The NO CHARGE saga...please help.

Thank you Thank you Thank you all for responding and CCIE for assistance on this Forum. I will try some grease like that but I'm really thinking it has to be loose something. Can I get to that thing under the bumper you speak of? I actually purchased a different charge port to do myself if need be. Right now I have just got into where the charge port sits, I reach in there and unplug the orange connector and plug my different on in...to no avail, so I'm thinking I ruled that out unless there is some procedure I need to do after I plug in the different one. I just can't figure out why it would go green and sit like that for minutes at a time and then just say "nope we're done" and then orange and then no color. If I clear those codes I can "most" of the time get it to go green right away but then goes out, but if I dn't clear those codes then it "most" of the time will just be orange. Thanks again all, I just know with all of your help and other things happening to these cars we can get it.! Go team.

THank you again all, I will definitely check under the armrest...and what you wrecked a Volt for my question, I take back all the sadness I had against this website for folks not getting back to me, it was only a silver one anyway. Sorry I digress, to those that have silver Volts, they are fine I know you just couldn't find one in the color you wanted at the time, no worries soon you will have a car with color. Okay off topic.

I see that box and not quite sure why something would have happened with that but a good spot to keep in mind. I feel I am to the point of playing with the fluid levels or looking to that sensor. Before a quick update on what the car did yestday last night and now I want to share my phone call. I called Luther Brookdale in the cities (to those not knowledgable about what I mean Minn/St. Paul) and talked with a great volt tech there. I explained where I"m located and please help without telling me to just come there imediately. He was saying that most likely it is not the charge port or the 12v but the coolant fluid level. I am sort of to that now with my diagnoses from all your help and now his. He was just explaining that if something is a little funny with that (as many of you have said) it could tell the computer to not let the battery charge as it might get too hot. So I'm thinking I will have to fill the passenger side container a little more to see if that does anything, if that doesn't change things I might need to take it in. If I do I will walk the guy to the exact spot, tell him where it is, point to the sensor and the jug, and then tell him to look up the damn bulletin I read about on here about this sort of issue. Yikes it should be so simple.

So update on what happened, nothing really same same. I plugged in last night and it went green, walked away got the onstar text saying car not charging, went out replugged nothing. This morning I tried to get a little charge going and I thought I had it, no text as I was eating bfast, then went out to no lights on at all, and no text, errr frustrating. I did manage to clear the codes and they actually stayed cleared for a time last night so I thought I had some charge going then, nope. So yeah onward, we'll figure this out...thanks again everyone. Could someone cut the car in 2 for me, I just want to see the halves apart!

Okay a so update. I was playing with options all afternoon. I did pour dis water, just a little to bring level up. Right away things changed. Granted I got in the car turned it on clear the codes shut off the car then plugged it in! But then it seemed to charge for quite a while meaning 5 minutes 10 minutes. Which has been the longest for a couple weeks for sure. So then the text came again that there was a transfer interruption or something like that. So then I poured a little bit more in and similar thing it worked for a while again. Now it's parked and charged an again and it's been that way for 7 minutes ish and still charging! So any other thoughts? It Is by no means fixed yet but maybe closer! So does this have to do with the level possibly?
So now I'm wondering about what's happening maybe good things! But to answer the other question I have a salvage title on this car which again doesn't help at the dealer... So so as for the warranty I only have about 70 K on the car so maybe they would help but I had a doubt it.
Yes I saw the moth Kamikaze thread a while back in so I blew it out a little bit and really looked with flashlight and such and did not see anything. But thanks for that I was hoping that was my easy fix.
I will keep updating you all but please be thinking why it's so random and if the coolant level has something to do with this.
Thank you thank you again for all the responses I'm feeling a bit better about my problem.

So I shouldn't have my hand in a bucket of water when I'm playing with any orange cord? And yes thank you thank you for the private message I have opened it and I have downloaded it to my computer and I have emailed it to myself you know for some late-night reading! Not at the moment as I was catching up on our thread conversation.
So update as of tonight playing with the fluids a little bit it seems like the larger passenger side fluid was lower than I thought. Now they are all perfect in line with the line on the jug!
So I was able to charge for almost 10 minutes or so before I got the text so at least I got a few more miles today tonight. However I'm pretty sure it is not charging at the moment so onward to the next step?
I have seemed to clear the codes and that does help but yes that same code keeps coming up. So with your explanation where is this piece and what was that last part about tapping to replicate the problem? Wondering if something could be like that and also whoever was talking about something heating up seems to be hitting the nail on the head. So now how to find that nail in the haystack of the Chevrolet Volt!?
Thank you again for all your help please keep any suggestions coming as I will continue to play before have to give up my car to a dealer for I have no clue how long :-(

