[ackiefer]

Yesterday when driving I noticed the service engine light displayed on the DIC and called OnStar to determine the error codes which they stated there was only 1 code which was P1E00 (The vehicle's electric system is not performing as expected. The HPCM (VIC) may or may not have another code active. If no other code is found service at your convenience). Upon researching this further it seemed it was a generic code indicating I should take the car in to service within 7 days. Seemingly as though it was not serious, I figured I would call today during my drive to schedule an appointment this week. I noticed when driving the service engine light had disappeared so I was hoping perhaps I was in the clear.

I parked at my first destination and was there for about 45 minutes. When I hopped in the car it did not play the normal noises when starting the car. When I put the car in reverse to back out of the parking spot the car dinged and displayed Shift to Park in the DIC. After several times shifting to park and turning the car off and back on it was clear that I was not going anywhere. I noticed the EV range said 1 mile (when I parked it was around 35 miles). I hit the OnStar button and they brought up codes P1E00 (again) and P0AFA (The Lithium-Ion Battery is not performing as expected. An issue has been detected in the Hybrid Battery System which is a high voltage battery used to propel your vehicle.).

OnStar arranged for a tow truck to arrive. I was originally told it may be more than 2 hours but they were there within 40 minutes of my call. They arranged to take my car to a volt tech (not my normal dealership as there was one closer) and I confirmed a flatbed truck would be hauling it. When the flatbed arrived I had to power down and up a few times to shift to neutral. As the car was being secured I called the dealership to confirm they would have a loaner and he informed me they no longer had a volt tech on staff (for the last 3 or so years, he said). The tow truck driver would not allow me to change where he was taking the car because the tow was already paid for by GM. I opted to have him drop me off on the way past my girlfriend's workplace so I could grab her car to go home. On my drive home I called my dealership and he arranged to have my car picked up from the other dealership and actually called back within 30 minutes to inform me they were on the way to pick it up.

Long story short, my Volt has an issue. Hopefully it can be resolved quickly. The dealership I use for service has been good in the past and hopefully will be telling me diagnoses tomorrow. I imagine it is going to be in the shop for at least 2-3 days and hopefully no more. Any ideas what the issue may be?

 

[Cord]

at least open the hood with the car on and see what happens.

at lest with the hood open you can check the coolent level .

 

[ackiefer]

at least open the hood with the car on and see what happens.

at lest with the hood open you can check the coolent level .

I did open the hood but I do not recall if the car was "on" or off. I thought the car was on at the time however I do not recall. From the time I received the "shift to park" notification the car was never fully on as there was no HVAC fan blowing and I could not turn on the heated seats or steering wheel (I tried, it was chilly waiting on the tow). In fact, actually it was even difficult to shift to neutral as the DIC kept displaying "waiting to initialize". Certainly the engine did not start when I opened the hood and I believe if the traction battery is not operating then the engine cannot start since there is no traditional starter on the car. I could be wrong with this.

I did not think to check fluids when I opened the hood because I'm an amateur with any form of car repair/maintenance. I opened the hood to see if possibly the battery cables were not aligned properly as I had remembered there was a recall I read about that misaligned cables were causing an issue. I didn't find the cables to check them.

 

[ackiefer]

This document addresses this issue. Check your junction box for an improperly installed 12V cable on circuit #40. See the attached picture (the middle terminal) I borrowed from FB showing how an improperly installed terminal looks like.

#16-NA-193: Loss of Propulsion, No Start, Multiple DTCs - (Jun 15, 2016)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yk7dla8wbtlc781/Document%20ID_%204533325.pdf?dl=0


View attachment 118394

Posting with an update. The dealer had my car from Tuesday through Friday and did 3 software updates related to charging (I haven't yet received the invoice / work order to know exact details) and tested the car thoroughly with no issues. The tech consistently referred to the issue as intermittent and he thought it was fixed but his tone did not inspire confidence to me. As a side note, as a nice touch the dealer cleaned the car, wiped down the seats, vacuumed the car.

I drove the car home on Friday with no issues. Parked, plugged to charge with the level 2 ClipperCreek HCS-50 and all seemed normal charging the battery to full before I went to bed. Saturday afternoon I started the car and the service engine light is on again. Not wanting to be stranded again the Volt is going back to the dealership Monday morning. I did check the cable connections mentioned in the post quoted above by quantumorbit and those seemed to be correctly aligned.

Does anyone have past experience of this issue that may help to guide the techs?

 

[ackiefer]

Update #2. The dealership had my car for another week and ultimately replaced, as I understand, 1-2 batteries/cells in the traction battery. I have seen that voltage differential between cells can cause issues so this may have been the issue leading to the "shift to park" that I initially experienced.

They also tested and determined the in-car charger was not functioning correctly and replaced it. I didn't have any issues with charging previously so I am not certain what that issue may have been.

The service advisor said this repair took 6-8 hours total.

I have had the car back for 1 week with no issues and feel that likely the issue was fixed even though each time I turn on the car I am nervous. We will see how long it takes until I feel full confidence that the issue(s) is(are) fully resolved.

It's been a journey with this car over my 1.5 years of ownership as I've had cruise control (acc) issues (ultimately replaced brake pedal push rod retainer clip (helped for a short time) and replaced the brake pedal assembly (seems to have fixed the problem), gear shift issues leading to shift to park messages when trying to turn off the car (replaced gear shift, seemed to have fixed the problem), and now the most recent issue lack of propulsion with shift to park. By my calculations my car has been in the shop roughly 1 out of every 10 days and hopefully it won't be going back for a long time for anything other than routine maintenance. Through all the issues I still love this car!