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Car almost stranded me - Electric propulsion malfunction message?

6059 Views 30 Replies 18 Participants Last post by  VoltFish, 
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Transmission failure/replacement after 2600 miles

Tonight I got back into town after leaving my 2017 Volt at the airport for about 10 days. The car was parked in a covered spot and plugged into an L2 charger the whole time. Temperatures ranged from probably around 15-70 degrees while I was gone.

Ambient temperature was about 20 degrees tonight when I got in. I knew something may be problematic when I couldn't precondition the car via the OnStar app. I just kept getting an error message in the app saying the car couldn't be communicated with even though I was able to view the charge status, etc. in the app.

When I got close to the car in the shuttle bus I tried to use the key fob to start the precondition mode but the car would just flash the turn signals so I knew it wasn't working (usually the actual taillights would turn on).

When I actually got to the car I was able to unlock the doors with the proximity button on the handles.

Got in the car, push the button to start and the car turns on like normal with the dash displays, except no "READY" indicator and the check engine light to the right of the screen is on. I also noticed that the heated seats would not turn on even though the rest of the center console things seemed to be working (radio, climate control, etc.).

I turned the car off and back on several times and this same condition persisted. I called OnStar and they ran diagnostics and said they saw "Problem with electric propulsion system - Service vehicle immediately". OnStar suggested that I turn the car off, get out, and walk a good distance away (taking the key with me) for a few minutes to allow it to reboot. I did this and returned to the car.

When I got back in the car and pushed the power button I got the message "Key not present" which I have had issues with in the past. I placed the key in the special spot in the center console and pushed the power button again. This time the car turned on and I got the "READY" indicator, but the check engine light was still on.

I wanted to see if the engine would start so first I went into the climate control menu and changed the engine assisted heat from Deferred to On. It was only 20 degrees so I figured this would cause the engine to start. Nothing happened.

I then put the car in Hold mode but the engine didn't start then either.

I was concerned at this point that I may be able to drive the car but that the engine wouldn't work and I live just slightly beyond EV range from the airport. I called OnStar again and they reported that they still saw the same Electric Propulsion System message. They offered to transfer me to roadside assistance to see if they would be willing to tow me all the way back to my town rather than the Chevy dealer close to the airport.

The OnStar roadside assistance people were useless. First they kept asking me if I need somebody to come jumpstart the car so they obviously aren't familiar with the Volt. Then they told me that the towing is only for 25 miles maximum so I would have to pay for anything beyond that. I also kept encountering OnStar reps who told me that the "Volt Advisors" leave at 8 PM so after that there is no specialty assistance for Volt owners. I guess we aren't supposed to drive after 8 PM...

After hanging up with OnStar I turned the car off again and turned it back on. This time the engine started immediately and I got the engine running due to temperature message that I expected. The check engine light was still on but I was able to drive home successfully. The car seemed to be performing fine other than the check engine light being on.

Has anybody else had this issue? Is this a random problem or could it have something to do with the car sitting outside at the airport for 10 days? The first OnStar advisor seemed to think it shouldn't be left plugged in for that long but I've never heard of that being an issue.

I guess I need to take it to the dealer now since the check engine light remains on.
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VoltFish said:
Okay, so update...

The dealer called back after talking to the GM people. Apparently somehow the transmission and the electric motors are having a problem and causing things to overcharge. They are replacing the whole transmission unit! Not sure if that includes the electric motors too or what as I'm not that familiar with how all the Voltec pieces fit together. They said it was good I didn't keep driving it... kind of sounded like something bad could happen in that condition.

So... brand new car, 2600 miles on odometer. Transmission replacement. Making me rethink my change of heart with domestic cars that brought me over to the Volt in the first place.
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Jeez! I wish the dealers would give owners more information on what's wrong with their car. That sounds like a pretty severe issue.

I had to replace Battery Segment 3 on mine at 5k miles...I'm having the same second thoughts as you about buying a domestic car :p hopefully both our cars are fine from now on!
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Arcanox said:
Jeez! I wish the dealers would give owners more information on what's wrong with their car. That sounds like a pretty severe issue.

I had to replace Battery Segment 3 on mine at 5k miles...I'm having the same second thoughts as you about buying a domestic car :p hopefully both our cars are fine from now on!
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Right... I'll see if I can find out more information in the next few days. I asked what the replacement entailed but the service advisor said he honestly didn't know much about the Volt and wasn't sure exactly what they would be doing yet.
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VoltFish said:
Right... I'll see if I can find out more information in the next few days. I asked what the replacement entailed but the service advisor said he honestly didn't know much about the Volt and wasn't sure exactly what they would be doing yet.
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I'd be interested to hear the Volt technician explain the issue.

