[Brice379]

Hi all, need some advice and help with the service I am receiving on my 2013 Premium

Around 2 weeks ago my Volt started to make the high pitched whining noise on decel that seems to be a fairly known problem on the forums. My nearest volt tech, unfortunately for where I live, is 1.5 hours away, after working with chevy customer service and the volt tech dealer I got the car out to them and received a loaner to use while it was in the shop. At this point in time I was told they had the part for the main drive bearing and it would be only 2 or so days, yet here I sit nearly 2 weeks later still with no car......

For those of you who have been through this fix, what all is involved? The last week has been the service adviser basically dodging my calls and giving me excuse after excuse as to the status. It has been 2 weeks of "it will be done tomorrow"... Most of the time they said they were waiting on a part or on a tool, even though I was originally told they had it, and today after the service adviser dodged my call again, I finally talked to them after asking to talk to the manager, unsurprisingly when I asked for that suddenly the adviser was available....

So my question is, do they need to drain the cooling fluids to accomplish this fix? When I asked why it wasnt done yet I was told they were test driving it to make sure all the valves were opening and closing because they had to drain the coolant. It was originally confirmed to me that it was the drive bearing that I suspected it was and I feel like the dealer broke something on my car and has spent the last 1.5 weeks covering it up while they fixed it.

Please any advice would be extremely helpful.

 

[volt spain]

Same old story. We need a NATIONAL LIST of GM dealers who feel comfortable taking care of Volts and Electric cars, the LIST should be STATE by STATE and City by City. If you do not know how to service Volts DO NOT SELL THEM !!!...Perhaps centralize Dealers with experience would be the solution...more like TESLA service. If you have a broken VOLT why do you have to drive an ICE car during the repair???. If you pay > $40.000 for a car you deserve a careful service. Seems the GM dealers have excellent SALES service and LOUSY repair, parts and rest of services. They get very upset when you do not give them 100% satisfaction in their reports, I wonder why?.

 

[DonC]

Some owners have had to wait quite a while for the part. That was, however, early when the problem first surfaced. So it might be they were waiting on the part.

 

[Brice379]

Some owners have had to wait quite a while for the part. That was, however, early when the problem first surfaced. So it might be they were waiting on the part.

I had read that so I made sure to ask if they had the part before I dropped it off and were told they did. Plus replacing the part should not, from my understanding, involve draining the coolant out of the vehicle.

 

[Carl S]

Were you originally told it would take two weeks to fix it? I had to drive my Volt for a couple days because they didn't have a loaner vehicle to give me.

My 2011 had this service done back in July, 2014. Dealer had it for 8 weekdays and I was given a new Cruze as a courtesy vehicle. The invoice states they had to replace the transmission side cover and the drive motor B rotor bearing, seals and gasket, and flush and fill the transmission cooler with new automatic transmission fluid. That was at 27.5K miles and now I'm at 50K miles with no noise.

My invoice doesn't mention anything about having to drain coolant, but there is a technician on the Volt Facebook page that posts pictures of him working on replacing the drive motor B rotor bearing, showing he has to drain the coolant for the power electronics and on-board charger.

I've moved again since then, so when I need to take my Volt for service, I make sure the dealer actually sells the Volt, ensuring they have the necessary tools and technician for Volt service.

 

[mpmoore1979]

Coolant does not need to be drained, however you never know what a tech might do to make the repair faster/easier. The bulletin does call out that the transmission cooler has to be flushed and flow checked. This might be what the tech told the service adviser but the adviser may misunderstood. Filling the electronics cooling system takes about 5 minutes, the drive motor battery cooling system takes about 30 minutes to fill properly. A 20 mile test drive should be enough to check the cooling systems and to make sure the bearing repair fixed the issue. If there is another problem, they may not be telling you until the figure it out.

 

[Brice379]

Were you originally told it would take two weeks to fix it? I had to drive my Volt for a couple days because they didn't have a loaner vehicle to give me.

My 2011 had this service done back in July, 2014. Dealer had it for 8 weekdays and I was given a new Cruze as a courtesy vehicle. The invoice states they had to replace the transmission side cover and the drive motor B rotor bearing, seals and gasket, and flush and fill the transmission cooler with new automatic transmission fluid. That was at 27.5K miles and now I'm at 50K miles with no noise.

My invoice doesn't mention anything about having to drain coolant, but there is a technician on the Volt Facebook page that posts pictures of him working on replacing the drive motor B rotor bearing, showing he has to drain the coolant for the power electronics and on-board charger.

I've moved again since then, so when I need to take my Volt for service, I make sure the dealer actually sells the Volt, ensuring they have the necessary tools and technician for Volt service.

Originally quoted 2-3 days to fix after I confirmed they had the part. If they had originally told me 2 weeks because they need to order the part I would be a lot more understanding, but it turned into 2 weeks of "it will be done tomorrow" or "it will be done by the end of the day and we will call you to let you know if it isn't" after which I received no phone call.

 

[Brice379]

Coolant does not need to be drained, however you never know what a tech might do to make the repair faster/easier. The bulletin does call out that the transmission cooler has to be flushed and flow checked. This might be what the tech told the service adviser but the adviser may misunderstood. Filling the electronics cooling system takes about 5 minutes, the drive motor battery cooling system takes about 30 minutes to fill properly. A 20 mile test drive should be enough to check the cooling systems and to make sure the bearing repair fixed the issue. If there is another problem, they may not be telling you until the figure it out.

I am hoping that is the case that the service adviser misunderstood. If there is another problem though at least tell me something is up and that it will take longer to fix, instead I have gotten nothing but "just one more day" or "it will be done tomorrow" for 2 weeks and a service adviser that is not available unless I call for a manager or call from a different phone number. When I asked about the delays today I got mixed messages telling me they were waiting for either a part, which I was originally told was in stock, to they were waiting on a tool, but no one knew what the tool was. When I asked the status of my car I had one person saying the tech was staying late to finish it to another person telling me it was done and they were out for a test drive, this was 2.5 hours before the service department closes.

 

[Coppersnowboarder]

I left my Volt last week for the local dealership to find a leak. Two days, they did not find the leak. At least I got away with only a $70 inspection fee this time. I found a different service office that does a much better job at less expense, but about a three-hour trip. It is not easy finding qualified service.

 

[yfrqnk14]

FINNALLY! I have found VOLT owners that cant get them serviced, just like me.
I was starting to think everybody in this forum was a bot, run by chevy.
Only going to a dealer that sells VOLTS did not work for me.
A central registry would be a great idea. I askex chevy to find me VOLT mechanic, they eithier couldnt, or wouldnt.
We should contact our law makers and make it a crime to sell a car that can not be serviced.

 

[hellsop]

I left my Volt last week for the local dealership to find a leak. Two days, they did not find the leak. At least I got away with only a $70 inspection fee this time. I found a different service office that does a much better job at less expense, but about a three-hour trip. It is not easy finding qualified service.

Why on earth would it take them two weeks to do an hour's worth of work?

 

[volt spain]

The typical,,"our Volt mechanic is off the rest of the weeK", or just left in his Honeymoon...leave your car here will give you an ICE car...When we will see independent VOLT mechanics opening their shops?. I suspect as soon the 8 yrs warranty is over, lets hope so...