[tacman7]

It was really hot when I started my Volt about 10:30 this morning. It's about a mile to the pavement and I have to drive slowly so not much cooling and I had the air on high.
So I get to the pavement and stop at the mail box and I can hear the engine running. I open the hood and look at it, it's running.

The panel doesn't show it's running but it's running.

I went ahead and went to the store and it ran there when I started it but I heard it stop running after I was driving around.

So it must come on for extra cooling or something?

Thanks

 

[volt spain]

Probably the engine hood was open , the engine will run all the time...

 

[llninja]

Or the sensor to the hood is bad or needs adjustment. The other option could be fuel maintenance mode or engine maintenance mode, but you would have seen a message on your DIC for that

 

[emartin00]

If you had the A/C on high, the compressor is pretty noisy from outside. As soon as you opened the hood, it triggered the engine to start. Opening the hood forces the engine on for maintenance reasons.

Next time you think it's running, go to the rear and put your hand in front of the exhaust pipe and you'll know if it's really running.

 

[tacman7]

Opening the hood while it's on starts the motor?

Damn, that's good to know.

I have a longer trip today, going to have to use about 30% of the trip on gas.

And the forecast is for 114 today.

Thanks guys

 

[obermd]

If you had the A/C on high, the compressor is pretty noisy from outside. As soon as you opened the hood, it triggered the engine to start. Opening the hood forces the engine on for maintenance reasons.

Next time you think it's running, go to the rear and put your hand in front of the exhaust pipe and you'll know if it's really running.

But don't touch the exhaust pipe. Another place you can touch is the actual hood of the car. If it's ambient temperature the ICE isn't running. If it's hot then ICE is or has been running recently.

 

[Barry]

You can also see the engine running in the DIC if you have the power gauge screen up. And on the center console screen if you have the power animation screen up. Not positive if engine running due to the hood sensor shows in both of those places, but in general, they show engine running.

 

[canehdian]

You probably heard the AC. It's quite loud on max.
As mentioned, opening the hood guarantees engine on if the vehicle is on. It's for safety and certain diagnostics where you need the engine to run (but it's normally off at idle on a volt)

 

[tacman7]

But don't touch the exhaust pipe. Another place you can touch is the actual hood of the car. If it's ambient temperature the ICE isn't running. If it's hot then ICE is or has been running recently.

When it's 114 outside pretty much everything is hot.


Thanks guys, I think I thought it was running and opened the hood to see if it was. Not a valid methodology.

I think I was just freaking out. The really HOT weather only happens a few weeks here and there, the rest of the year it's nice.

I was afraid the heat would overload the flux capacitor or something.

 

[wizard_of-ahs]

From my 2014 manual:
Electric Mode
In Electric Mode, the vehicle does
not use fuel or produce tailpipe
emissions. During this primary
mode, the vehicle is powered by
electrical energy stored in the high
voltage battery. The vehicle can
operate in this mode until the
battery has reached a low charge.
There are some conditions when the
battery charge is high enough to
provide Electric Mode operation, but
the engine still runs. They are:
. Cold ambient temperatures.

. "Hot or cold high voltage battery
temperatures."

. The hood being open or not
completely closed and latched.
. Certain high voltage battery fault
conditions.
. Engine Maintenance Mode or
Fuel Maintenance Mode
being run.

So apparently the high temp will trigger it

 

[llninja]

When it's 114 outside pretty much everything is hot.


Thanks guys, I think I thought it was running and opened the hood to see if it was. Not a valid methodology.

I think I was just freaking out. The really HOT weather only happens a few weeks here and there, the rest of the year it's nice.

I was afraid the heat would overload the flux capacitor or something.

just to be safe, keep it under 88 mph

 

[canehdian]

From my 2014 manual:
Electric Mode
In Electric Mode, the vehicle does
not use fuel or produce tailpipe
emissions. During this primary
mode, the vehicle is powered by
electrical energy stored in the high
voltage battery. The vehicle can
operate in this mode until the
battery has reached a low charge.
There are some conditions when the
battery charge is high enough to
provide Electric Mode operation, but
the engine still runs. They are:
. Cold ambient temperatures.

. "Hot or cold high voltage battery
temperatures."

. The hood being open or not
completely closed and latched.
. Certain high voltage battery fault
conditions.
. Engine Maintenance Mode or
Fuel Maintenance Mode
being run.

So apparently the high temp will trigger it

Eventually, but not in OPs case.
Full battery means he just left a plug and the battery is normal temp.
It would take hours in the ambient heat to get to extreme highs, especially with the AC running.
What's described there is more of a critical mode when the AC is unable to cool the battery more than it's heating up, or AC is disabled entirely. It will shut down (most of) the flow of electricity to/from battery to protect it.
The same happens in extreme cold (which takes about 10 hours at -25C to get to, from a normal temp battery if no heating applied) where the computer shuts down most battery flow to protect it and uses the engine for main power.

Such situations do not happen in every day use, and certainly not within an hour of being "exposed" to the extreme temps.