[bshensky]

Starting about the time I discovered "L" mode (about 3-4 months ago, on my 2013), I started to have it happen that pressing the "Drive Mode" button was increasingly working more intermittently, to the point where I could not get it to respond at all during a drive.

I have read countless posts and viewed a number of videos that discuss how the button might be "broken", and how people fidget with the switch fascia to get it to work. Some say this helps, but then the problem comes back.

Worse, folks who witness the problem go to the dealer, where they cannot replicate the problem, or at least simply restart the Volt to notice the problem no longer exists.

I noticed a bit of a pattern in intermittency in my own use - the button works fine early in a trip, and less often over the course of a trip. More importantly, and this is important, stopping and restarting the Volt always restores the function of the Drive Mode switch. I have every reason to believe that this button's hardware is plenty fine, and that there's a software bug that causes the Drive Mode button to stop responding to presses.

If you've had issues with your Drive Mode switch, I ask that you simply restart your Volt and post here if the problem has, even temporarily, gone away.

 

[crowltom]

My 2013 Volt has 66,000 miles or so and just started the Drive mode button problem in the last few weeks. i thought the switch was bad but after reading you post you could be correct about a bug.
When I first start the car I can use the button, after a 10 or so miles I can't. I thought this was a heat related problem do to fact we are having a HOT spring here in North Iowa.
A restart does correct the button for a short time

 

[viking79]

It is a contact problem in my Volt. If I pop the button off and spray some electrical contact cleaner around it I can have it work 100% for the next 6 mo to 1 year. After that it gets intermittently worse (as you say, tends to work early in the drive, but not later, then gets progressively worse over a couple months to the point of not working at all). The problem might be temp dependent, etc. I am not saying it isn't a SW problem as well, but for me at least there is a HW fix. The button pops off easily with a small flat bladed instrument and contact cleaner can be sprayed in small quantities around the switch.

 

[look4terry]

I had the problem on my 2012. Popping off the cover and adding just a slight a slight amount of hot glue then letting it cool added enough height to under lying button that it has worked fine for the last 6 months and counting. I think mine was a physical button issue.

 

[Barry]

You are correct that the fact that it goes away after a re-start tends to point to a software issue. On the other hand, the fact that the problem has been growing over time looks a lot more like hardware than software. I think you should keep an open mind to that possibility.

 

[2VoltFamily]

If you replace the switch I think your problem will go away. You have the same software as the rest of us. Sounds more like a contact point issue.

 

[Sunshine]

You are having the same symptoms that I had in my 2013 Volt one or two years ago. In my case the faceplate was replaced after diagnosis by the dealer of a faulty button, and that fixed the problem. The dealer could not replace only the Drive Mode button, they had to replace the entire faceplate. It was covered under my extended warranty however.

 

[YosemiteBrent]

I had the same solution as Sunshine did. My button in my 2012 became worse and worse until it would no longer work and I felt confident the dealer could replicate the issue. They replaced the entire face plate under my extended warranty

 

[Steverino]

Symptom of a bad switch: It starts getting flaky. Sometime it works, other times not. Sometimes it becomes totally unresponsive.

Solution: buy a new switch off ebay, or have the dealer replace the whole front panel. The replacement switch will be way cheaper unless you are still under warranty

 

[llninja]

When I first got my volt, I switched modes all the time, but after trying everything out and getting a feel for hypermiling, I just start the car and go. Normal D all the way!!!! Since I live nowhere near mountains, no need for Mountain Mode. My commute is 50 miles round trip, so it really doesn't help me to use hold mode at the beginning because i have on more than one occasion forgot to turn it off and ended up arriving home with juice left in the battery. I'm pretty certain if you don't use it all the time, flipping back and forth between modes multiple times in a trip, it will last longer. It's the same reason I don't shift between D, L, and N trying to eek out more miles. Just drive, and drive it like a jackrabbit.

 

[viking79]

Before replacing anything, try this quick fix. I made a video (takes less than 2 mins):
https://youtu.be/9-tykA9xD2Q

The pedal response is far more linear and driveable in Sport mode (and you might want hold at times in 2013+). Even driving slow I prefer Sport mode pedal mapping. It drives me nuts when the button acts up

Eric