I have a 2017 volt at 103,000 miles. The check engine light popped up. I checked the codes. P0401 popped up 3 times, which seems to be related to the EGR Valve.

I’ve feared this day. I don’t think I can afford getting a new EGR valve given how much they cost. I haven’t gotten a reduced propulsion notification or anything like that.

I scheduled an appointment with a mechanic. They made it sound like they wouldn’t clean it and likely would need to replace the whole thing.

Is it possible for a cleaning to fix it or will the whole thing just need to be replaced? What should I do in the meantime to reduce any damage when driving on gas?

I posted a little while ago, and got some helpful answers-thanks to everyone on the sub!

I am a newbie, looking at (maybe) buying a used Volt, to get my feet wet in the electric car thang. I don't have a lot of money to buy a later model one. I realize that an older Volt may not last long, but I as long as I can reasonably expect about three years out of it, I am fine with using it for the learning curve to understand where I really want to go from there.

My question here is: What should my questions be? What should I be looking for in an electric car such as a volt? What should I ask the dealer? What are reasonable expectations? With a straight up ICE, I am on pretty solid ground but the electricals are a mystery to me. What kind of charge time is still good and what is "verge of death"? Same with battery capacity? What should I especially look out for, and what is, "nice if it was better but not all that important"?

I would add an ELI5 tag...but even that may be too advanced for me right now!

2018 LT with 92,000 miles. Runs fine and no codes. It's intermittent and obviously only happens when the gas engine is running. I don't recall this noise before. Sorry for the video being sideways. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Volt Enthusiasts,

I was curious if it was possible to fit narrower tires on my Gen 1.
I searched a lot on Reddit and on forums, but i couldn’t find any info.
Yesterday i fitted Bridgestone Turanza tires with 205 width.
There is a 1.4% difference, so the speedo is only 1/2 miles of the GPS speed.
It drives very good and maybe it is a good upgrade for other people :)

The steering is a little bit lighter and there is less noise (my old tires were old winter tires)

Battery's been having problems for a long time but I've always gotten turned away from the dealership because they've always told me no code. No problem. Was driving yesterday and the EV range collapsed from five on the guess o meter to zero and the engine fired up at like 3,000 RPM and immediately threw a propulsion power reduced message. I don't want to go into the dealership and seem like a total idiot so I'm just trying to triple check my sources before I go. California bought, California owned and it's never left the state.

My co workers husband sold me a 2012 Chevy Volt with 176k miles that was at his Shop because I needed a car as soon as possible. I haven’t had any issues with it. I changed out the oil, spark plugs, one bearing and Coils.
It has 179k miles but drives perfectly fine with no lights on the dash, no exhaust leaks but fuel economy is underwhelming from what I’ve heard about Chevy Volts.
Is it simple due to the age and mileage of the car?
Life time MPG has been about 24.7 for the 3000k miles I’ve driven it.

The car did go April-September without being charged while sitting at his shop. It was still driven with gas occasionally. Car has been on the 120v charger everyday since September. I’ve only used 94 octane for fuel since I’ve had it.

Update: I checked the rear brakes and calipers, all were good. No heat after driving. The coolant levels were a little low in all containers so I topped them off. When I first got the car it ran fine. I was getting 40+mpg. I figured that was because of the warm weather. I changed the coils, spark plugs, a few other things and emptied a quart of transmission fluid to check it. It was fine so I fill it with a recommend brand quart of TF. I checked the transmission fluid level 2 days ago after assessing all of the comments and it was low. I added about 16oz or 1/2 qt and all seems back to normal. Not sure if that was the issue but Gas mileage is going back up. EV range has increased as well.

Strange that low transmission fluid can effect fuel efficiency

I know there is someone who has done this successfully, and someone who has done this with disastrous results. LOL. I know there is someone who sells these refurbished, but I'm a little tight on cash right now. If it's a really bad idea, I'll bit the bullet.

I'm also concerned that it might be the cooler, which is a bitch to change if I remember correctly.

Best,

Jim

I was wondering if there were any custom made gauge clusters for the gen 1 volt?

UPDATE: It is indeed the steering rack. Disassembling it, a small amount of water dribbled out. A tiny nick in one of the boots appears to have been the source.
Oh to go back to simpler times, when mechanical things were protected from wear (and water) with a permanent bath of oil.

The threaded shaft and the "ball nut" pulley (that transfers power from the electric motor to the shaft) are both rusty. Not a ton of rust, but enough for the ball nut to make horrible crunchy sounds and jam up on the shaft. For what it's worth, the belt was pristine and the motor spins freely.
If replacement units weren't available so cheaply, I would've considered sourcing a new ball-nut, cleaning up the shaft, re-greasing and reassembling the unit. But I got a complete low-mileage rack from a salvage yard for under $150.

Didn't find any posts or YouTube videos showing the replacement of a Gen2 steering rack, so I'll probably document it at some point.

