[allenwp]

Hi there,

I'd like to personally ask that if you have any of these same problems with your Volt, please report them to GM's T.A.C. department. The more people that report the problem, the more likely it will be fixed with a software update. You're welcome to reference this video and mention that you've heard of others with the same problem(s).

Description of problem:

Audio output problem with auxiliary input and bluetooth audio in 2017 Chevy Volt LT. Software version 84089006 Gracenote 23199236.

Occurrence test results:
1:36:11 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h36m11s

iPhone 4S version info:
1:32:54 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h32m54s

Android Nexus LG 5x version info:
1:35:04 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h35m04s

---

*** PROBLEM 1 ***
- Audio output does not work -
Both auxiliary input audio and bluetooth audio output do not work at all when the car is started and will not work until the car is turned off. This problem appears to happen randomly, but happens regardless of whether a bluetooth device is paired.

Demonstrations:
When starting car with iOS bluetooth connection:
1:58 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1m58s
10:59 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=10m59s
15:54 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=15m54s
28:14 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=28m14s

When starting car with no auxiliary input and NO bluetooth connections:
53:44 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=53m44s
1:23:52 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h23m52s
1:30:05 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h30m05s

When starting car with Android bluetooth connection:
1:06:56 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h06m56s
1:17:43 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h17m43s

---

*** PROBLEM 2 ***
- Auxiliary input audio makes glitch sounds -
Both auxiliary input audio and bluetooth audio output do not work at all when the car is started and will not work until the car is turned off. This problem appears to happen randomly, but happens regardless of whether a bluetooth device is paired.

Demonstrations:
41:54 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=41m54s

---

*** PROBLEM 3 (minor issue) ***
- Audio takes abnormal time to start -
Sometimes, regardless of whether a bluetooth device is connected, the audio system takes an abnormal amount of time to start. Before it starts, a fan somewhere behind the main console can be heard spinning briefly. Audio playback will start after the fan finishes spinning. This is a minor issue to me, but I thought this might be relevant information to pass on. (To me, it sounds like a part of the HMI module has crashed when trying to boot followed by a restart where the fan can be heard spinning... But that's just a guess I'm making about what's happening.)

Demonstrations:
13:14 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=13m14s
36:59 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=36m59s
1:14:30 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h14m30s
(and many more through the test process)

---

*** PROBLEM 4 (minor issue) ***
- Chime sounds are staticy/glitchy -
Sometimes the "bluetooth connected" chime sounds staticy/glitchy. This is a minor issue to me, but I thought this might be relevant information to pass on.

Demonstrations:
17:01 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=17m01s
(and many more through the test process)

---

A GM T.A.C case has been opened by my dealer regarding this issue (opened on Nov. 29, 2016).

This video was taken after the HMI module was replaced. Replacing the HMI module appears to have made no change to the behaviour and problems.

HMI module was replaced during a service visit to my dealer (Myers, 1200 Baseline Road, Ottawa, Canada) to attempt to resolve the problem. The third party "York Electronics" has been dealing with this issue.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

I read your post and I can't offer any advice, sorry.

A point of clarification: how has York Electronics been involved with the issue? Have they been attempting to resolve your issue for you, or what? Are they somewhat expert in the Gen2 Volt?

Good luck.

 

[allenwp]

I read your post and I can't offer any advice, sorry.

A point of clarification: how has York Electronics been involved with the issue? Have they been attempting to resolve your issue for you, or what? Are they somewhat expert in the Gen2 Volt?

Good luck.

No worries, thanks for taking the time to look through the details.

I believe that York Electronics is a local third party that my dealer contracts out to for work on software / high tech systems on their cars because my dealer does not have the expertise for some specific components, such as the bloothtooth and Chevrolet MyLink functionality. I have only interacted with York Electronics through the two service appointments with my dealer where they tried to resolve the problem by replacing the entire HMI module. I believe the HMI module is produced by Bosch, since a link in the "Open Source Software" page of the car's console points to their website ( http://x.co/boschcmoss ).

