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The NO CHARGE saga...please help.

6380 Views 49 Replies 18 Participants Last post by  thisadviceisworthless
I have been on and off GM-Volt for several months now in hopes to somehow just find a solution to my woes. I have a 2011 volt that has been struggling to charge for well way too long now. The weird thing is, it will just work for a couple days in a row here and there and I get so pumped that I think it will just work forever again! That is now the case however. Here goes nothing...

Several months ago I started having this problem where I would plug the car in like usual at ANY ANY plugging unit (Home, parking lot, work, anywhere, plus different units) and the car would blink green and later I would come back to find it with no color at all. Now sometimes the on star app lets me know that "there is a charge interuption" so then I would go out and see what is up. Sometimes just a simple unplug and replug would do the trick, however most of the time not. I would plug back in, get orange then hear some clicking in the engine bay and either stay orange or just go out completely.

So I thought it was definitely my 240 charger from Clipper Creek, so I contacted them (one of the best businesses I have every dealt with btw) and we trouble shot over the phone and I was in warranty so even though it didn't seem to be their unit I got a new one. To no avail same problem. The weirdest thing is that it is so random, like now for several weeks it has been very consistent not to be charging at all ever. When my car texts me through the on star and it says completely changed I draw attention to myself because I'm so pumped, this shouldn't be.

I have taken this to a dealer (in the sticks of MN) and have gotten absolutely no where, once my car was completely dead to the point of towing it to their garage over night. The next day was Saturday and the Volt tech was not in. I went to the car and I fixed it myself trouble shooting from this website. So the next time I brought it there I was worried as usual and then they seemed to have gotten it fixed, they said the plugged in their unit to see the codes and such, reprogrammed some things and $150ish later they plugged in to charge and said it did. That very night I plugged it in and the same thing happened no charging...

So I come to all of you, I have been trying to reach ANYONE for too long and finally got a reply from some folks saying start an new Thread, well I hope that helps, there are a ton on here with charging issues. I tried posting there as this is a charging issue, but here I go with a new thread PLEASE HELP:(. I love this car and want it to keep working.:eek::)

The latest trial and ERRRRROOR :mad: is the replacement of the 12v battery in the back. I hooked up a new one and tried to let the computer sense it and such and then plugged in the main charging unit...NOPE same thing.

HELP: the codes I'm reading are the same as many P1e00 and Pod17 :confused:
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While you have the Volt cut into two, you might as well stretch it into a 30-40 foot limo. Even just 1 section to add a row of seats would solve the seating and cargo space issue. It would clobber your EV range though.
I'd settle for adding four inches for a bit of legroom in the rear... ;)
It seems as if I need to really fix the car, meaning I need to replace the silver charger box, but mostly the connector which can't be just replace for some reason? So this would all run me $1200 charger + $600 connector + $7/800 labor or there abouts, so this puts me in the OH CRAP THAT IS A LOT category.
No it isn't. You said earlier that you had 70k on this car, and that means its in the 8/100k Voltec warranty. Go get it fixed, UNDER WARRANTY.
I think the OP mentioned somewhere in this thread that it is a salvage title car. No warranty.
Ah. It's seeming that buying a "salvage" Volt, even if its your own, is about as money-effective as buying flood-damaged laptops.
If you're going to pay someone to fix it, then it definitely doesn't make sense. If you have the tools, knowledge, and time it can make sense. I'm sure the OP could buy a used charger and cable assemblies for a decent price. But that would require installing it himself and dealing with GDS2 & SPS to do the required reprogramming.
Exactly. Being even ABLE to fix something costs about $2000 (MDI, cables, GDS2 subscription for a month, service manual subscription) even before you buy the parts and that presumes you've got a gearhead's normal toolchest already. PLUS the cost of the salvage car, plus the parts, and you're within a grand or two of buying the same car with a clean title from Carmax or someplace. Sure, once you've bought the MDI, you don't have to buy it again, so you're all set to rebuild other salvaged GM cars, but you're pretty committed to keeping it because that's going to be the first thing you have to reach for when something goes funny in the future.
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