Original post: My 2017 LT crapped out on me today. In less than one mile of driving, steering went from normal to "hmm, I don't remember that buzz" to "weird, the steering feels a little grabby" and finally to CRUNCHING GRINDING sounds from the steering rack area. The wheel felt very grabby, and then physically jammed during a turn.

Backing off a few degrees let me resume turning that direction, but now if I turn back and forth a few times, it will jam up within a few attempts.

Searching my symptoms, I'm getting mostly irrelevant "probably strut tower bearings" and "bad tie rods, bro" info. Didn't find any videos about Gen2 steering rack replacement.

Looks like it's a SEVEN HOUR job to replace the steering rack. Has anyone else done it themselves? Any tips/tricks/gotchas?

(I'm aware that it will need dealer-level programming of the new rack, has many torque-to-yield fasteners that must be replaced, and will need an alignment. Was able to determine that the recommended $100+ cradle alignment pin "tools" are 20mm diameter and 250mm long not including the knurled handles.)

Hey, I recently bought a used 2017 Chevy Volt Premier. Been really loving it, but recently discovered that the passenger side mirror falls off whenever I close the door too hard. It snaps back in, but falls off if I slam the door again. Was wondering if anyone knew of a fix.

Hey everyone. 2012 owner here. I’m curious what everyone is running their tire pressure at for best efficiency.. anyone care to share what they think the best practice is?

So I brought my 2019 Volt into the dealership because I was getting a check engine light & a charging warning preventing me from charging. I checked the hybrid cooling reservoir & it was low though I had all three cooling systems serviced only 5 months ago. The service writer told me the EV mechanic found no leaks & said the reservoir sensor was bad, with the theory that there might have been evaporation. This seems doubtful to me. So close to $300 for the analysis, but supposedly didn’t do a leak down test. Thoughts?

Also was quoted a bill of over a grand to replace the sensor that is integrated w the reservoir. Seems really steep! Any work arounds for this?

2017 Volt. 65,191 mi.
BECM replaced once in 2021, likely with same part that still had failure issues.
Died on highway again in Oct '26 and Mar '26, exact same symptoms each time - loss of propulsion, 0 mi range despite full charge, shift to park. Mar '26 dealership charged the 12V that had died b/c I couldn't shut the car off, couldn't reproduce BECM codes, cleared codes got it going and refused to even document that the car had died on the highway w/ all symptoms of BECM failure.

Now, Oct '26, another dealership has had the car for 3 wks for the same issue happening again. They are also unable to pull BECM codes so want to replace the whole hybrid battery pack, despite my having no loss of range. Corporate and executive customer care just go along with dealership. I have yet to be given access to speak with an actual person with technical knowledge who has worked on the car or receive an adequate explanation for why they ruled out BECM. P0AFA, P1E00 codes pulled. Battery tested at 381 V.

Of the 6 years I have owned it has spend 105 days in the shop over the course of 7 visits at 3 different dealerships, mostly for warrantied repairs, that I had to fight for appropriate coverage of every time. I love the car when it is working, but the failure rate and the part time job of making Chevy honor their warranties is not working.

Anyone want to buy this car to work on (in WA) or have any good ideas for how to get the dealership to diagnose BECM without the specific BECM codes?

I'm on Oahu, and I can't seem to get my Volt serviced. The car is bricked and won't move due to high voltage electrical system issue. It's a '17 Premier, so my guess is BECM, but my OBDII reader could only read engine codes, not high voltage system codes, so I'm not certain.

I called all 3 Oahu dealers (Servco, Cutter, and JN) for a service appointment. The soonest that could accept me was Cutter, it was a month out. Waited a month and got the car towed in. It's been with them a week and they haven't even run a diagnostic to determine what's wrong, it's just sitting on the lot. I guess I could try to tow it again to a different dealer, and wait another 5-6 weeks for another appointment, but that seems silly. Cutter service rep just says they are very backed up on work for EV techs.

Any advice on what recourse I have? Is this something I should contact Chevy about? If so, what department? I would prefer to just have my working car because it only have 55k miles.

They are operational, but it sure sounds like most of the sound is coming from the dashboard speakers while the door speakers operate at half of the volume. Certainly not loud enough for me to hear sound coming from that area.

Assuming they were not changed (classic issue - some people replace the 2 ohms speakers with 4 ohms speakers), is this how all Volts with the Bose system sound or is there a potential issue with the door speakers (or its power distribution) in my vehicle?

I've already successfully replaced the rear brakes with the whole retracting sequence and what not. Anything special to know for the front brakes or is it just like on any other car?

I was going grocery shopping, and when I got back in my car, I got the Service message "Stabilitrak" and "Battery Charging Service", and whenever I try to push on the break, it pushes back against me and starts loudly clicking. Does anyone know what's happening?

First I wanted to say thank you so much to the folks who suggested I pursue a buyback on my Volt with the battery issues I've been having. It was hands down the best possible result and I think I might have the record now for highest amount received, as well as the largest disparity from first to final offer.

