GM recalls 2013 Chevrolet Volts for battery software

I didn't receive a notification in the mail, but I saw the thread here and got the notice through the GM online account system and just took it in myself. Easy and they had it flashed and ready to go in an hour or so. I had to take it in once before to get the charge port replaced (under warranty) and some sensors replaced (not under warranty ). Between these two experiences, I'm happy with the dealer here so far...

I received the recall letter on Friday. GM Recall 18215. Made a service appointment for tomorrow. Told 90 minutes for reprogamming of the HPCM2 module. I wonder what they will find if anything about my constant Power Propulsion Reduced Events on every day I try and use the car. I think the battery is damaged to be honest from the lack of cell balancing since they turned that off back in the first recall involving reflashing the software in the HPCM2 module back in 2016. I have been having PPR events ever since and the dealers have never been able to make them go away.

Got my notice late last week. Dealer actually called me and scheduled me in for the recall before the notice arrived. It was done this morning. Took about 45 minutes. The current stats were cleared out (for the current charge) is the only thing I noticed after the flash. Once I charge overnight it should be business as usual. Hopefully.

Still no recall on OHM-RIDE. But apparently it was made at the tale end of the run so maybe they had already changed something?

Dutch said:

Still no recall on OHM-RIDE. But apparently it was made at the tale end of the run so maybe they had already changed something?

Click to expand...

N172130460 Software Update Error Affecting Battery Cell Voltage Balancing GM Recall

FWIW: ANY 2013 Gen1 'could have' potentially been affected/recalled had you or the GM service dept pushed the 'defective' calibration onto the HPCM2...

How can I tell if my 2013 volt is part of this recall? IO have been getting service high voltage charging system soon, and reduced propulsion issues constantly the the last week.

I have to carry my OBD2 reader in the car so I can reset the fault codes and drive like normal.

edit I found the recall site, my car does not show up. Should I have them look into this anyways since it will be in for diagnostics?

somms said:

N172130460 Software Update Error Affecting Battery Cell Voltage Balancing GM Recall

FWIW: ANY 2013 Gen1 'could have' potentially been affected/recalled had you or the GM service dept pushed the 'defective' calibration onto the HPCM2...

Click to expand...

what I mean is I went to GM's site and entered my VIN and it said "no recall"

I had the recall service performed on Tuesday. Took about an hour at the dealer. So far, crossing my fingers that I will not jinx myself with this post, the car has charged every night successfully and I have not had the PPR error in the morning which was always present every morning before the recall. So maybe turning back on cell balancing has fixed my lemon of a car finally.

It has been about a week since the flash and I have not noticed anything different. I suspect my cells were already relatively balanced. One other thing to note about the update, the charge unplug warning and the power fail warning options where renabled. I unplugged mid charge the other day and the car started honking. Scared me for a sec as I didn’t expect that!

I was not able to find a way to check for sure other than to ask the dealer about it on my 2013 volt and they told me no.

I took it in for the propulsion power reduced and SHVCSS errors and had to pay for the updates, I guess I had a the same issue but different faulty software so I was not covered.

The SHVCSS message would often appear after plugging in at night, and I would come out to find the car had not charged. Then I would get the propulsion power reduced message. I guess this is a different issue then?

I took mine in for the recall Friday afternoon... They loaned me a 2018 Volt and said it may be available Monday. It's now Monday night and I haven't heard anything... so another day with the 2018.

Finally got mine done. Took almost 2 hours at the dealer... should have flashed it myself again.


Afterwards there was no change in mix-max cell voltages after a charge so I'm led to believe my cell balancing was never actually broken.