[gdarb]

Just turned over 90k miles on my 2011. I have the hatch strut recall and I wanted to take it in to the dealership before I reached 100k miles anyway. I just bought the car used a month ago. I have no idea what maintenance has been done. I'm going to have the tires rotated and oil changed (it's at about 30%). Isn't there a software update for the climate settings? (dealing with air blowing at the floor). Are there other updates etc that I need to make sure my car is up to date on? I'd appreciate any thoughts on what you'd have looked at if you were me....

 

[Steverino]

Any updates will be based on the car's VIN. The dealer should be able to tell what was and wasn't done, assuming the service was through a Chevy dealer.

 

[kns]

Just turned over 90k miles on my 2011. I have the hatch strut recall and I wanted to take it in to the dealership before I reached 100k miles anyway. I just bought the car used a month ago. I have no idea what maintenance has been done. I'm going to have the tires rotated and oil changed (it's at about 30%). Isn't there a software update for the climate settings? (dealing with air blowing at the floor). Are there other updates etc that I need to make sure my car is up to date on? I'd appreciate any thoughts on what you'd have looked at if you were me....

Suggest contacting the Volt Advisor team at 1-866-754-8100. Their hours are: M-F 8am-9pm, Sat 11am-8pm EST. Give them your VIN, let them know you are a new owner and ask if there any pending field actions.

Have the 12v AGM battery load tested. In an ICE car it is easy to tell when the battery can't start the engine. In a Volt a weak 12v battery can cause all sorts of symptoms. Proactive replacement when needed is better than getting stuck.

Since you just bought the car one month ago, maybe you can get the dealer to bear the cost of something they should have tested and perhaps replaced before sale. Ditto for the oil change.

Good luck and enjoy the car.

KNS

 

[BAZINGA]

Also ask for a copy of the GMVIS report. This will be the complete record of everything ever done to that Volt since it was placed into service and the name of the dealer that did the work.

I'd also change the air filter, wiper blades and unless you know how new the 12V battery is I'd spend the $$$ and have the dealer install a new 12V battery. I'd also change both the ICE and BATTERY coolant. I couple of hundred dollars now will help ensure many years of trouble free driving.

 

[gdarb]

Thanks for the suggestions, appreciate it.

 

[Norton]

The correct answer is RTFM.
There you will find that the ATF should be changed around 97k miles. I would do it much sooner.
As said, coolant changes may be due. There is only one correct answer...

As for "Load Testing the 12V battery", I posted about this before; This test is worthless for Hybrid cars like the Volt.
This battery never sees a big load like a starter motor cranking a cold ICE (200A).
All the 12V battery does is boot up the system. Plus it powers accessory mode when parked.

A Capacity Test is needed to tell the health of the 12V battery. This test is done yearly on a lot of aircraft batteries.
Good luck finding an automotive shop that can do it. A constant current load is placed on the battery and stopped when the battery drops to 10V. It is measured in minutes. (I work in aviation)

Car batteries use a Reserve Capacity number instead of an Ahr rating. The RC test (wiki): it is defined as the time (in minutes) that a lead-acid battery at 80 °F (27 °C) will continuously deliver 25 amperes before its voltage drops below 10.5 volts.

I had another hybrid 12V battery pass the quickie load test just fine, but failed a Cap Check (aviation term) at 9 mins. I tested the replacement and it was going strong at 23 minutes and still at 11.9 V.
I stopped the test at that point, recharged the battery and put it into service.