[turboguy327]

So I took my 13 to the dealer for the axle click noise and no heat most of the time I'm on electric.

They said my caliper slides need to be lubricated to fix the axle click noise. They want $70 an axle and want to do both axles. And they want to reprogram the HVAC module for $218 plus a $109 diagnosis fee. I told them I'll pass on everything.

After the car sits at night I have heat. If I stop somewhere and shut the car off then back on again within a few hours I won't have heat the 2nd time. If the car sits 5-6 hours the second time, I'll have heat.

They are reprogramming the charger module under voltec warranty as there was a code for it.

The SW actually told me the engine NEEDS to run to produce heat as the car needs to be in open loop to make heat. So basically he doesn't have a clue. And this is the dealership with the volt specialist in the area.

kWh jumps up as if the heater is drawing power but no heat.

 

[Qinsp]

So I took my 13 to the dealer for the axle click noise and no heat most of the time I'm on electric.

They said my caliper slides need to be lubricated to fix the axle click noise. They want $70 an axle and want to do both axles. And they want to reprogram the HVAC module for $218 plus a $109 diagnosis fee. I told them I'll pass on everything.

After the car sits at night I have heat. If I stop somewhere and shut the car off then back on again within a few hours I won't have heat the 2nd time. If the car sits 5-6 hours the second time, I'll have heat.

They are reprogramming the charger module under voltec warranty as there was a code for it.

The SW actually told me the engine NEEDS to run to produce heat as the car needs to be in open loop to make heat. So basically he doesn't have a clue. And this is the dealership with the volt specialist in the area.

kWh jumps up as if the heater is drawing power but no heat.

There was a known problem with the 2013 heater module. Flashing doesn't fix it AFAIK. They had to replace the module.

Do a search about it. Consider finding a dealer who works on more Volts. They should have known that flashing doesn't fix it.

I'm also suspicious about the caliper pins making axle noise. It's another noted issue, and has nothing to do with the calipers. Some axles were not torqued to spec at the factory. Retorquing could make the issue vanish, but if it doesn't, the axles have a 5 year warranty.

 

[turboguy327]

There was a known problem with the 2013 heater module. Flashing doesn't fix it AFAIK. They had to replace the module.

Do a search about it. Consider finding a dealer who works on more Volts. They should have known that flashing doesn't fix it.

That's what I told him from research on here and he said that flashing new software is the repair. Do you know the partnumber for the module or what GM calls it so I can just replace it myself? As it's not under warranty I don't want to deal with a dealer any more than I have too.

 

[Qinsp]

That's what I told him from research on here and he said that flashing new software is the repair. Do you know the partnumber for the module or what GM calls it so I can just replace it myself? As it's not under warranty I don't want to deal with a dealer any more than I have too.

Get ahold of your Volt Advisor. I believe this dealer is trying to scam you. GM knows a batch of the heater modules were defective. And they know some of the cars didn't get the axles tightened to the correct spec.

 

[Qinsp]

It does make me ill that they would charge that much for flashing. Reflashing is acknowledging the module was not programmed correctly when sold.

I used to flash friend's cars in under 30 minutes total time in my driveway.

BTW - a computer program flash into a module doesn't "fail" due to decay. At least not that I've seen. If the car heat was working before, now it does not, how the hell is a flash going to change anything? The old flash fell out on the ground?

 

[llninja]

Is the axle click noise every rotation, or only when you accelerate and decelerate (and more like a thump than a click)? Does it happen once, every time you change speeds?

 

[turboguy327]

Is the axle click noise every rotation, or only when you accelerate and decelerate (and more like a thump than a click)? Does it happen once, every time you change speeds?

It's the very definition of a click just after I accelerate or when braking with regen in L just before the car slows as much as it will in L. Just once click though. Not t a steady noise.

 

[turboguy327]

It does make me ill that they would charge that much for flashing. Reflashing is acknowledging the module was not programmed correctly when sold.

I used to flash friend's cars in under 30 minutes total time in my driveway.

BTW - a computer program flash into a module doesn't "fail" due to decay. At least not that I've seen. If the car heat was working before, now it does not, how the hell is a flash going to change anything? The old flash fell out on the ground?

Yea, that's my thought as well. A program just won't change for no reason. Something is wrong, telling it to do the wrong thing or the module itself can't do what it was or interpret information.