I suspect that the problem is with the HMI module's software or the interaction between the HMI module and the rest of the audio system. Because this appears to be a software issue (replacing the HMI module hardware did not make a difference), I expect that this happens with all Gen2 Volts (or at least 2017 LT). So, as I mentioned earlier, if it ever happens to anyone else, it would be helpful to let GM T.A.C. know about the issue through your dealer.

Thanks!
Allen

 

[quirkySquirt]

I'm new to cars with manufacturer warranties, but don't people who service the warranty need to be approved/certified to a GM standard? So any accessories electronic work done on the Volt has to be by someone approved by GM?

Do you by chance have another dealer nearby for a second opinion?

 

[allenwp]

I'm new to cars with manufacturer warranties, but don't people who service the warranty need to be approved/certified to a GM standard? So any accessories electronic work done on the Volt has to be by someone approved by GM?

Do you by chance have another dealer nearby for a second opinion?

Hmm, good point. I could take the car in to another dealer to see what they say. Heh, it'd be funny if they ended up also making use of York Electronics for dealing with the issue. But at this point, the issue has already been raised to GM T.A.C., so I should probably wait it out a bit longer to see what ideas they come back with. I might do that if this route goes nowhere, but for now I've just bought an FM transmitter as a stop-gap solution for some reliability.

 

[snorth]

Hi there,

I'd like to personally ask that if you have any of these same problems with your Volt, please report them to GM's T.A.C. department. The more people that report the problem, the more likely it will be fixed with a software update. You're welcome to reference this video and mention that you've heard of others with the same problem(s).

Description of problem:

Audio output problem with auxiliary input and bluetooth audio in 2017 Chevy Volt LT. Software version 84089006 Gracenote 23199236.

Occurrence test results:
1:36:11 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h36m11s

iPhone 4S version info:
1:32:54 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h32m54s

Android Nexus LG 5x version info:
1:35:04 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h35m04s

---

*** PROBLEM 1 ***
- Audio output does not work -
Both auxiliary input audio and bluetooth audio output do not work at all when the car is started and will not work until the car is turned off. This problem appears to happen randomly, but happens regardless of whether a bluetooth device is paired.

Demonstrations:
When starting car with iOS bluetooth connection:
1:58 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1m58s
10:59 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=10m59s
15:54 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=15m54s
28:14 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=28m14s

When starting car with no auxiliary input and NO bluetooth connections:
53:44 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=53m44s
1:23:52 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h23m52s
1:30:05 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h30m05s

When starting car with Android bluetooth connection:
1:06:56 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h06m56s
1:17:43 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h17m43s

---

*** PROBLEM 2 ***
- Auxiliary input audio makes glitch sounds -
Both auxiliary input audio and bluetooth audio output do not work at all when the car is started and will not work until the car is turned off. This problem appears to happen randomly, but happens regardless of whether a bluetooth device is paired.

Demonstrations:
41:54 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=41m54s

---

*** PROBLEM 3 (minor issue) ***
- Audio takes abnormal time to start -
Sometimes, regardless of whether a bluetooth device is connected, the audio system takes an abnormal amount of time to start. Before it starts, a fan somewhere behind the main console can be heard spinning briefly. Audio playback will start after the fan finishes spinning. This is a minor issue to me, but I thought this might be relevant information to pass on. (To me, it sounds like a part of the HMI module has crashed when trying to boot followed by a restart where the fan can be heard spinning... But that's just a guess I'm making about what's happening.)

Demonstrations:
13:14 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=13m14s
36:59 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=36m59s
1:14:30 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=1h14m30s
(and many more through the test process)

---

*** PROBLEM 4 (minor issue) ***
- Chime sounds are staticy/glitchy -
Sometimes the "bluetooth connected" chime sounds staticy/glitchy. This is a minor issue to me, but I thought this might be relevant information to pass on.

Demonstrations:
17:01 https://youtu.be/4A_HkZHpFqs?t=17m01s
(and many more through the test process)

---

A GM T.A.C case has been opened by my dealer regarding this issue (opened on Nov. 29, 2016).

This video was taken after the HMI module was replaced. Replacing the HMI module appears to have made no change to the behaviour and problems.