I am sorry that I lost your interest. I just can't seem to figure out why this can't be fixed or why this has not happened to anyone else out there in the World Wide Web as they say? :-( Now I'm at the point of looking if someone might have a honda civic HX from back in the day with a manual transmission. I mean I love the 48/50 mpgs on the generator but come on what is the deal with driving an electric car on petro.
Not really any update, I mean I think I might take some fluid back out of the front passenger side reservoir because that seemed to at least get me some charge. I"m just at a loss, I feel I have tried many things.
Am am resorting to taking in my precious Volt in hopes of seeing it in the next week or so, I just never know what happens to her when she is in. I know this is a difficult car to work with but it has been around for quite some time now...get a clue. I'm sorry I don't drive a v10 in the city moving just myself around. This sucks, I can't believe this is that hard...plug in wires go to charger it works. There has to be something loose because it still will go green for seconds at a time and it worked just the other week...idk

Please is there any more advice out there as to what I'm going to tell them to hopefully have them look up something correctly in their computer? Please let me know of the situation about the sensor to the coolant again, I mean that was supposed to be switched or something, details about that from ANYONE ANYONE? Also any details I can steer them to with the charge port situation form years back, or a situation with the large metal box that was shown here on this thread?

Lastly could anyone answer me the last question I asked the reply before this on. Once you take the neg off the 12v what does that do, I mean do I have to take the car into a dealer to have them really clear the codes? Does my phone ODII clear these codes? Lately when I go into the system with my phone to clear the P1e00 and Pod17 they just pop right back up...any help before 9:00 a.m. tomorrow would be greatly appreciated...don't leave me know community.

Wow that worked thanks for responding everyone. Yes I have tried everything all have suggested, yes I have checked under the council to the point of wanting to hammer it down (but didn't) because I thought that is all it can be. Quite the responses, thanks...I think. YEs the manual was received and no I have not stayed up all night reading it, but can look again at certain procedures. Okay okay I will stop looking at fluid levels (I just thought...ok I'll stop there, you all know more which is why I'm here). And no I will not give up on this car I love them, I've had three, I should have kept the brand new one but got greedy for a repairable sports car to just look at in the garage, so sew me!

I have an appointment in the morning like I said, I've been in communication with the owner of the chev dealership so he will try to side skit the regular "did you try and plug it in" questions I sometimes get. (Again I'm one of maybe a few volts in a monster mile radius). As for the relevant threads, this is the reason I started this one...all the relavant threads I'm been through and worked through, my problem is seemingly different but seems enough similar that I thought someone might have tried something I hadn't yet. Like holding their finger in their nose, shutting the back passenger side door using only their head...you know some magical remedy like that!


PS Update, you all must have magical powers because after I wrote that reply I just unplugged the car for around 40ish minutes...then went out and plugged it it...green...checked in a few...green...I really don't want to go look again, but might. I'm just waiting for my phone to tell me "interruption" again.

Hey everyone or anyone that might still be interested. Update is that the dealer saga began this morning after a night of wonderment again...it worked then it didn't then I thought it was to only find no charge in the morning. I had thought great this is the time that it will work when I actually have an appointment the next day.

I took the car in and mainly just said please try to plug in and charge and go from there. Its hard talking with service folks about all the items we have talked about here, they look at me like I know nothing, so I just played that game, I know nothing.

The car went in at 9 am and I heard nothing if they actually start working on it, left it outside, moved my appointment, nothing. Then thanks to my phone I got the great message "charge interruption, car not charging" so at least they were doing something! Still no call or update. So around the time I was to leave town I emailed the boss to see what he wanted me to do with the loaner (another volt, one point to the dealership). Within seconds I got a call from the service manager.

Good and bad news it seems. They actually found the problem, they actually were able to replicate my issue after the car seemingly charged but then stopped. The started eliminating things as you all helped me do and that led them to the little silver box on the aforementioned charger (and pictured, thank you!) There is apparently a plug with 2 wires that was completely corroded to the point of green fuzzy. They were able to unplug, spray, and replug the connector. They then plugged the car in after clearing all the codes and vwalla it seems to be working! So great, but the bad news. 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.

So I bring more questions to you all. I asked them how this could happen and they are thinking that was the spot of impact in that corner from the accident (not sure if it was but makes sense) so then the plug might have been disconnected for a time, or anything like that. Here is my confusion they told me multiple times that the plug in question is something called a weather sealed connector? So why the corrosion, so I asked about a cover that might be missing after the repair, but that seems to not be the case.

Can anyone help me to discern if this is a job I can do, and/or can I just get a connector and replace that since the charger seems to be working? Could more corrosion be into the unit, or does the connector pretty much block that from happening? Any advice/help would be much appreciated. Thank you all for your time and suggestions.

Well thank you all for your great comments. As I thought I'd sort of mentioned yes I took the car back and I'm driving it and it has been charging ever since! But I'm nervous about the future of course so that is why I was asking if it might be possible for me to fix this piece. So that is why I brought it to the group to see if I could possibly cut the wires and replace the connector which they said was a bit corroded. But as I read on here seems to be quite the task and yes I realize I bought a salvage title car which got me into a volt, thank you very much! I love this car and I have loved the ones before it and I usually buy salvage title cars but you have to be careful as always with all cars specially where you buy them from. I am hoping this will charge now for quite some time but it did rain here in the past week so I worry.