some markedly loud whirring sounds as the car tried to jolt forward a few times, although I did not move because my foot remained on the break. Also the gas engine turned on partway through this even though I had at least some charge in the battery.

The first two days I shifted it back to park while the whirring and jolting of the car was still occurring and turned it off. I turned it back on and had no issues with expected EV driving behavior. I went about my days with no issues, totally on electric, and also did some charging. It was not smart to take this chance, I know.

When it happened today I shifted it back to park and let the car continue to run. After a few seconds the car stopped making the unexpected noises and jolting, and the engine turned off. Upon placing it back into drive it worked as expected. No warning lights ever came on the dash in any case.

I called Onstar and they ran a remote diagnostic. Nothing came up. They asked me if I wanted a tow and I decided this seemed serious so I accepted. The tow company came and towed my car to the dealership. It is Sunday so the service department is closed. I plan on calling the dealership in the morning to try to explain this situation.

Has anyone seen this issue before? I did a lot of searching on this forum and I couldn't find anything that matched up, but if I missed something please point me in that direction. I've seen a few threads where the car unexpectedly said to Shift to Park, but mine never displayed that message.

Hi voltco,

We came across your post and wanted to reach out to offer an extra layer of assistance. We see that you've been in contact with your dealership, and we'd like to get in touch with them so that we can discuss your situation further. So that we can best assist you, can you please send us a private message with the following?

-Contact information
-VIN
-Involved Dealership

To learn more about GM’s privacy policy, please visit https://www.gm.com/privacy-statement.html. We hope to hear from you soon!

Best,
Lauren E.
Chevrolet Customer Care

 

[voltco]

@ChevyCustomerSvc - Thanks! There is a message in your inbox.

@Ilninja, quirkySquirt, PrivatePilot, Arcanox, BAZINGA, jbakerjonathan - I appreciate your comments! And I am also happy the dealership was able to reproduce. I work in IT so I know how frustrating it can be when an issue can only be intermittently reproduced!

 

[PrivatePilot]

Perhaps that's what the "Initializing...Wait To Shift" message on the Gen 2 cars was added for

Just FWIW, this is displayed (at every startup) on Gen1's as well.

 

[quirkySquirt]

I can see someone becoming complacent or absentminded (i.e., when they're in a hurry) and not waiting enough before shifting.

This is really interesting, such quick response from GM to get in touch with the dealer. Me thinks this is a new problem?

 

[jupitermoon]

I can see someone becoming complacent or absentminded (i.e., when they're in a hurry) and not waiting enough before shifting.

This is really interesting, such quick response from GM to get in touch with the dealer. Me thinks this is a new problem?

There should be none of those sounds and quirks regardless of whether they wait to shift or not. It sounds like the same or related issue that others are having with their Volt's stranding them and getting "Shift to Park" or in some cases people losing power on the freeway. This is just another manifestation of what I would consider a serious design flaw slowly rearing its head.

 

[Loboc]

..serious design flaw slowly rearing its head.

Kind of premature to declare a defect affecting all cars eh? With design changes mid-cycle, this could be a flaw affecting certain VINs, but, it could also be an intermittent flaw affecting just a few cars with say a loose connector.

All of these scenarios (and more) fit the facts so far.

 

[jupitermoon]

..serious design flaw slowly rearing its head.

Kind of premature to declare a defect affecting all cars eh? With design changes mid-cycle, this could be a flaw affecting certain VINs, but, it could also be an intermittent flaw affecting just a few cars with say a loose connector.

All of these scenarios (and more) fit the facts so far.

Not really. These issues span all new model year cars from the start of release and still are appearing in second year vehicles. This isn't isolated in my opinion. And certainly doesn't sound like a loose connection to me although if it was related to something like that, then perhaps it's causing a catastrophic short circuit of some kind that is destroying the drive train.

 

[voltco]

Update: The dealership was able to reproduce the issue again this morning when first starting the car for the day, but not again after that. They said the car is not giving any warning codes and they are in touch with the Volt techs at corporate. They are continuing to dig into this issue.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

@ChevyCustomerSvc - Thanks! There is a message in your inbox.

@Ilninja, quirkySquirt, PrivatePilot, Arcanox, BAZINGA, jbakerjonathan - I appreciate your comments! And I am also happy the dealership was able to reproduce. I work in IT so I know how frustrating it can be when an issue can only be intermittently reproduced!

Thanks so much for letting us know, voltco! I've just replied to your message, so feel free to follow up there whenever you get the chance.

Kindly,
Lauren E.
Chevrolet Customer Care

 

[quirkySquirt]

Oh man, intermittent problems absolutely suuuuuck. Thank goodness the techs reproduced it themselves before it disappeared.