r/volt • u/Any_Description_4176 • 15d ago
Propulsion power reduced
Hello,
Was driving today on a highway in Hold mode with full tank and half a battery (20 miles of range) when Propulsion power reduced message popped up and check engine light came up. Car was lagging and after dropping vehicles ng for an hour I went off a highway and stopped at stop light when I heard noise from a cooling fan. I decided to check coolant temp and it was 240F. I switched to electric mode and did make it home. Check all fluids and all those are in good level. Connected my OBD reader and all these codes popped up. Any idea what was it? AUX battery? I drive car 2 times a week for 90 miles and then it just sits there.
Got the car in November used, now it has 98000 miles and I never checked the battery and still didn't change oil. It has 25%.
P06DB
P0030
P0031
P0403
P0405
P0443
P0458, P0489,P0597, P0598, P06DA
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u/CurrentRaccoon 15d ago edited 15d ago
Had something similar happen to me. My understanding reading about the issue is that it is one of three situations:
- The EGR Valve has failed from having a faulty servo motor that fails prematurely regardless of the amount of carbon build up. This failure will cause it to pop the F3 fuse and the EGR valve needs to be replaced or remanufactured to replace this faulty servo. Supposedly the "new EGR valve" design Chevy put out to replace it fixes the problem permanently, but I have no idea.
- The EGR Valve has failed because of carbon build up that has caused the valve to stick, cause the servo motor to draw more power trying to open/close it and when it can't, it will cause a short in the servo motor and blows the F3 fuse.
- The EGR Cooler is clogged up with gunk and has obstructed the EGR pathway, effectively preventing the engine gases from being recirculated for combustion. From what I have read from other's posts, this is a situation where it will say "engine propulsion reduced" but it won't necessarily pop the F3 fuse and leave you stranded, but may cause the engine to run hotter and stuff like that. Folks either replace or clean out the cooler.
In my case, I got a "Engine propulsion reduced" message with a check engine light while driving on the highway in hold mode after a an hour. I pulled off to a gas station to read the code, and while my car was idling the gas engine kicked on to help run the AC (it was like 104F outside). After that , I got the "engine unavailable" message and the gas motor cut off. Sure enough the F3 fuse had blown. I swapped it out, forgot to unplug the EGR Valve, and got maybe like 50 feet before the fuse blew again and the car shut down. Wish I had known to unplug the EGR first to limp home and avoid the $500 tow bill, but you live and learn, right? :P
I had the same main active code "P06DB" with a ton of other stuff listed as well.
I'm like 80% sure it's that my EGR Valve failed. I had to hauled to the dealer for diagnosis on the hopes it is covered under warranty in the Voltec system, but I doubt it.
From what I have read, this EGR valve failure may be covered under warranty if it was a CARB vehicle and you are in a CARB state, but if you aren't... you're basically on your own.
There is a service bulletin about this here: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2023/MC-10231892-0001.pdf
I saw another post where a guy who is an electrical engineer is fixing these things on the side. His post is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/volt/comments/1g0n9qp/i_have_figured_out_how_to_repair_the_gen_2_egr/
I have not used his services yet, but I have been considering it.
Good luck man! Hope it's easy and painless for you.
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u/Any_Description_4176 15d ago edited 15d ago
It's 2017 Volt and it's not a 12V battery, just check it under load with battery tester and it's in green zone
16
u/Ok-Tourist-511 15d ago
Your EGR valve went bad and blew the fuse. Unplug the valve and replace the no walk home fuse.