HMI module was replaced during a service visit to my dealer (Myers, 1200 Baseline Road, Ottawa, Canada) to attempt to resolve the problem. The third party "York Electronics" has been dealing with this issue.

I have PROBLEM 4 - Chime Sounds are Staticy/Glitchy.

I've reported it to my dealer twice and had it in with them twice, but they have been unable to reproduce. I can't reproduce it on demand, either. They said they found no software updates to address such an issue, either.

 

[allenwp]

Thanks for letting us know that this problem was happening with you as well, snorth!

I've found that if you're willing to turn the car on and off at least 80+ times, you'll be able to easily reproduce problem number 1, 3, and 4 with no problem. But all of three of those problems appear to occur randomly, so be ready for many, many attempts before you can reproduce them. Or, you might get "lucky" and the problems will happen every 5 or 10 times. I don't know if it matters, but I always open the driver's door after turning off the car to make sure it fully shuts down. (And I turned off the "keys left in car" warning sound in the settings so it doesn't honk every time.)

I personally feel like problem 3 and 4 are a hint that something bigger is going wrong... Please let us know if you experience problem 1 or 2 as well!

Allen

 

[Ash45]

I just bought a 2017 loaded Premier (has ACC, Adaptive Cruise Control) a few weeks ago, and noticed this problem too. At first I thought maybe my aux cable was bad, so went and got another one. But then the original cord started working again after I tried it out one more time.

Then I thought maybe it's because of bluetooth. But even when I disabled it, sometimes the aux port still wouldn't work.

Music seems to work fine on Android Auto.

As mentioned here, it happens randomly, and it seems turning off the Volt and turning it back on seems to fix it. But it's rather annoying, particularly as the car is still brand new.

 

[allenwp]

Thanks for letting us know that it's happening with the premiere model, Ash45. I believe that you have the Bose sound system, so seems that the Bose/non-Bose system has nothing to do with this problem.

 

[chase]

Having the same problem (problem #1) with my base model 2017 Volt. It's driving us nuts! Seems to happen more with my wife's phone than with my phone, but that could just be random chance.

Allen, I'm sad to see from your comment on YouTube that you're still dealing with this problem. Does anyone know how to contact GM's T.A.C. department? Definitely want to add my voice to the chorus on this issue.

Thanks,
Chase

 

[Astraflyr]

Thank you! Figured there would be a thread about this sooner or later. I’ve been having the static and audio not playing issue intermittently from day one. Weird when I shut the car off and the music starts playing, finally. I also notice CarPlay connects and disconnects multiple times sometimes. I tried using original apple cords, but no change. Frustrating. CarPlay seems to work better when I plug in the phone and THEN start the car.

 

[Actionjax]

I am experiencing the same issue York Electronics also had replace the unit and the Firmware was both a lower version and date than my previous one. Problem has not been as bad but still Issues like you are having. I have a 2017 Volt for almost a year in May.

I have it going back in to the dealer to get fixed and will see what happens.

 

[Riggs]

2017 LT. Same kinda issues. Screen randomly flips around between screens, makes audible sounds (like a ghost is touching the screen randomly), sometimes completely freezing until turned off for awhile and turned back on again.
Went to dealer, they got York Electronics guy to come in (they always will, this is who makes and services them, GM doesn't know anything about them at all), wanted to replace the Radio Control module for $850. I didn't knowing about this forum and that replacing doesn't fix.
Note: I bought mine 6 months ago used. It worked fine then slowly bogged down and became glitchy showing signs of what some of you have all expiernced in the last 2 months. I agree that this should be fixed with software or a loose connection fix but they won't.
They want money and will only offer to replace (radio module $850) or whole HMI for $1500. They won't spend the time to try and fix something that may get fixed. They will just replace it.
Our only hope I believe is to investigate Bosch and the open source software and try to reload or update the software ourselves or open up and fix the problem ourselves.
I'm going to another dealer with information from this forum and see what they say. (Most likely nothing). Then I will look into fixing it myself.
Please continue to post here with any new info. I will come when anything new is discovered.