 

[llninja]

It's the very definition of a click just after I accelerate or when braking with regen in L just before the car slows as much as it will in L. Just once click though. Not t a steady noise.

Then take the front wheels off and torque the front axle nuts. If you let it go for too long, you might end up needing new bearings. The dealer is wrong about the brakes. I had the same proble, I was thinking it might be a bad bearing, and made the mistake of bringing it into the dealership before even trying to tighten the nuts. It would have been a great excuse for a new right-sized socket. I'm kicking myself for the $116 I spent on something I could have done myself.

Another forum user carefully pried out the center caps and used a socket extender to get to the axle nuts without taking off the wheels.

 

[turboguy327]

Get ahold of your Volt Advisor. I believe this dealer is trying to scam you. GM knows a batch of the heater modules were defective. And they know some of the cars didn't get the axles tightened to the correct spec.

According to the volt advisor, there is no known problem with axle nuts it's and the heater control module would not be covered under any warranty as it's not part of the voltec system but he did insist that a reflash would not fix any problems and may actually make things worse.

 

[voganni]

It is the K-10 heater module. Seems odd it would work sometimes and not others. If you see a kw draw on the power screen when requesting heat, then the module is drawing current and working. It's a bitch to change and you have to disable the HV system as it's fed by 300v from the battery pack. You also have to remove the engine intake manifold to get at it, mounted on the firewall. Actually your problem sounds more to me like the switching valve which has also had some problems. Or possibly the coolant pump. Replacing any of those 3 things also requires draining and refilling the engine cooling system, which is done with a vacuum filling device. The coolant pump for heater is located on lower right side inboard of right front wheel, mounted to frame rail. When electric heat is on, you should be able to put your hand on it and feel if its pumping. Unfortunately servicing the HVAC system is not a do-it-yourself project. Do you have heat when the engine is running? I also would agree your clicking sounds like axle nuts, not brake caliper pins. The caliper pins have boots that seal in the grease and keep out moisture and dirt.

 

[turboguy327]

It is the K-10 heater module. Seems odd it would work sometimes and not others. If you see a kw draw on the power screen when requesting heat, then the module is drawing current and working. It's a bitch to change and you have to disable the HV system as it's fed by 300v from the battery pack. You also have to remove the engine intake manifold to get at it, mounted on the firewall. Actually your problem sounds more to me like the switching valve which has also had some problems. Or possibly the coolant pump. Replacing any of those 3 things also requires draining and refilling the engine cooling system, which is done with a vacuum filling device. The coolant pump for heater is located on lower right side inboard of right front wheel, mounted to frame rail. When electric heat is on, you should be able to put your hand on it and feel if its pumping. Unfortunately servicing the HVAC system is not a do-it-yourself project. Do you have heat when the engine is running? I also would agree your clicking sounds like axle nuts, not brake caliper pins. The caliper pins have boots that seal in the grease and keep out moisture and dirt.

Wow, that is so helpful, thank you so much. I am not a basic DIY guy. I would have no problems removing an intake manifold by myself at home, I removed much more than an intake manifold in my garage.

I do have heat with the engine running. Without fail.

I'm in the middle of moving right now, but when I'm done I will have to see if the heat pump runs every time, is there an easy way to check the switching valve?

 

[Steve-e]

My 2014 Volt has exactly the same problems.

So I took my 13 to the dealer for the axle click noise and no heat most of the time I'm on electric.

They said my caliper slides need to be lubricated to fix the axle click noise. They want $70 an axle and want to do both axles. And they want to reprogram the HVAC module for $218 plus a $109 diagnosis fee. I told them I'll pass on everything.

After the car sits at night I have heat. If I stop somewhere and shut the car off then back on again within a few hours I won't have heat the 2nd time. If the car sits 5-6 hours the second time, I'll have heat.

They are reprogramming the charger module under voltec warranty as there was a code for it.

The SW actually told me the engine NEEDS to run to produce heat as the car needs to be in open loop to make heat. So basically he doesn't have a clue. And this is the dealership with the volt specialist in the area.

kWh jumps up as if the heater is drawing power but no heat.