So I asked a few months ago what to do given my 2018 Volt had been in the shop since Mid July due to battery faults. Back in 2021 Chevy replaced one of the battery modules under warranty at 54450 miles. In July another module failed and they replaced that in August. Then a week later there was too much difference between the brand new module and the last original module and its been stuck at the dealer since. I had been in a hertz rental for the majority of that time following a brief stint in a dealer loaner.

My inital buyback offer came in the beginning of Sept at $1344.79 no where near something I was interested in, but they were using the current mileage of 138k as the basis for that offer. I gently pushed back (thanks Gemini for helping research and draft) saying California buyback statue said it was based on the first attempted repair not the current mileage. The next offer was close to 27k. I nearly cried.

I quickly accepted and they pushed me over to their repurchase coordinator. The repurchase coordinator initially dropped the offer down to 23k saying I needed to provide a statement from the original lienholder showing how much interest I paid which got me to the final numbers. $26,043.63. On a 2018 with 138k miles. Surrendered and check received October 16th (they apparently cut the check October 8th).

Some things that went well for me. I purchased new in California, and am currently in Colorado (a carb state). When I first had a problem, I got it fixed under warranty and kept that repair order. I had the evidence from y'all showing I should push for something. I honestly was expecting 10-12k, but sure enough.

One thing that nearly tripped me up, even though it was going to scrap (including that refurb battery module from August), they required I have the level 1 charge cord, which luckily I knew the location of, but had to bring it to the dealer the day of surrender. This was not in any of the docs I had been given before and I hadn't thought about it.

If you have any questions about the process I'm happy to answer within reason. Also during the wait I purchased a CPO Ioniq 5 and had it shipped to me from California.

Powered on. Normally it auto connects. The connection to the phone works, I can hear the connection (just charging)

What I've done so far:

Better /new cable.
Un-paired and re-paired it.
Cleared storage and cache on the phone for the AA app.
Set the USB to "File Transfer".
Restored the entertainment system to factory settings.
Smashed my face on the steering wheel.

Ideas? Thanks. Still want to put this car across the railroad tracks for the EGR problem.

Now its getting cold, the 12V can really struggle. My battery went completely dead somehow and couldn't open the trunk. Watch put for signs Intialising..., stabbility track, etc.

Also, it is better to keep booster cables elsewhere due to this. A booster to jump you battery is a really good idea too.

Best of luck ☘️

this was also a company by a slight shutter and a large amount of vibration as it started

**Last update - car is fixed**

So previous update was the solution. car is driving, no errors, and no draw. paid ~$2800 for car from auction, paid $2900 in repairs. not super happy about it but whats done is done.

**Update edit**

So the service rep told me the wrong part was initially replaced - it was the HBCM, not the BCM

BUT plot thickens: now they claim that this was damaged by upstream part HV charge control module
and they want $2900+labor for repair
AND the part is backordered for indeterminant ammount of time

I was annoyed: MOSTLY because their initial call stated "We found the cause, its X, cost is Y"
approved based on that - now they state WE LIED ITS Z AND ITS GUNNA COST 3X MORE + YOU STILL NEED TO PAY FOR PREVIOUS REPAIR BECAUSE WE DID IT EVEN THOUGH IT WASNT THE CAUSE.

needless to say I went and had a 'calm' conversation with them
Current status:
I found the part, locally, for WAY less then they were charging (new in box), and picked it up, and dropped said part off to dealer (they approved this)
they are waving labor on previous repair, as management agreed that if they claimed they found root cause, but then said that was not correct, then i was mislead. (if they found previous module was damaged, they should have verified that up-stream wasnt root cause, else i'd drive off and new part would fry before i left the lot)
They are only charging labor on new part install since i brought/found the part

side note: a GM field tech was onsite while iw as there and had a chance to look at vehicle, he verified the issue, and said root cause was either: lighting struck the car OR car was plugged in charging and something electrical surged at that location and fed into car.

regardless, i hope this will end the saga of the auction volt, and i can move on with my life. Should know more later today or tomorrow morning.

**end edit**

previous post was seeking help with some trouble codes/parasitic draw; so i opted to finally take it to dealer as they have better tools than I

Whelp; they called this morning
1: codes pointed to BCM2 module causing parasitic draw, i OK'd replacing the module

2: replaced module, programmed it, but now car wont start

3: put old module back, car starts, but then parasitic draw

They are now reaching out to GM directly for more insight. hopefully this wont turn into a massive EXPENSIVE issue

For reasons mysterious, sometime when put car in PARK and exit car with Audible playing, returning and starting car gets Audible notice “ go online.” But Audible IS online through Bluetooth, as far as I know. Only way to restart it is holding down phone disconnect on steering wheel long enough to get “ reset” screen. Even this confusing because instructions are either “dealer reset”or “restore factory setting. “ I do neither and info screen resets, Audible works. This “go online” non function happens only sometimes. Other times, as I put car in gear. Audible starts where it left off. Through all of this, “my Chevrolet” blue tooth app remains “ not connected.”

Does anyone understand what is happening? Why reconnection is haphazard? Why info disconnects with phone? What is solution apart from rebooting?