I wish more GM employees knew about the Volt in detail. When I had my HV battery issue, my MIL illuminated and then the car wouldn't restart after that. GM offered to send somebody to jump start the 12V battery. I'm like "no, I guarantee that would be a complete waste of time...I need a tow truck."
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accelerus said:
... I'll actually be looking into a Model3 a year or two after release. ...
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So about 2020, if you are lucky. :cool:
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I wonder if the Bolt will have issues like this or if it's something that is just inherent with the whole gas/electric setup. If the Bolt was out and available a few months ago I would have gotten it instead as I don't need more than 200 miles of range on any single trip but my last car lease was up so I opted for the Volt instead.
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VoltFish said:
I wonder if the Bolt will have issues like this or if it's something that is just inherent with the whole gas/electric setup. If the Bolt was out and available a few months ago I would have gotten it instead as I don't need more than 200 miles of range on any single trip but my last car lease was up so I opted for the Volt instead.
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Most of us have had really good luck with the Volts and sorry you didn't. Just to note, the amount of electrics/computers means that these cars are more like computers than Model Ts...you get failures, if any, early and then you are good to go. I've had apple products fail in the first month, get fixed, and then last 6 years of daily use with no issue (like the computer I'm tying on).

So just because you have a failure early does not necessarily mean there is a systemic issue in engineering or assembly...it can just be an unfortunate case of early electronic failure.
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I hope you are right. I just talked to the dealer again and he went over what they knew. Basically the car said there were codes for both motors and some kind of control module overcharging. They emailed GM and a few hours later the GM engineer replied and said the fix was to replace the transmission. The local dealer doesn't really have any direct experience with the car so it sounds like they are just doing what GM says. They got the transmission overnight which is good. Stay tuned for updates.
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rand49er
jehrler said:
... Just to note, the amount of electrics/computers means that these cars are more like computers than Model Ts...you get failures, if any, early and then you are good to go. ...
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Last fall, my wife's '12 SRX suddenly wouldn't start, but the windshield wipers were going by themselves along with the turn indicators and the radio. Thought it was possessed. Turns out it was the battery. Tech explained that if the voltage gets below about 10 volts, the computer starts going haywire. Put a new battery in, and all is well again. I'm sure the Volt's electronics/logic can get befuddled under unusual situations, too.
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VoltFish said:
I turned the car off and back on several times and this same condition persisted. I called OnStar and they ran diagnostics and said they saw "Problem with electric propulsion system - Service vehicle immediately". OnStar suggested that I turn the car off, get out, and walk a good distance away (taking the key with me) for a few minutes to allow it to reboot. I did this and returned to the car.
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HA ... this reminds me the good old :

--------------------------
IF MICROSOFT BUILT CARS…..

Every time they repainted the lines on the road you would have to buy a new car.
Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason, and you would just accept this, restart and drive on.
Occasionally, executing a maneuver would cause your car to stop and fail and you would have to re-install the engine. For some strange reason, you would accept this too.
You could only have one person in the car at a time, unless you bought “Car95” or “CarNT”. But, then you would have to buy more seats.
New seats would force everyone to have the same size butt.
Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast, twice as easy to drive – but would only run on 5 percent of the roads.
The Macintosh car owners would get expensive Microsoft upgrades to their cars, which would make their cars run much slower.
The oil, gas and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single “general car default” warning light.
The airbag system would say “are you sure?” before going off.
If you were involved in a crash, you would have no idea what happened.
--------------

Sounds awfully like our Volts - doesn't it ? :)
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KenC said:
Well, that is good to know. I've had that happen a few times.
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I too couldn't use the OnStar app for FOB or info purposes after 3 days of not starting the Volt. Come first time starting the car, everything worked like a charm from the OnStar app. Next 3-day holiday weekend, I tested for this again and the OnStar app worked just fine after 3 days of no ignition. Ever since then, I've tried as long as 5 days without using my Volt or using the OnStar app (thinking maybe a remote info request would reset the 48-hr sleep timer). Even after 5 days, the OnStar app immediately worked and I got updated vehicle stats (my tires were super low due to cold).
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Just wanted to update everybody. I got the car back today. Dealer had it for six days total (two were over the weekend). Transmission was replaced and they also did the RCDLR replacement TSB while it was there. No long term test results yet but at least it drove home from the dealer without any problems.
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