My 2014 Volt has exactly the same problems. Clicking noise coming from front axle when stopping/starting. Also no heat in EV mode only. 42k miles. Out of warranty. Volt with similar heater problem is being worked on waiting for pump part number 13597899. It's on backorder. Service advisor says sometimes a backorder means there is an issue with the part and a new part number will replace it. He recommended that I wait but this is a cold winter so I'm not using EV mode much. Very unhappy and am planning to communicate my feelings about GM to everyone. I've talked others into buying Volts but now I feel guilty. Sales and service has been an old school low class experience compared to their competitors. Please keep this thread updated with any solutions you discover. These are defects that should be covered for free even after the warranty period has ended.

 

[turboguy327]

My 2014 Volt has exactly the same problems. Clicking noise coming from front axle when stopping/starting. Also no heat in EV mode only. 42k miles. Out of warranty. Volt with similar heater problem is being worked on waiting for pump part number 13597899. It's on backorder. Service advisor says sometimes a backorder means there is an issue with the part and a new part number will replace it. He recommended that I wait but this is a cold winter so I'm not using EV mode much. Very unhappy and am planning to communicate my feelings about GM to everyone. I've talked others into buying Volts but now I feel guilty. Sales and service has been an old school low class experience compared to their competitors. Please keep this thread updated with any solutions you discover. These are defects that should be covered for free even after the warranty period has ended.

Maybe a class action lawsuit for all of us suffering. I mean the Canadians have one just because the ICE uses gasoline. Lol.

 

[turboguy327]

So I've had more time to play with this finally. There is no kW draw when I have the heat on and the heat symbol is off. I have heat once the ICE warms up. Once the ICE turns off my heat goes away. So I'm guessing it's the electric coolant pump as I have heat when the ICE water pump is running but even if the coolant is hot I loose heat once the ICE shuts off.

When I'm driving, randomly the heat symbol in the lower right corner turns to on for a few seconds randomly but I can't tell if there is a kW draw when it does this as I'm driving when it does it.

Any other ideas? I have a crappy dealer that isn't willing to help me and they just want me to throw money at it with my fingers crossed.

 

[llninja]

So I've had more time to play with this finally. There is no kW draw when I have the heat on and the heat symbol is off. I have heat once the ICE warms up. Once the ICE turns off my heat goes away. So I'm guessing it's the electric coolant pump as I have heat when the ICE water pump is running but even if the coolant is hot I loose heat once the ICE shuts off.

When I'm driving, randomly the heat symbol in the lower right corner turns to on for a few seconds randomly but I can't tell if there is a kW draw when it does this as I'm driving when it does it.

Any other ideas? I have a crappy dealer that isn't willing to help me and they just want me to throw money at it with my fingers crossed.

If this happens every time, there's definitely something wrong that the dealer should be able to fix. But before you do that, check that all the fuses to the heating system are good. For my 2013, I would occasionally have no heat maybe once or twice a winter month, but that was fixed with a software update

 

[jayoldschool]

It was the coolant pump on our '15. Never worked properly, finally got fixed two months ago. EV operation heat is fine now.

 

[turboguy327]

It was the coolant pump on our '15. Never worked properly, finally got fixed two months ago. EV operation heat is fine now.

Do you have your work order with the part number? I'm out of B2B so I'm doing it myself.

 

[ampera_jed]

This axle nut torque issue is nonsense. I have had this and I told the dealer exactly what to do, they said they had heard nothing about this.

It is madness because it is a very common fault on GM/Vauxhall cars, a well known issue on the Astra model, here. Same hub ends AFAIK, out of the GM bin.

It's insane that this company doesn't talk about high rate faults that customers experience with their cars.

Vauxhall/Opel are being sold to PSA (announced yesterday) so maybe PSA will actually be a better owner of the marque than GM have been.

As for the heater, it seems there can be one or multiple of a relatively small number of faults here;-
a) the electric coolant pump is not working properly. This IS covered under the Voltec drive warranty.
b) if power is drawn when heater shows 'on', then the blending valve between the HVAC circuit and the engine circuit is sticking open, either completely or jamming open a little.

It would seem in the OPs case that once the system cools down the valve does return to the fully closed condition but seems to remain open for a while after the system has warmed up.

 

[jayoldschool]

Here's the thread I started on ours, hope it helps:

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?270249-No-heat-in-2105-on-EV&highlight=heat+2015